Tricycle Theater Announces Irish Season, Begins With LAY ME DOWN SOFTLY

Mosshouse In Association With Wexford Arts Centre Presents LAY ME DOWN SOFTLY
Written and directed by Billy Roche AND Lyric Theatre Belfast presents THE ABSENCE OF WOMEN
Written by Owen McCafferty and Directed by Rachel O'Riordan

LAY ME DOWN SOFTLY

Billy Roche has written, and will direct Lay Me Down Softly at the Tricycle Theatre from 11 July to 6 August, with press night on 12 July. Presented by Mosshouse in association with Wexford Arts Centre, the production was first commissioned and premiered at Abbey Theatre in 2008, before this new production with Billy Roche directing premiered at Wexford Arts Centre in 2010 followed by a national tour in 2011. Lay Me Down Softly has design by Bui Bolg, lighting design by Paul Keogan and sound and AV design by Mick Egan.

The production returns with previous cast members Gary Lydon, Michael O'Hagan, Pagan McGrath, Anthony Morris, Dermot Murphy, alongside newcomer Simone Kirby.
Roll-up, roll-up, and enter the shady world of Delaney's Travelling Roadshow. Step inside the boxing ring... smell it, sense it, feel it. And somewhere between the fights and the fortune-tellers, the bookies and the bloodshed, rub shoulders with its wayward wards. Set in rural Ireland in the early 60s, Lay Me Down Softly takes us inside the darkly comic and colourful world of the old travelling carnival.

Billy Roche is a singer, writer, director and actor. His first novel Tumbling Down was published in 1986, with his first play The Boker Poker Club following two years later, playing first at Wexford Arts Centre before becoming A Handful of Stars, staged at The Bush Theatre in 1988. His play Poor Beast In The Rain followed in 1990. The third, Belfy completed the trilogy at the Bush, which later became known as the Wexford Trilogy, performed together at The Tricycle, The Bush Theatre, The Peacock Theatre and the Theatre Royal, Wexford. It was consequently filmed for the BBC. It was followed by Amphibians, commissioned by the RSC and performed at the Barbican, The Cavalcaders at The Tricycle, The Peacock and The Royal Court Theatre, On Such As We at the Peacock Theatre and Tales From Rainwater Pond; a collection of short stories read by Roche himself which went on a successful tour in Ireland and the US. He wrote the screenplay for Trojan Eddie, which won the Best Film Award at The San Sebastian Film Festival in 1996 and co-wrote the screenplay for Eclipse with Conor McPherson based on a story from the Tales From Rainwater collection. This went on to win best Irish screenplay and film award (IFTA) in Ireland and the TriBeCa film award in New York. As an actor his stage credits include A Handful of Stars at the Bush Theatre, Aristocrats at Hampstead Theatre, The Cavalcaders at The Tricycle, The Peacock Theatre and Royal Court Theatre and on screen; Trojan Eddie, Saltwater and The Bill.

Gary Lydon was previously at the Tricycle Theatre in The Wexford Trilogy. His other London stage credits include The Walls and Cripple of Inishmann at The National Theatre and the three separate trilogy plays Belfy, Poor Beast In The Rain and A Handful of Stars at the Bush Theatre. Stage credits in Ireland include Tinkers Wedding & Well Of The Saints and Playboy of the Western World at Druid Theatre, Galway, Sive at Dublin Gaiety Theatre and A Whistle In The Dark at The Abbey Theatre. He is well known on television as PatRick Murray in Irish series The Clinic.

Michael O'Hagan was also previously on stage at the Tricycle in The Wexford Trilogy as well as John Bull's Other Island and Bloody Sunday: Scenes from the Saville Inquiry. His other stage credits include The Murderers at The National Theatre, Coriolanus at the Young Vic, Three Sisters at Whitehall Theatre, When Five Year's Pass at the Arcola, Othello and Romeo & Juliet at Shakespeare's Globe. His film credits include End Of Days, Gods and Monsters, Speed 2 and Midnight in The Garden of God and Evil and on television EastEnders, Coronation Street, The Darling Buds of May and Startrek - Enterprise.

Simone Kirby's theatre credits include Loves Labour's Lost at Shakespeare's Globe, Dancing At Lughnasa at The Old Vic Theatre, Festen at The Gate Theatre and The School for Scandal at The Abbey Theatre.

Pagan McGrath's previous stage credits include Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, This Is A Chair and Once a Catholic, all for the County Wexford Youth Theatre.

Anthony Morris's previous stage credits include The Belfry for Livin Dred, Stetching Lary at The Plough Upstairs, Spartacus, Back To Black and War of the Roses for Whiplash and Whereabouts for Fishamble. Screen credits include Adam & Paul and Rough Diamond.

Dermot Murphy's previous stage credits include Amphibians at Project Arts Centre, Dublin, Godspell at the Theatre Royal, Wexford and The Lords of Love at Wexford Arts Centre.

THE ABSENCE OF WOMEN

The Lyric Theatre Belfast presents The Absence Of Women, written by Owen McCafferty and directed by Rachel O'Riordan, which runs at the Tricycle Theatre from 13 September until 8 October with press night on 14 September. Last year the production ran at the Lyric Belfast before a tour of venues in Ireland. The Absence Of Women has design by Stuart Marshall, lighting design by James Whiteside and sound and AV design by Ivan Birthistle and Vincent Doherty. Full casting will be announced at a later date.

Gerry and Iggy, two labourers from Belfast face the end of their lives in a London hostel, talking of the present and thinking of the past. They argue about who has the biggest liver, the names of tube stations and whether they should go back to Belfast or not. But where are the women in their lives? The Absence of Women is a funny and poignant play about the life journey of two ordinary and lonely Belfast men. It's a tale of life and its endless possibilities, missed opportunities and how one man's choice, in one instant, can alter the path of his life forever.

Owen McCafferty's writing for the stage includes Shoot The Crow at Druid, Galway, Closing Time and Scenes From The Big Picture at The National Theatre and Days of Wine and Roses at the Donmar Warehouse. He has won awards for his play writing including the Meyer-Whitworth Award, John Whiting Award and Evening Standard Charles Wintour Award for New Playwriting.

Rachel O'Riordan's directing credits include Miss Julie and Animal Farm for the Peter Hall season at Theatre Royal, Bath, Everything Is Illuminated at Hampstead Theatre, Protestants for Soho Theatre, Hurricane at the Arts Theatre and for the Lyric Belfast; The Glass Menagerie, Merry Christmas Betty Ford and Much Ado About Nothing. Rachel is also Artistic Director of Ransom Productions and is an Associate of the Drama Department at Queen's University Belfast for whom she has directed The Man of Mode, Tis Pity She's a Whore and Trojan Women.

LISTINGS

Address Tricycle Theatre, 269 Kilburn High Road, London NW6 7JR
Phone 020 7328 1000
In person 10am - 9pm Monday - Saturday, 2 - 9pm on Sundays
Online www.tricycle.co.uk
Tickets £12 Mon 8pm and midweek mats at 2pm
£18 Tues - Fri 8pm & Sat mats at 4pm
£22 Saturdays at 8pm

Performances Lay Me Down Softly 11 July - 6 August
Monday - Saturday at 8pm
Saturday mats at 4pm
Press Night - 12 July at 7pm
Midweek mats Wed 20, 27 July

The Absence Of Women 13 September - 8 October
Monday - Saturday at 8pm
Saturday mats at 4pm
Press Night - 14 September at 7pm
Midweek mats Wed 21 Sept, 5 Oct
CAFÉ-BAR
The Tricycle Café (serving food) is open from 12noon to 8pm Mondays to Fridays and 10am - 8pm on Saturdays. The Tricycle Bar (serving drinks and snacks) is open from 12 noon Mondays to Fridays & from 10.30am Saturdays & closes at 11pm Mondays to Saturdays. On Sundays the Bar is open 3pm - 9pm.
TRANSPORT

Tube: Kilburn (Jubilee Line)
Bus: 16, 31, 32, 98, 189, 206, 316, 328
Train: Brondesbury (London overground)

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