Pentabus Theatre's MILKED Goes on Tour This Spring

The play that earned emerging playwright Simon Longman a Channel 4 bursary returns to stages up and down the country this Spring as Pentabus tour this comic and moving depiction of rural unemployment. First staged in 2013, the show will receive its London premiere at Soho Theatre, while continuing to reach a diverse range of audiences at theatres across the UK.

Set in the heart of the countryside, the work tells the story of two men in their twenties; Paul, who can't find a job, and Snowy, who can't find himself. Inspired in part by the playwright's own experience of growing up in the countryside, the story explores the realities of life and opportunity for those at the beginning of adulthood, and the pressures facing young people living in rural communities today.

Writer Simon Longman said "Milked is a play about growing up in the countryside. About not knowing what you're meant to do despite doing everything that you've been told to do. That moment where a young person's life seems to become directionless, the moment when everything becomes very real, very quickly. It's a play that I wanted to write in response to unemployment and the pressure young people face to do something about it."

Director Elizabeth Freestone said, "Simon's writing is witty and humane, honest and playful. Milked is a terrific new play about what it's really like for the 20-something generation who are trying to carve out a future in places outside of big shiny cities. Milked is urgent, relevant and very funny. Simon won a Channel 4 Bursary with this play and has spent the year with as us our writer in residence. He's a playwright who understands first-hand the realities of the countryside today and we're proud to be touring his first play all over the country."

Simon Longman is a playwright from the West Midlands. He is currently the Channel 4 Playwright at Pentabus Theatre Company. His is a graduate of the Royal Court Young Writers group. Previous writing for theatre includes Why I Don't Like The Sea (Lost Theatre) and Popcorn (Arcola).

Elizabeth joined Pentabus in 2012, for which she has directed Each Slow Dusk by Rory Mullarkey, In This Place by Frances Brett and Lydia Adetunji, For Once by Tim Price, Blue Sky by Clare Bayley, This Same England with Lorraine Stanley, Stand Up Diggers All by Phil Porter and The Hay Play by Nell Leyshon. Freelance directing credits include: The Rape of Lucrece, Here Lies Mary Spindler, The Tragedy of Thomas Hobbes and The Comedy of Errors (all for the RSC); Endless Light (Southwark); The Duchess of Malfi, The School for Scandal, Volpone and Dr Faustus (Greenwich); Romeo and Juliet (Globe); The Water Harvest (Theatre 503) and Left on Church Street (Bridewell.) She was a staff director at the National and the RSC and worked as an assistant director at the Royal Court, Soho and Hampstead. She has a long association with the National Theatre Studio including three stints as Director on Attachment and one as Artist in Residence. She trained at Rose Bruford College and the National Theatre Studio.

Pentabus is the UK's rural theatre company, which has produced 150 new plays over the last 40 years. Their mission is to develop and produce quality new theatre about the contemporary rural world, which resonate both locally and nationally. Their work has reached over half a million people across the nation.

Running Time: 1 hour 10 mins | Suitable for Ages: 15+. For more information: @pentabustheatre | #MilkedPlay | www.pentabus.co.uk

Tour Listings:

26 - 28 Feb Salisbury Playhouse

Malthouse Lane, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP2 7RA

7.45pm, 2.45pm (matinee) | £13.50 with £9 concessions

01722 320 333 | salisburyplayshouse.com

3 - 8 Mar Soho Theatre, London

21 Dean Street London W1D 3NE

7pm, 5.30pm (Sun 8) | £10 (preview), £15, £12 (concs)

020 7478 0100 | sohotheatre.com

10 - 14 Mar The Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter

62/3 Fore Street, Exeter, EX4 3AT

7.30pm, 2pm (matinee, Sat 14) | £5 (preview), £12, £8 (concs)

01392 434169 | bikeshedtheatre.co.uk

17 - 18 Mar Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

Frankwell Quay, Shrewsbury, SY3 8FT

7.30pm | £15 (£13 concs, £11 schools, 10% Friends & Group discount)

01743 281281 | www.theatresevern.co.uk