The White Carnation Starring Aden Gillett Runs 26 November – 21 December 2013

Troupe in association with Neil McPherson for the Finborough Theatre will present the first production in sixty years of THE WHITE CARNATION by R. C. Sherriff.

Directed by Knight Mantell. Designed by Alex Marker. Lighting by Peter Harrison. Costume Design by Janet Hudson-Holt. Sound Design and Original Composition by Lucinda Mason Brown.
Cast: Robert Benfield. Daisy Boulton. Ashley Cook. Lynette Edwards. Aden Gillett. Harriett Hare. Josie Kidd. Bruce Panday. Joss Porter. Benjamin Whitrow. Derek Wright. Philip York.

"There have been strange rumours about this house. Although it was in a state of ruin, lights were seen in the windows every Christmas Eve: music was heard: voices and laughter..."

The first production in sixty years of R. C. Sherriff's supernatural drama, The White Carnation, opens at the Finborough Theatre for a limited four week season on Tuesday, 26 November 2013 (Press Night: Thursday, 28 November 2013 at 7.30pm) with a superlative cast led by Aden Gillett (Winner of the OffWestEnd Award for Best Actor for Accolade at the Finborough Theatre) and Benjamin Whitrow.

Christmas Eve, 1951. As Britain rebuilds itself after the war, John Greenwood has it all - a successful business, a beautiful house and an aristocratic wife. But as he bids farewell to the guests leaving his annual Christmas party, a gust of wind slams the front door shut, starting a chain of events that makes him doubt everything he has ever known...

From the writer of one of the 20th century's most acclaimed plays, Journey's End, The White Carnation is a ghostly tale of one man's chance to do things differently. This rediscovery marks the first production since its premiere, starring Sir Ralph Richardson, in 1953.

Playwright R. C. Sherriff was born in 1896, and remains best known for his classic First World War masterpiece, Journey's End, recently revived for a long run in the West End - "Recent revivals have suggested that Sherriff's drama remains as hard-hitting and fresh as ever" Lyn Gardner, The Guardian. His many screenplays include The Invisible Man (1933), The Four Feathers (1939), the Oscar-nominated Goobye Mr. Chips (1939) and The Dam Busters (1955). Though Journey's End continued to define his career in the theatre, the post-Second World War period was an 'Indian summer' for Sherriff with productions of Miss Mabel (1948), Home at Seven (1950) and The Long Sunset (1955). He died in 1975.

Director Knight Mantell's recent production of The Art of Concealment received rave reviews at the Jermyn Street Theatre before transferring to the Riverside Studios last year. Other directing includes Sweet Pounds of Flesh (Arts Theatre), Murder in the Cathedral, The Circle, The Importance of Being Earnest, Blithe Spirit, Side by Side by Sondheim and Pygmalion (Salisbury Playhouse), Sleeping it Off (Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham), The Dresser and The Rivals (National Tours) and Hay Fever, Time and Time Again, The Secretary Bird, The Browning Version and Misalliance (Thorndike Theatre, Leatherhead).Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED

Box Office 0844 847 1652 Book online at www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk
Tuesday, 26 November - Saturday, 21 December 2013
Tuesday to Saturday Evenings at 7.30pm. Sunday Matinees at 3.00pm. Saturday matinees at 3.00pm (from 7 December 2013).
Prices for Weeks One and Two (26 November-8 December 2013) - Tickets £16, £14 concessions, except Tuesday Evenings £14 all seats, and Friday and Saturday evenings £16 all seats. Previews (26 and 27 November) £12 all seats.
£10 tickets for Under 30's for performances from Tuesday to Sunday of the first week when booked online only.
£12 tickets for residents of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on Saturday, 30 November 2013 when booked online.
Prices for Weeks Three and Four (10-21 December 2013) - Tickets £18, £16 concessions, except Tuesday Evenings £16 all seats, and Friday and Saturday evenings £18 all seats.
Performance Length: Approximately two hours with one interval of fifteen minutes.