New Shows for 2017 at the Young Vic, With Return of Billie Piper in YERMA

NEW SHOWS FOR 2017 AT THE YOUNG VIC
• Joe Wright directs Brecht's Life of Galileo with Brendan Cowell in the title role
• Billie Piper returns to her role in Simon Stone's Yerma
• Juliet Stevenson reunites with director Natalie Abrahami in Arthur Kopit's Wings
• London premiere for Ramin Gray and David Grieg's acclaimed production The Suppliant Women featuring a chorus of Waterloo residents

• In the Maria, two poetic personal stories Taha and Nina - a story about me and Nina Simone, and Edinburgh Festival hit How To Win Against History

Plus as previously announced:• Joe Hill-Gibbins's production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream • See Me Now created by Mimi Poskitt, Molly Taylor and a company of performers who have been or are sex workers• Two Genesis Future Directors Award shows: Chekhov's The Bear and The Proposal - casting announced today - and Yellowman by Dael Orlandersmith

Artistic Director David Lan on today's announcement: "We want every show we stage to evoke the world on our streets. As life becomes ever more complex and surprising, we look for the best angles from which to watch and intervene. Joe Hill-Gibbins' ferocious A Midsummer Night's Dream searches out the darkest caverns beneath Shakespeare's young masterpiece with some of the finest actors on the UK stage and two great designers from Berlin.

"Brendan Cowell's Young Vic debut was opposite Billie Piper in Yerma. Now he plays the genius astronomer in Brecht's greatest play Life of Galileo. How do you stay true to your hard-won understanding of the nature of reality when Power tells you you're wrong? Joe Wright directs this timeless play of extreme ideologies and dogma backed by violence. The designs by Lizzie Clachan and 59 Productions promise an out of this world experience.

"And Simon Stone's huge 2016 success Yerma returns with the incomparable Billie Piper. Last time demand went through the roof so we're thrilled more people will have a chance to catch this once-in-a-lifetime show.

"Natalie Abrahami and Juliet Stevenson's collaboration on Happy Days was so admired that it played two seasons. Now they're back together with Wings, Arthur Kopit's extraordinarily poignant and powerful account of an aviatrix in late middle age whose mind, following a stroke, comes apart. Told from within her consciousness, following her journey from trauma towards healing, Wings caused enormous excitement when first seen on Broadway almost 40 years ago.

"The Suppliant Women continues our season Horizons, exploring the experience of refugees. 3000 years ago Aeschylus wrote this story about a large number of women, refugees from their destroyed city, as they wait outside a neighboring city, desperate for shelter. David Greig and Ramin Gray's new version has already had huge success in Edinburgh, Belfast and Newcastle.

"In our Maria studio: See Me Now began its life as a project run by our Taking Part department in response to our production of Measure for Measure. Now it is a show in its own right created and performed by people who have been or are sex workers. Taha is the story of the great Palestinian poet Taha Muhammed Ali written and performed by Amer Hlehel, directed by Amir Nizar Zuabi - both of whom have performed many times with us. Nina - a story about me and Nina Simone created and performed by Josette Bushell-Mingo tells the story of the magnificent musician Nina Simone, linking her life-long struggle within the US Civil Rights movement to the Black Lives Matter movement of today.

"How To Win Against History was the smash hit of last year's Edinburgh Festival. We're delighted to welcome this hilarious musical visit from a great English eccentric. And in The Clare: this year the Genesis Future Directors Award gives two outstanding young directors the chance to create their most ambitious show yet. Lucy J Skilbeck brings their unique perspective to two Chekhov shorts The Bear and The Proposal in March and in November Nancy Medina directs the American modern classic Dael Orlandersmith's Yellowman. There will be more news of 2017 shows at the Young Vic soon."

Lucy Woollatt, Executive Director of the Young Vic said: "Last year we welcomed almost 150,000 people to the Young Vic. Sustained funding from Arts Council England as well as box office receipts and philanthropic giving allow us to keep ticket prices low and to offer 10% of seats free to targeted audiences. It also means we can continue to encourage artists to produce bold and exciting work on our three stages and offer a range of opportunities via our wide-reaching participation and directors programs."

Tickets for the 2017 season go on sale to Friends of the Young Vic at 10.00am today. Public booking opens Wednesday 1 February at 10.00am. Box Office: 0207 922 2922.

For more information visit www.youngvic.org.