Rufous Hound to Make Stage Début in UTOPIA Cast this Summer

Artistic Directors Steve Marmion and Max Roberts today announce the full cast for their joint new writing project UTOPIA, which is making its world premiere at Live Theatre on Thursday 31 May, before transferring to Soho Theatre on Wednesday 20 June, with opening night on Thursday 21 June. UTOPIA will star: Tobi Bakare (Greenland National Theatre; Crawling In The Dark Almeida Theatre and Gone Too Far, Royal Court Theatre); Laura Elphinstone (Top Girls, Chichester Festival Theatre/Trafalgar Studios; A Month in the Country, Chichester Festival Theatre and the film adaptation of The History Boys); Rufus Hound making his theatre debut, is most well-known for his regular team captainship on Argumental, Celebrity Juice, 8 Out of 10 Cats and Never Mind The Buzzcocks; Pamela Miles (Darker Shores, Hampstead Theatre; Pygmalion, Theatre Royal Bath/Old Vic London and Lone Star Mark Three, Salisbury Playhouse); also making her stage debut Sophia Myles who is most well-known for her leading roles in film and TV including Tristan and Isolde and Spooks and David Whitaker one of the founders of Live Theatre, Newcastle, his theatre credits include The Pitmen Painters (Live Theatre/National Theatre/Broadway and West End) plus extensive credits for the Royal Shakespeare Company and Donmar Warehouse.

UTOPIA continues Soho Theatre and Live Theatre’s artistic collaboration following A Walk on Part, which it was recently announced will transfer to the West End Arts Theatre on Monday 18 June; the writing team behind UTOPIA are Michael Chaplin, Zoe Cooper, Thomas Eccleshare, Alistair McDowall, Dylan Moran, Anthony Neilson, Janice Okoh, Simon Stephens and Chi Onwurah MP. Including material from the works of Thomas More, William Shakespeare, Adolf Hitler and many more.

Six clowns in a world of blueprints in search of Utopia. From spaceships and retirement homes, to political rallies and Facebook. No stone has been left unturned in our collaborative quest for paradise. UTOPIA is an unconventional medley of visions that will leave the audience questioning our present and leaving hopeful for our future.

Tobi Bakare theatre credits include Greenland (National Theatre), Crawling In The Dark (Almeida Theatre), Gone Too Far (Royal Court Theatre), The Typist (Sky Arts Playhouse Live), Iya-Ile (Soho Theatre), High Life (Hampstead Theatre), Pure Gold (Talawa Theatre Company), 1800 Acres (Riverside Studios), Mangina Monologues (Soho Theatre), Torn (Arcola Theatre), Macbeth (Out of Joint Theatre Company). TV includes The Shadow Line, Silent Witness, Phone Shop, Holby City, Meet The Bandaiis, Casualty, The Omid Djalli Showand upcoming BBC drama Verbatim Riots. Film includes The Somnambulists.

Laura Elphinstone appeared in the History Boys film and various BBC dramas, including My So Called Life Sentence and Tess Of The D’Urbevilles. Theatre credits include Top Girls (Trafalgar Studios), A Month In The Country (Chichestier Festival Theatre), Marine Parade(Brighton Festival), Pains Of Youth (National Theatre), Bedroom Farce (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Far From The Maddening Crowd (ETT tour), Women Of Troy (National Theatre), Glass Eels (Hampstead Theatre), Heartbreak House (Watford Palace Theatre), Tom And Viv(The Almeida), The Crucible (RSC & West End), Lysistrata (Arcola), Pictures of Clay (Manchester Royal Exchange), Breathing Corpses(Royal Court), Country Music (Royal Court).

Rufus Hound has presented live coverage from the Glastonbury Festival, Reading Festival and T in the Park, Top of the Pops and The British Comedy Awards. His dry, sharp humor led to a regular team captainship on Argumental and regular panelist appearances onCelebrity Juice, 8 Out of 10 Cats, The Xtra Factor and Never Mind The Buzzcocks. Radio work includes, among others, Act Your Age andMy Teenage Diary for Radio 4, his own comedy radio show What’s So Funny, My Big Fat Gipsy Gangster under the direction of Steve Lawson, as well as a multitude of voice overs.

Pamela Miles theatre credits include Darker Shores (Hampstead Theatre), Pygmalion, (Theatre Royal Bath and Old Vic London), Lone Star Mark Three (Salisbury Playhouse), The Flu Season (Gate Theatre), Hamlet (New Shakespeare Company, Regents Park), Julius Caesar (Compass Theatre Company), Animal Farm (Royal National Theatre), The Garden of England (Royal National Theatre), Sherlock Holmes (Royal Shakespeare Company), Over Gardens Out (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs), The Orchestra (King’s Head Theatre). Film includes A Fish Called Wanda, Forever Young and Under Milk Wood.

Sophia Myles enjoys a successful and diverse film career, with her film credits including Outlander (The Weinstein Company), Hallam Foe(Sigma Films), Art School Confidential (United Artists), Tristan and Isolde (Apollo Media), Thunderbirds (Working Title/Universal),Underworld (Lakeshore Entertainment), Abduction Club (Pathe), From Hell (20th Century Fox) and Mansfield Park (Buena Vista Ent/Miramax). Her television credits include leading BBC productions Spooks, Extras, Doctor Who, as well as The Prince and The Pauperand the ITV dramas Foyle’s War and Oliver Twist.

David Whitaker is one of the founders of Live Theatre, Newcastle. His credits for Live Theatre include The Pitmen Painters (also National Theatre, Broadway and West End), Laughter When We’re Dead, And A Nightingale Sang, Bandits, Close the Coalhouse Door, Bring Me Sunshine, The Grass House, Some Enchanted Evening, Hangin About, I Knew Him Horatio and Northern Glory. Other theatre work includes Our Friends in the North, All’s Well That Ends Well, Poppy, Today, Red Noses, The Castle and The Desert Air for the Royal Shakespeare Company; Cuddy’s Miles, Dan Dare and Dirty Dusting at Customs House South Shields and Theatre Royal Newcastle andAnimal Farm (also toured Jerusalem, Turkey, Holland), Twelfth Night, Friends and Lovers and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes for Northern Stage. TV and film includes South Bank Show – Auden, Inside Out, Wire in the Blood, School for Seduction, Our Friends in the North, Wallpaper Warrior and Come In If You Can Get In.

 

Newcastle, Live Theatre

Broad Chare, Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 3DQ

Dates         Thursday 31 May – Saturday 16 June

Times        Evenings 7.30pm/ Thursday 14 June and Saturday 9 & 16 June matinees 2pm

Tickets      £10 - £18

Bookings    0191 232 1232 / www.live.org.uk

 

London, Soho Theatre Main House

21 Dean Street, London W1D 3NE

Dates         Wednesday 20 June – Saturday 14 July

Times        Evenings 7.30pm/ Thursday and Saturday matinees 3pm

Tickets      £10 - £15

Bookings  020 7478 0100/ www.sohotheatre.com