Cast Set For MOTHER RUSSIA UK Premiere at Hampstead Theatre

Hampstead Theatre has announced full casting for the UK premiere of Lauren Yee's Mother Russia. Directed by Oscar Toeman the production plays Hampstead Downstairs from 11 December until 30 January with a press night on Thursday 17 December.

Critics Circle Theatre Awards Most Promising Newcomer Samuel Creasey (The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Globe) will play the role of Dimitri, Lucy McCormick (Are You Watching, Royal Court) will play Mother Russia, Kirsty Rider (Further Than The Furthest Thing, Young Vic) will play Katya and Matthew Tennyson (The Invention of Love, Hampstead Theatre) plays Evgeny.

Mother Russia begins in St Petersburg, 1992. From the ashes of communism, the phoenix of capitalism is rising - bringing with it Filet-o-Fish, Latvian condoms, and a dizzying choice of toothpastes. Old friends Evgeny and Dmitri are young men at the dawn of a new era, determined to secure their futures in this unfamiliar world.

Espionage and racketeering promise the biggest pay cheques, so the lads roll up the sleeves of their new designer shirts and get to work. Their first surveillance target is Katya, a fiery young woman who has lived in the West and acquired a complex history of her own. Evgeny immediately falls for her - but how do you confess your feelings to someone who doesn't know you are listening to their every word…?

Will the newly free market deliver the personal freedoms it promises? Multi award-winning writer Lauren Yee's acerbic comedy receives its UK premiere following a smash-hit run at New York's Signature Theater earlier this year. Her other plays include Cambodian Rock Band (Signature Theater) and The Great Leap (Atlantic Theater, New York).

Playwright Lauren Yee said, 'Over the past decade, I've been embarking on a cycle of plays about Communism in Asia in the 20th century and its collision with Western pop culture. Mother Russia is the latest play to be borne out of that impulse. To me, Mother Russia is a wild ride through early 90s Russia that's a mirror for the topsy turvy world we live in today. I cannot wait to see how the irreverent humour and unexpected guts of the piece lands in the UK with this incredible team.'

Greg Ripley-Duggan, Producer and Chief Executive at Hampstead Theatre said, “I have long been an admirer of Lauren Yee's work, and Mother Russia is clearly perfect for Hampstead's audiences – elegantly constructed, highly intelligent, topical, and very, very funny. When I read it earlier this year I immediately thought it would sit perfectly alongside Tom Stoppard's Jumpers on the Main Stage, so I am thrilled Lauren has allowed us to produce the UK premiere in this seasonal slot.”