BERLIN Opens Next Month at Southbank Theatre

Opening on Thursday 22 April at Southbank Theatre, Joanna Murray-Smith's brand new play, Berlin, is a riveting romantic thriller that pits the dark shadow of history against the dazzling promise of true love.

Starring Grace Cummings (Prehistoric) and Michael Wahr (Shakespeare in Love), and directed by Iain Sinclair (A View from the Bridge), this MTC NEXT STAGE commission weaves a universal story of youthful passion into a nail-biting game of philosophical cat and mouse that will keep you guessing to the very end.

Iain Sinclair said, 'This is Joanna Murray-Smith in her element. I have been a longtime admirer of Joanna's lethal combination of stagecraft, passion and fierce intelligence. Her intellectual courage and philosophical ambition is truly on show in this two-hander tour de force; a rare and powerful blend of thriller, romance and a serious ethical dilemma. When it comes to inherited guilt: what is enough? Or more importantly, when is enough?'

Tom is an Australian abroad. Charlotte, a Berliner through and through. After meeting in a bar, sparks fly between them and she invites him to spend the night at her place. As they navigate the ritual of seduction, their desire gives way to secrets that cannot be ignored and questions neither of them can answer. Does young love stand a chance against the suffocating reach of the past?