Casting Announced For Synergy Theatre Project's THERE IS A FIELD At Theatre503

Esther Baker will direct Martin Askew's provocative and compelling new play There is a Field, a London story of faith, death and family strife reshaped by local crises and global events.

Mark's mother wants him to bury his father and it's up to Saleh to find him and bring him home for a proper East End send off. Only Mark is no longer Mark, he's Abdullah.

There is a Field is a play about two friends who, in a different life, could have been brothers.

The full cast includes Archie Backhouse (Saleh), Sarah Finigan (Maureen), Roseanna Frascona (Amina), Sam Frenchum (Mark/Abdullah) and Fabrizio Santino (Tony).

Writer Martin Askew grew up in the East End and started writing after witnessing the murder of a close friend. After release from prison he began playwriting with Synergy Theatre Project who commissioned him to write There Is A Field. Martin's screenplay Snow in Paradise (based on his own life story), was selected for the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. His other writing credits include My Name is Lenny which starred John Hurt. Martin is also an actor and credits include Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla, as well as Riot and Snow in Paradise. Martin is also a workshop facilitator working in pupil referral units.

Esther Baker is the Artistic Director of Synergy Theatre Project. Established in 2000, the company works with prisoners and ex-prisoners, producing shows in both theatre and within prisons, delivering education projects for young people and new writing initiatives to develop playwrights in prison. Theatre credits include Blackout (Ovalhouse), Homecomings new writing Festival (Theatre503), Evan Placey's Girls Like That (Unicorn Theatre), Cape and Burning Bird (Unicorn Theatre), Stephen Adly Guirgis's Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train (Trafalgar Studios); Shelagh Stephenson's The Long Road (Soho Theatre); Elmina's Kitchen (HMP Brixton); On the Waterfront (Wimbledon Studio Theatre) and Burn and Someone to Watch Over Me (Southwark Playhouse).

Theatre503 is the award-winning home of new writers and a launchpad for the artists who bring their words to life. They stage the work of more debut and emerging writers than any other venue in the country, with over 130 new pieces produced. They passionately believe the most important element in a writer's development is to see their work developed through to a full production on stage, performed to the highest professional standard in front of an audience. Since 2006 Thearee503 has an astonishing record of launching the next generation of exceptional playwrights. These include Katori Hall, Vinay Patel, Jon Brittain, Anna Jordan, Milly Thomas, Alice Birch, Andrew Thompson, Brad Birch, Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm and Tom Morton-Smith.