Cast Announced For OUR CHURCH At The Watermill Theatre

The Watermill Theatre has announced the cast for OUR CHURCH, a thought-provoking new play by Marietta Kirkbride which runs at the theatre from 16 to 20 July and tours to 17 village halls and arts centres from 19 June to 13 July.

In some people's lives there is a moment when something goes wrong, when they do something very bad, something that poisons their life for good. This powerful, new drama explores, from multiple points of view, what it means to live a haunted life.

OUR CHURCH narrates the reactions of members of a village community to Tom, a registered sex offender, nominated for the church committee.

Writer, Kirkbride says: 'I have always been interested in the process of rehabilitation. The idea that people can change for the better and should be forgiven for their wrongdoing is fundamentally Christian. That said, just because we agree in principle that people should have second chances, it doesn't mean giving them is easy. I wanted to write a play exploring this, and different people's limits of what they feel they can forgive.'

Kirkbride first became interested in the subject when she heard about a community facing a similar dilemma. She has also drawn on her experience as a volunteer working with a charity to support the rehabilitation process of offenders.

The cast includes Kirsty Cox as June (The Boy Who Climbed Into The Moon, Theatre Alibi, The Odyssey and Medusa, Bristol Old Vic), Robert East as Michael and Tom (Land of Our Fathers, Trafalgar Studios; Amadeus, Sheffield Crucible; Stuff Happens, National Theatre), and Susan Tracy as Anne (Anna Christie, Three Sisters, RSC; Richard III, Old Vic; Anything Goes, National Theatre and Theatre Royal, Drury Lane).

OUR CHURCH is directed by Nik Partridge:

'As a play that concerns itself with how we respond and react as a community to such events, I hope it will act as a useful vehicle for provoking meaningful thought and conversation. It is a beautifully observed play, with humour and lightness and humanity. I think it offers much to audiences and I look forward to sharing the story with them.'

OUR CHURCH is designed by Anna Orton with lighting designed by Harry Armytage.

Tour dates and venues are listed below. The Watermill rural tour will visit, for the first time, Guildford United Reformed Church. OUR CHURCH is the theatre's 28th rural touring production.

Please note: This play contains themes of a sensitive and potentially distressing nature. Parental discretion recommended.