Finborough Theatre's World Premiere of FISHSKIN TROUSERS Begins Tonight

The world premiere of multi-award-winning playwright Elizabeth Kuti's FISHSKIN TROUSERS will receive a four week run at the Finborough Theatre, opening tonight, 3 September 2013. The production is complemented by the return of the FINBOROUGHFORUM, a series of events, discussions and debates, both on the play itself and the current state of new writing for the theatre in the UK, following every performance on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 9.00pm from 11 September 2013.

Using only the power of words and storytelling, FISHSKIN TROUSERS weaves together the haunting tales of three lost people from different eras, united by the common setting of the fishing village of Orford in Suffolk, its castle and its mysterious island, Orford Ness.

From the twelfth century, Mab gives an eye-witness account of the legendary Wild Man of Orford, caught in the nets of fishermen... Eight hundred years later, at the height of the Cold War, Ben, a young Australian scientist, hears strange noises on the Ness as he tries to fix the island's radar system. While Mog, in 2004, is faced with a heartbreaking decision...

Suffused by the landscape and traditional folk tales of East Anglia, their echoing voices and stories reveal how deeply and intimately their lives touch each other, though decades - and even centuries - separate them...

Playwright Elizabeth Kuti returns to the Finborough Theatre which saw the world premiere of The Six-Days World (written while on attachment as a writer at The National Theatre Studio) in 2007. Writing for theatre includes The Sugar Wife, Joint Winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Award and nominated for Best New Play in The Irish Times Theatre Awards (Project Arts Centre, Dublin, and Soho Theatre, London), Treehouses which won the Stewart Parker Radio Award and Second Prize in the Susan Smith Blackburn Award (Peacock Theatre at The Abbey Theatre, Dublin), The Whisperers with Frances Sheridan (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, and Irish Tour), The Lais of Marie de France (Andrews Lane Theatre, Dublin), several short plays for the Miniaturists - Time Spent on Trains (Southwark Playhouse and Latitude Festival), Eighty Miles and Enter A Gentleman(both at the Arcola Theatre). Her most recent new play, Lefter Than Thou, was written under commission from The National Theatre. Radio drama includes The Glasswright (Radio 4), Mr Fielding's Scandalshop, broadcast on Christmas Day (Drama on 3), May Child, starring Patricia Routledge (Radio 4) and Dear Mr Spectator (two series for BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour). Fishskin Trousers was supported by, and developed in association with, the RADA Festival 2013.

Director Robert Price trained in Voice Studies at the Central School of Speech and Drama, and is on the Voice Faculty of both RADA and LAMDA. He was a founder member of Bedrock Theatre Company and the Dublin Fringe Theatre Festival. Directing includes Requiem by Jonathan Lichtenstein (Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds), Elizabeth Kuti's Enter A Gentleman (the Miniaturists at the Arcola Theatre), Phil Terry's Elsinore and Glyn Maxwell's Bedtime Story (both at the Lakeside Theatre, University of Essex). His work as an actor in theatre and film in Dublin included multiple roles at the Abbey and Gate Theatres including Cyrano de Bergerac, Oliver Twist, Jane Eyre, The Christmas Carol, The Plough and the Stars (also seen in the West End and tour),The Skriker, Saved, Early Morning, The Massacre at Paris (all for Bedrock Theatre Company), The Seagull, Car Show, A Play on Two Chairs, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (all for Annie Ryan and Corn Exchange), The Spanish Tragedy, The Revenger's Tragedy and The Duchess of Malfi (Loose Canon), Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet (Second Age), Treehouses, The Electrocution of Children, At-Swim-Two-Birds (Peacock Theatre at The Abbey Theatre), The Flesh Addict (Fishamble), The Hostage (Abbey Theatre), The Sugar Wife (Rough Magic at the Project Arts Centre) and The Whisperers (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, and Irish Tour). He was nominated for The Irish Times Best Actor award for his performances in The Duchess of Malfi, Big Bad Woolf and The Spanish Tragedy. Film includes The Escapist and The Count of Monte Cristo.

To book, visit www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk or call the box office at 0844 847 1652. The show will run Tuesday, 3 September - Saturday, 28 September, Tuesday to Saturday evenings at 7.30pm. Sunday matinees at 3.00pm, Saturday matinees at 3.00pm (from 14 September 2013).

Prices for Weeks One and Two (3-15 September 2013) - Tickets £14, £10 concessions, exceptTuesday Evenings £10 all seats, and Saturday evenings £14 all seats. Previews (3 and 4 September) £9 all seats. £6 tickets for Under 30's for performances from Tuesday to Sunday of the first week when booked online only. £10 tickets for residents of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on Saturday, 7 September 2013 when booked online.

Prices for Weeks Three and Four (17-28 September 2013) - Tickets £16, £12 concessions, except Tuesday Evenings £12 all seats, and Saturday evenings £16 all seats.

FINBOROUGHFORUM - A series of events, discussions and debates, both on the play itself and the current state of new writing for the theatre in the UK, following every performance on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 9pm from 11 September 2013. Events are free to ticketholders for any performance in the run. Full listings will be announced on our website shortly.

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