Pluck. Productions Announces Cast For World Premiere Of David K Barnes' Birthday Suit

pluck. productions today announces the cast for world première of Birthday Suit, a new comedy by David K. Barnes. Opening on 13 January at the Old Red Lion Theatre, Alice Malin directs Liam Bewley (Richard), Philip Honeywell (Nick), Ej Martin (Diane) and Emily Stride (Valerie).

This is where the magic happens!

It's Richard's birthday. The big 4-0. He's throwing a party and inviting all his colleagues. Diane is new to the firm, and, delighted to be asked, she's brought along her boyfriend, Nick, who has promised to be the spirit of party itself.

There's trifle. Lots of trifle. And nibbles. There's just one problem.

Nobody else is coming to Richard's party.

It looks like Diane and Nick are in for a long evening, trapped with their peculiar host and their own worst anxieties. Until, that is, someone does turn up. Someone with a lot of history, and an appetite for revenge.

Not interrupting anything? I let myself in...

A sharp and biting new comedy that asks: at what point we do give up our dreams and join in with the real world?

David K. Barnes is best known for the acclaimed podcast sitcom Wooden Overcoats, for which he is the lead writer. The show has received plaudits in the press and online, and his opening episode was nominated for Best European Digital Audio of the Year at the Prix Europa 2016. His extensive writing credits include the Edinburgh Festival Fringe sell-out comedies Wild Allegations and Games of Love and Chance, and the internationally produced Timothy. His supernatural stage play The Awkward Ghost is being developed for other mediums.

Liam Bewley plays Richard. His recent theatre credits include Ace of Clubs and Treehouses (Union Theatre) and They Who Lay In The Fields Like Beasts (Theatre Royal Haymarket). Television credits include Silent Witness and The Double.

Philip Honeywell plays Nick. His theatre credits include Persuasion (Rosemary Branch Theatre & tour), Clap Hands (Hackney Showrooms), Jane Eyre (national tour), A Clockwork Orange (Soho Theatre & International tour) and Playlist (Theatre 503). Television credits include London Isn't Waiting, Inner Workings, and Rob'd.

Ej Martin returns to the Old Red Lion to play Diane - she previously appeared in Happy Birthday Wanda June. Her recent theatre credits include A Room With A View (Theatre Royal Bath And UK tour), The Last Tycoon, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Arts Theatre), Phoebe (King's Head Theatre), In Lipstick (Arcola Theatre), Lomography (Criterion Theatre) and Should I Stay Or Should I Go (Roundhouse). Her film credits include Allied.

Emily Stride plays Valerie. Her theatre credits include The Hollow (The Mill at Sonning), The Father (Wyndham's Theatre), Birdsong (UK tour), Volcano (Vaudeville Theatre and tour), The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Comedy of Errors (Rainbow Shakespeare Company Rep), Arcadia (Hong Kong Arts Centre), Romeo And Juliet (Hong Kong tour). For television, her credits include The Night Manager, The Worst Witch, The Moomins, Seven Devils, Red Kingdom Rising and Me And Mine.

Alice Malin directs. Her directing credits include 10,000 Smarties and The Fever (Old Fire Station, Oxford), Treasure (Finborough Theatre), fiji land (Southwark Playhouse), Freefall: A Double Bill of New Plays (New Wimbledon Studio), Fluxorama (Theatre 503), The Ones Who Kill Shooting Stars (White Bear Theatre), In Lipstick (Arcola Theatre), Lomography (Criterion Theatre), The Deal (Pleasance Theatre), HMS Stalwart (Upstairs at the Arts Theatre) and McQueen: React (St James Theatre). Associate and assistant directing credits include A Midsummer Night's Dream (Brit Program, University of South Florida), A Room with a View (Theatre Royal Bath and tour), Ross (Chichester Festival Theatre), Measure for Measure and Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare's Globe).

For more information visit www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk or call 0844 412 4307.