REP Returns To London in 2012 With TWELFTH NIGHT, MARY STEWART et al.

2011 Peter Brook Empty Space Award winning company (Equity Ensemble Award for Schiller's The Robbers in association with The New Diorama Theatre,) the faction theatre company in association with The New Diorama Theatre, bring the tradition of REP back to London in 2012.

With a season that represents the body of work produced by the ensemble over the last 3 years. Shakespeare (TWELFTH NIGHT,) Schiller (Mary Stuart,) and Strindberg (MISS JULIE) help the company realise their ambitious goals of creating a permanent full time ensemble within central London.

"This is the first time we've had the opportunity to move towards the REP system, which is something we'd always hoped to do. Our goal has always been to be a permanent ensemble in the way that many international companies exist and making that idea work in the UK". – Mark Leipacher: Artistic Director

TWELFTH NIGHT, Mary Stuart and MISS JULIE all share the thread of women and authority or women in a 'Man's World.'

The three plays – and the productions – absolutely exist in their own right, but a gender political thread gives narrative to the REP season as a whole or a unique way of viewing these three plays together.

With all three productions being directed by MARK LEIPACHER – the unique 'stripped down' approach and visual inventiveness of the company will be as present as ever, creating a strong contemporary aesthetic in which to view these classic productions. Having been heavily influenced by the work of the Schaubuehne in Berlin, the faction are aiming to be an international company, not just in style but also in their working practice.

"This gives us the chance to revive the REP system which has sadly disappeared, or only exists in fragments at the moment. Over the next few years we hope to make a permanent ensemble – something which we believe no one else in central London is doing at the moment"

The season will also be complimented by a series of post show events, forums and Q&A sessions including a number of guest speakers (to be confirmed) details of which will be released in due course.

TWELFTH NIGHT by William Shakespeare
January 2012 at 7:30pm – New Diorama Theatre
"If music be the food of love, play on." The intelligent and resourceful Viola and her twin brother Sebastian are separated during a shipwreck, each believing the other is dead. Disguising herself as a boy to serve in the court of Duke Orsino, Viola is sent on a mission to woo the Countess Olivia on his behalf. But Olivia falls desperately in love with Viola's alter ego.

Mary Stuart by Schiller in a new adaptation by Daniel Miller & Mark Leipacher
January at 7:30pm – New Diorama Theatre
"With the Queen I share my blood, my rank, my sex. With her alone as a cousin, a sovereign, a woman, may I talk of freedom." A political prisoner is accused of religious extremism, incitement of war and masterminding assassination. She has been retrospectively charged with a law that was invented specifically for her. She has been denied access to witnesses and found guilty by a jury – but not a jury of her peers. That would be impossible; her only peer is Queen Elizabeth I. This presents Elizabeth with a terrifying dilemma: to reign in fear for the rest of her life or to have her cousin and fellow queen executed.

"If music be the food of love, play on" Miss Julie by Strindberg in a new adaptation by Emily Juniper
"We must handle this sensibly – like cold blooded people." On a sultry midsummer night, the young and wilful Miss Julie has caused a stir by dancing at a party in the servants' quarters. She is ferociously attracted to the intelligent and experienced Jean, her father's footman. Their battle of the sexes rapidly escalates from flirtatious contest to a dangerous need for control in Strindberg's masterpiece of class, lust, and power.

COMPANY INFORMATION
WRITER/DIRECTOR-MARK LEIPACHER
Mark is the Artistic Director of the faction theatre co. He trained at the University of Manchester, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and The National Theatre Studio. His credits for the faction are: The Robbers (Theatre Royal Bath / New Diorama Theatre); The Canterbury Tales (Bridewell Theatre / Hampton Court Palace / The British Museum); Intrigue and Love (Southwark Playhouse); The Odyssey (Bridewell Theatre); Strindberg's Apartment (New Diorama Theatre); The Tempest (Jack Studio Theatre / Brockwell Park); Twelfth Night and Macbeth (Tabard Theatre / Jack Studio Theatre) and Richard III (Jack Studio Theatre). His other credits include: Luminosity for Story Project 3 (Southwark Playhouse); The Laundry for Write Now 2 (Jack Studio Theatre); Amanah for Story Project 2 (Southwark Playhouse); The Bitch From Brixton for the Write
Now Festival (Jack Studio Theatre); Odette: The Dark Side of Swan Lake; Medea and Eden's Itch (Bridewell Theatre); Precious Friends (Tabard Theatre); Coriolanus (Jack Studio Theatre); Discretion and the Mouthpiece (Contact Theatre); Medea (Stephen Joseph Studio); En
Suite Lies and Of Sound Mind (Edinburgh).

He is the Associate Director for Michael Morpurgo's Private Peaceful adapted and directed by Simon Reade (UK Tour / West End /Edinburgh / Hong Kong) and was Assistant Director to Anthony Page for Design for Living (Old Vic). His writing for theatre includes adaptations of three Schiller plays (all with Daniel Millar); Discretion and the Mouthpiece; Eden's Itch and the book and lyrics for Malicious Aloysius. His writing about theatre includes articles for the Guardian, The National Theatre and the Old Vic and Catching the Light: Sam Mendes and Simon Russell Beale published by Oberon Books.

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR- RACHEL VALENTINE-SMITH
Rachel has spent the last twelve months working voluntarily in South Africa developing theatre workshops for schools in and around Johannesburg. This has also lead to adapting African folklore into short plays for township schools and starting an all female community theatre group.
Rachels theatre credits include: The Silver Tongue of Amy Ducatti, (Knapper Productions) The Comedy of Errors (Assistant Director, The Curious Room),The Highwayman (The Curious Room) An Evening of Pinter Shorts.(Lipservice). Rachel has previously designed for BBC Broadcast, Saatchi
and Empire Design and worked in production and for the BBC and in the European independent film industry. Credits include Bathory (F&ME) and Quest for a Heart (F&ME).

COMPOSERS - SONS BETWEEN GUNS
'Sons Between Guns' were setup in December 2010 by Thomas Whitelaw and Paul Trivett.
Thomas Whitelaw is an Associate Artist for The Faction, having composed music and sound design for 'The Tempest', 'Intrigue/Love', 'The Robber's', 'Canterbury Tales' and 'Strindberg's Appartment's', and Paul Trivett has been writing and producing Drum and Bass for the past 15 years under the name Paul T. With a mixture of Vocal's, Guitar's, Samples and Electronic Beat's their music is heavily influenced by a wide range of artists such as David Bowie, Can, Antonín Dvo?ák and The Future Sound of London, and they were eager to create music and sound for The Fairy Realm of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' using elements of their own style to convey a world inhabited by the supernatural.

With a plan to start performing live later in 2011, their music can be heard at the following websites: http://soundcloud.com/sonsbetweenguns & http://www.facebook.com/SonsBetweenGuns.