Theatre503 Presents UK Debut of SOLD

Olivier-Award winning Theatre503 continues its commitment to new writers with the UK premiere of Sold (press night Thursday 21 April), a biting comedy set in the cut-throat world of property sales, where the drive for material success eclipses the desire for meaningful relationships. The original Australian production of Sold was developed by Cicely Berry of the RSC and played to critical acclaim, receiving the TheatreLAB Award 2006.

Granger & Co. Estate Agency. The bear pit. Anthony is fighting off a mid-life crisis, Gary is fighting for custody of his son and Hilary is fighting off a younger, prettier colleague. But in this world the sale comes first and everything else can take a back seat. Savagely funny and deeply touching, Sold is an acerbic comedy about the things we learn to live with and the true price of success.

Based on interviews with real estate professionals, Sold charts the dexterity with which five estate agents compete for commission on a multi-million pound property. Behind the repartee lies a catalogue of unrealised aspirations, and an examination of the notion that positive thinking cannot stand in for authentic feeling.

Selected by Robert Lepage to undertake a creative attachment with Ex Machina in Quebec in 2012, playwright Suzie Miller's previous successes include: Caress/Ache which was developed with Frantic Assembly and in 2011 will be further developed with The National Theatre Studio; Transparency (written under the Kit Denton Fellowship for writing with courage) which toured Northern Ireland and was nominated by The Irish Times and Belfast Herald as ‘best of' 2009; and Reasonable Doubt, produced to critical acclaim in 2008 at both the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. At the latter it won the Festival's award for Overall Excellence for Outstanding Playwriting. Suzie Miller was shortlisted for the 2010 Australian Writers Guild Award for drama; shortlisted for the Griffin Award 2009; won the Inscription 2009 and 2006 and was mentored by Edward Albee in 2009.

Sold is directed by Natalie Ibu and designed by Garance Marneur.

Having worked as Associate Director (Warehouse) for HighTide Festival Theatre since 2010, Sold marks the relaunch of Natalie Ibu's freelance career. In July 2009, she completed a year's residency at the Royal Court as their Trainee Director. Since graduating with a First Class Honours degree in 2004, she has completed residencies with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Court, Citizens' Theatre, Contact in Manchester and New Perspectives in the East Midlands. She has been awarded bursaries from ITV Directors Scheme, the Federation of Scottish Theatre, Scottish Arts Council and Arts Council East Midlands. Awards include Time Warner Ignite 2, IdeasTap Innovator's Award and the Lilian Baylis Award for Theatrical Excellence. As Director, credits include readings and productions at The Gate, Latitude, HighTide, BAC, Oran Mor, Traverse, Royal Court, ATC at the Young Vic, OVNV at The Old Vic, Royal Lyceum Youth Theatre at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Citizens Young Co. at the Citizens', G12, The Arches, Contact and TWP at Nottingham Playhouse.
Sold is designed by Garance Marneur, who studied Fine Art in Paris and went on to graduate in Design for Performance from Central Saint Martin's in London. She designs Set & Costume for theatre, dance and opera. Recent credits include: Herding Cats and The Chairs (Theatre Royal, Bath), My Arm / What Would Judas Do / A Prayer and Tonight David Ireland Will Lecture Dance and Box (Greyscale); Huck (national tour); Romeo and Juliet (StadtTheater Bern - Ballet-Switzerland), the multi-award winning Orphans (Traverse, Edinburgh, Birmingham Rep, Soho Theatre), Gagarin Way (Theatre Royal, Bath) and Turandot (Hampstead Theatre), for which Garance was awarded the Linbury Prize for Stage Design. She is currently working on a new project with San Francisco-based choreographer Ben Levy at Dundee Rep (Scottish Dance Theatre), and Rhetoric for Greyscale. Garance Marneur was the 2007 overall winner of the Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design. She was nominated for Most Successful Freelancer at the Creative Enterprise Awards 2009 & 2010.

Full cast: Abigail Thaw (theatre includes: Juliet and her Romeo at Bristol Old Vic; My Mother Said I Never Should at Watford Palace Theatre), Amanda Fairbank Hynes (feature films include: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; One Day and An Education), Henry Everett (theatre includes: The Nutcracker at Theatre Royal, Bath; All Creatures Great and Small at the Gala Theatre), Jamie De Courcey (theatre includes: Doctor Faustus and 1984 at the Royal Exchange, Manchester; television includes Downtown Abbey), Kate Copeland (theatre includes: Alice Through the Looking Glass at Theatre Royal, Bath; feature films include The Ghost; Pride and Prejudice) and Matthew Raymond (theatre includes: Musical for One at Hightide Festival; Remix at BAC).

Situated above the Latchmere pub in Battersea, South London, Theatre503 has been in the last few years a training ground for such hugely successful playwrights as the Olivier-Award winning Katori Hall (The Mountaintop) and Mike Bartlett (Cock, Earthquakes in London). Under Artistic Directors Paul Robinson and Tim Roseman, and without any regular government funding, Theatre503 has established a formidable reputation as a producer of fearless new writing to match any theatre of its size in the country.

Sold
By Susie Miller
19 April - 14 May 2011
Directed by Natalie Ibu
Full cast: Abigail Thaw, Amanda Fairbank-Hynes, Henry Everett, Jamie De Courcey,
Kate Copeland, Matthew Raymond
Tue-Sat 7.45pm; Sun 5pm
£14 / £9 concs.
Sundays: Pay what you can

Theatre503
Above ‘The Latchmere' Pub
503 Battersea Park Road
London SW11 3BW

Box office 020 7978 7040 / www.theatre503.com
Overground: Clapham Junction (from Victoria/ Waterloo) then 10min walk or bus 49, 319, 344, 345
Tube: Sloane Square then bus 319 or South Kensington then bus 49 or 345

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