Tom Holloway's FORGET ME NOT Begins Tonight at Bush Theatre

The UK premiere production of FORGET ME NOT by Tom Holloway stars Eleanor Bron, Russell Floyd, Sarah Ridgeway and Sargon Yelda. The production, directed by HighTide Festival Theatre's Artistic Director Steven Atkinson, previews from tonight 8 December (press night 11 December) and runs through 16 January 2016 in a co-production between the Bush Theatre and HighTide Festival Theatre.

Under an agreement between the British and Australian Governments, between 1945 and 1968, over three thousand British children were told they were orphans and sent to Australia on a promise of warmth, fresh air, abundant food and boundless opportunity. Instead they arrived to deprived institutions where neglect and abuse were the norm.

Tom Holloway's tender new play unearths a secret buried by time that, in turn, exposes a world of historical injustices currently in the limelight. This European premiere reunites the Bush Theatre with HighTide Festival Theatre (Incognito by Nick Payne, 2014) and is directed by HighTide's Artistic Director, Steven Atkinson.

Russell Floyd plays Gerry, Eleanor Bron plays Mary, Sarah Ridgeway plays Sally and Sargon Yelda plays Mark.

Eleanor Bron is well known for being the voice of Carol Tregorran in BBC Radio 4's The Archers. Her major film credits include Ken Russell's Women In Love, the children's classic A Little Princess and the 2012 costume drama Hyde Park on Hudson. She has worked extensively in television and theatre. On stage she has appeared in The Late Middle Classes (Donmar Warehouse), All About My Mother (Old Vic), The Miser, The White Devil, The Duchess of Malfi and The Cherry Orchard (all National Theatre).

Russell Floyd is best known to television viewers as Michael Rose in EastEnders and as D.C. Ken Drummond in The Bill. His theatre credits include Sir Courtly Nice (RSC), Going To A Party (National Theatre), The Importance Of Being Earnest (Oxford Playhouse), Privates On Parade (Westcliff Palace Theatre), Dracula (Hull Truck), Up And Under (Swansea Theatre Royal), Fit And Proper People (Soho Theatre), the title role in Hangman (Tristan Bates) and, most recently, Happy Birthday Sunita (Watford Palace Theatre and UK / International Tour). Other television credits include London's Burning, Casualty, Doctors, Dream Team, Frank Stubbs Presents and The Fridge.

Sarah Ridgeway's theatre credits include: A Taste of Honey (Salisbury Playhouse), Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare's Globe), Days of Significance, Titus Andronicus, Candide and A Mad World, My Masters (RSC), You Can't Take it With You and The Acrington Pals (The Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester), Sucker Punch (The Royal Court), Twelfth Night (Regents Park Open Air Theatre), The Cherry Orchard (The Young Vic and Harrogate for HighTide Festival Theatre). Television credits include: Miss Marple, The Crimson Petal and The White, The Suspicions of Mister Whicher, Satisfaction, Call the Midwife, Dark Matters, The Making of a Lady and Holby City.

Sargon Yelda's credits include Light Shining in Buckinghamshire and Dara (National Theatre), Teh Internet is Serious Business (Royal Court), Incognito (HighTide Festival Theatre/ Live Theatre/ Bush Theatre), Moby Dick & The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Simple 8/ Arcola Theatre), The Tempest, Twelfth Night, The Comedy of Errors (RSC), Emperor & Galilean (RNT), Mother Courage and Her Children (RNT), When the Rain Stops Falling (Almeida), Stovepipe (RNT/Bush Theatre/Hightide) and Salt Meets Wound (Theatre 503).

Tom Holloway is an award-winning Australian playwright. Plays include Beyond the Neck (Performing Lines, Tasmania, 2008 - winner of the Australian Writers' Guild award for Writing For The Stage), Don't Say the Words (Griffin Theatre Company and Tasmania Theatre, 2008), Red Sky Morning (Red Stitch Actors Theatre, 2008 - Green Room Award for Best New Australian Play), And No More Shall We Part (In Australia, Griffin Theatre Company, 2011 Winner of the Australian Writers' Guild for Writing for the Stage and the Louis Esson Victorian Premier's Award for Literature, in the UK, Hampstead Theatre London and Traverse Theatre Edinburgh, 2012) and Love Me Tender (Company B Belvoir St/ Griffin Theatre Company and Thin Ice, 2009 & 2010), Gambling (Soho Theatre/ Eleanor Lloyd Productions, London 2010), Fatherland (The Gate Theatre, London 2011 and Munich Yung Og Radikal Festival), Forget Me Not (Co-commissioned by Liverpool Everyman and Belvoir Street Theatre and produced by Belvoir, 2013).

Steven Atkinson is the co-founder and Artistic Director of HighTide Festival Theatre. His directing for HighTide includes Lampedusa (Soho Theatre/HighTide Festival), peddling (Arcola Theatre/Off-Broadway/HighTide Festival), Pussy Riot: Hunger Strike (Bush Theatre/Southbank Centre), Neighbors (Nuffield Theatre/HighTide Festival), Bottleneck (Soho Theatre/UK tour), Clockwork, (HighTide Festival), Bethany (HighTide Festival/Public Theater, New York), Incoming (Latitude Festival/HighTide Festival), Dusk Rings A Bell (Watford Palace Theatre/HighTide Festival), Lidless (Trafalgar Studios/HighTide Festival), Muhmah (HighTide Festival), The Pitch (Latitude Festival). His other direction includes Three Card Trick (Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse), The Afghan and the Penguin (BBC Radio 4), Freedom Trilogy (Hull Truck Theatre) and Sexual Perversity in Chicago (Edinburgh Festival).

RADAR, the Bush's festival of new writing, runs from 11-26 November. FORGET ME NOT will be followed by PINK MIST, the acclaimed Bristol Old Vic Production (21 January - 13 February 2016).

The Bush is a world-famous home for new plays and an internationally renowned champion of playwrights. We discover, nurture and produce the best new playwrights from the widest range of backgrounds, and present their work to the highest possible standards. We look for exciting new voices that tell contemporary stories with wit, style and passion and we champion work that is both provocative and entertaining.

The Bush has produced hundreds of groundbreaking premieres since its inception in 1972, many of them Bush commissions, and hosted guest productions by leading companies and artists from across the world. The Bush is widely acclaimed as the seedbed for the best new playwrights, many of whom have gone on to become established names. The Bush has won over 100 awards, and developed an enviable reputation for touring its acclaimed productions nationally and internationally. For more information, visit: www.bushtheatre.co.uk

Madani Younis took over as Artistic Director of the Bush Theatre in 2012. Earlier this year he directed the critically acclaimed UK premiere of The Royale. In 2013 he won the Groucho Club Maverick Award for the theatre, following the most successful season in the theatre's history which played to 99% capacity. Also for the Bush Theatre he has directed Perseverance Drive and Chalet Lines. Prior to his appointment at the Bush Theatre, he was Artistic Director of Freedom Studios in Bradford, Yorkshire where his work included the site-specific work, The Mill - City of Dreams. He has also worked nationally and internationally as a theatre director, writer and practitioner. Whilst at Freedom Studios he collaborated with the Bush Theatre through workshops culminating in Freedom's two week residency in 2010 at the theatre. He was previously Director of Red Ladder Theatre Company's Asian Theatre School. He originally trained in film, and his debut short film Ellabellapumpanella, commissioned by the UK Film Council, was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2007. He was the recipient of the Decibel Award at the South Bank Awards show in 2006.

Forget Me Not is the eighth collaboration between the Bush Theatre and HighTide. It follows INCOGNITO by Nick Payne and Pussy Riot: Hunger Strike by Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, which like Forget Me Not was directed by HighTide's Artistic Director Steven Atkinson. HighTide Festival Theatre is one of the UK's leading producers of new plays, and one of the few professional theatres focused on the production of new playwrights. Now entering its ninth year, HighTide has premiered more than fifty productions by now major playwrights including Ella Hickson, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Nick Payne, Adam Brace, Beth Steel, Sam Holcroft, Luke Barnes, Vickie Donoghue, Anders Lustgarten, Jack Thorne and Joel Horwood.

IF YOU GO:

08 December 2015 - 16 January 2016
FORGET ME NOT
By Tom Holloway

Press night 11 December, 7pm

Mon to Sat at 7.30pm
2.30pm Saturday matinees (from 19 December)
2.30pm Wednesday matinees (from 16 December)

Christmas performance schedule:
Monday 21 Dec 2.30pm
Monday 21 Dec 7.30pm
Tuesday 22 Dec 7.30pm
Wednesday 23 Dec 2.30pm
Wednesday 23 Dec 7.30pm
Monday 28 Dec 7.30pm
Tuesday 29 Dec 7.30pm
Wednesday 30 Dec 2.30pm
Wednesday 30 Dec 7.30pm
Thursday 31 Dec 2.30pm
Saturday 02 Jan 2.30pm
Saturday 02 Jan 7.30pm

BushGreen Live Debate: At a time of public inquiries into historic abuse, how do we maintain public trust in our institutions? 11 January, time tbc

Captioned performance 15 January, 7:30pm
Audio described performance 9 January, 2:30pm

Ticket prices: Evenings: £20; £12.50 concessions (registered unemployed and disabled) - £15.50 for Senior Citizens; £12.50 for students/under 26s; 10% off for Bush Local members; Previews: £15.50 - £10.50 concessions (registered unemployed and disabled); £12.50 for Senior Citizens; £10.50 for students/under 26s; £12.50 for Bush Local members; Matinees: £15 - £10.00 concessions (registered unemployed and disabled); £10.00 for students/under 26s; £10.00 for Senior Citizens; 10% off for Bush Local members.

Season Offers*

Season 3 for 2
See 3 shows for the price of 2. Valid for top price tickets only, shows must be purchased at the same time. Not valid for previews, matinees or RADAR.

Live or work locally - Join our free local membership scheme Bush Local for £12.50 preview tickets, 10% off all other performances and a 10% discount at the Cafe Bar. For more information and to become a member, visit bushtheatre.co.uk

Educational Groups - Schools tickets are £10 (matinees) and £12.50 (evenings), plus one teacher goes free with every 10 pupils. To reserve tickets, please call the Box Office between 12 - 8pm.

Bush Connect scheme - A free membership scheme for students and under 26s, BUSH CONNECT offers its members £10-£12.50 tickets for all Bush Theatre productions, a 10% discount at the Cafe Bar, special offers, giveaways and competitions, and exclusive events and networking opportunities.

Group Bookings - Book for a group of 11 or more people and the 11th person will go for free.

*Terms and conditions apply, see the Bush website for further information.