Jamie Muscato to Lead London Premiere of A SUBJECT OF SCANDAL AND CONCERN, MAY 22

2016 marks the 60th anniversary of John Osborne's renowned Look Back in Anger.

In celebration of the man who liberated theatrical language (The Guardian), this year sees the London premiere of A Subject Of Scandal and Concern at the multi-award-winning Finborough Theatre, The Entertainer (starring Kenneth Branagh) at the Garrick Theatre and various stagings and a new radio production of Look Back in Anger. The Osborne celebrations continue with a splendid new biography of John Osborne by Peter Whitebrook, published by Oberon Books.

Osborne...changed the course of British theatre and earned him a reputation as one of the most forceful voices among a new generation of rebellious post-war dramatists (The New York Times).

John Osborne's A Subject Of Scandal and Concern, commissioned by the Finborough Theatre and directed by Jimmy Walters, marks the first theatrical staging of this play in over 40 years and its long overdue London premiere.

Cheltenham, 1842. George Jacob Holyoake is a poor young teacher, making his way from Birmingham to Bristol to visit a friend who has been imprisoned for publishing a journal that criticises the establishment. When he makes a stop in Cheltenham to address a lecture, his words and his overwhelming commitment to speak the truth will change his life forever. Arrested and tried for blasphemy, and separated from his starving wife and child, Holyoake is faced with the choice of conforming or staying true to his beliefs in a time of injustice and intolerance.

Based on the true story of the last man to stand trial for blasphemy in England, A Subject Of Scandal and Concern was originally written for television in 1960 starring Richard Burton and

A Subject of Scandal and Concern by John Osborne

Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED Sunday 22nd May - Tuesday 7th June 2016

Press Night: Monday 23rd May, 7.30pm

Rachel Roberts, and directed by Tony Richardson, and was first seen onstage in Nottingham in the early 1960s.

Playwright John Osborne was born in Fulham in 1929. His best known works include Look Back in Anger, The Entertainer, Luther, Inadmissible Evidence, West of Suez, A Sense of Detachment, Watch It Come Down, A Patriot For Me and The Hotel In Amsterdam, his screenplay for the film Tom Jones which won him an Oscar, and his autobiographies A Better Class of Person and Almost A Gentleman. Osborne died in 1994.

Presented by Proud Haddock in association with Neil McPherson for the Finborough Theatre.

www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk

Finborough Theatre is located in Earl's Court. The nearest underground stations are Earl's Court (on the District and Piccadilly lines) and West Brompton (on the District line and National Rail).

@ProudHaddock, #ScandalAndConcern

Tickets are available priced £18 (£16) from the Finborough Theatre Box Office and www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk, 0844 847 1652

Jimmy Walters
Philip Lindley
Simon Gethin Thomas Piers Sherwood Roberts Ste Clough

Bubb/Mason/Erskine/Jailer
Brother In Law/Pinching/Cerk/Chaplain Narrator/Maitland/Lefroy/Jones/Bartram Mrs Holyoake
Mr Holyoake Chairman/Magistrate/Cooper/Alexander

Ralph Birtwell Edmund Digby-Jones Doron Davidson Caroline Moroney Jamie Muscato Richard Shanks

All enquiries, high res images and further information:

Chloe? Nelkin, Chloe? Nelkin Consulting
E: chloe@chloenelkinconsulting.com, M: 07764 273 219 W: www.chloenelkinconsulting.com