LISTEN, WE'RE FAMILY Set for Revival With JW3 and Wilton's Music Hall

LISTEN, WE'RE FAMILY, the hit show at JW3 last Autumn, is to be freshly revived in a new co-production between JW3 and Wilton's Music Hall.

The play, written by Kerry Shale and Matthew Lloyd, was created using the verbatim theatre technique. A revelatory exploration of contemporary family life, it dramatises the universally true stories of an extraordinary gallery of real characters.

Wilton's Music Hall is situated in the heart of the "old East End" of the Jewish community who populated the area so densely before moving on. Understanding the lives of local families over the years is an important part of Wilton's research today - helping the theatre to understand its past and the position it will hold within the local communities of the future.

"When we started the project," said actor and co-creator Kerry Shale, "we had no idea we would be entrusted with such hilarious and hair-raising material. Everyone connects with a different story, whether it's the Medallion Man who started a suburban spanking club, the Rabbi on the liberation of Belsen or the 91 year-old barber who experienced a childhood punch-up around the corner from Wilton's."

Director and co-creator Matthew Lloyd added: "One of the most moving things last time round was the way the contributors themselves responded to the show. They're just ordinary people getting through their lives, but there's a real heroism in the way they share that and make you laugh as well as cry about it."

Two of the original cast, Kerry Shale and Tom Berish, will reprise their roles alongside new cast members Jennie Stoller and Debbie Chazen. Jennie's theatre credits recently include Ding Dong The Wicked and Seven Jewish Children (both Royal Court Theatre), Hacked (Theatre 503) and Scorched (Old Vic Tunnels). Debbie Chazen has recently appeared on stage in Calendar Girls and The Duck House (both West End) and on screen in Holby City (BBC). Debbie is also is a specialist in the verbatim technique from her work with acclaimed playwright Alecky Blythe in The Girlfriend Experience.

Raymond Simonson, Chief Executive of JW3, said: "This was our inaugural theatre commission and it struck such a powerful chord with our audience that we had to find a way to bring it back."

Frances Mayhew, Artistic Director of Wilton's, said: "Matthew Lloyd created a really poignant and beautiful verbatim play about modern day pilgrims for Wilton's during our first building phase - as we started on our own pilgrimage to fix Wilton's. He and Kerry are so sensitively able to take real people's stories and transform them perfectly on stage. These particular stories also resonate with Wilton's heritage and we were delighted to be asked to launch its revival with JW3 now, during the final phase of our building works."

Creative Team
Writers: Kerry Shale and Matthew Lloyd
Designer: Carla Goodman
Sound Designer: Steve Mayo

Cast in alphabetical order
Tom Berish
Debbie Chazen
Kerry Shale
Jennie Stoller

Box Office:
wiltons.org.uk
020 7702 2789
Address:
Wilton's Music Hall, Graces Alley off Ensign St, E1 8JB.
Travel:
Nearest Tubes: Aldgate East, Tower Hill, Shadwell DLR
Title:
Listen, We're Family
Venues:
Wilton's Music Hall and JW3
Genre:
Theatre (12+)
Dates:
14th October 2014 - 25th October 2014
Times:
7:30pm, 2:30pm matinees on 18th, 19th & 25th October
Prices:
£16.50 full price, £12.50 concessions

N/B: There will be no shows on 15th & 20th October. This production transfers to JW3, the new Jewish Community Centre in NW3, from 27th October - 9th November.

Matthew is a director, producer and writer. From 2002 to 2011, he was Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the Actors Centre, where he nurtured early verbatim theatre work by Recorded Delivery and cross arts projects such as the Museum of Broken Relationships. Before that, he was Joint Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester (1997-2001) and Associate Director of Hampstead Theatre (1991-1997). In 2012 he devised and curated I Am A Pilgrim for Wilton's Constructionism Season.

Kerry Shale was the MC and co-organiser of the long-running monthly event, True Stories Told Live. He is a Sony Award-winning actor and writer whose stage credits include Frost/Nixon and His Girl Friday. Recent TV credits include Mr Selfridge, Dr Who and Life's Too Short. Kerry also appeared on The Review Show and is a regular contributor to Saturday Review. In 2012 he performed in I Am A Pilgrim at Wilton's Music Hall.

Wilton's Music Hall:
Phase 2 of the Capital Project and The Chrysalis Club

Building work for Phase 2 began in spring 2014. During this year long capital project Wilton's invites you to The Chrysalis Club. As we are cocooned inside our scaffolding wrap, we are offering activities ranging from lime mortar mixing classes to binaural sound compositions, disappearing websites to opera cabaret. We are hatching new plans, practising new skills, forming new relationships and making magic within these unusual confines. Wilton's will never be the same again, inside and out, it is a unique time and we really hope you will continue to be a part of our family and our metamorphosis from floor fixers and roof menders to art creators and heritage sharers.

Find us on twitter and facebook @wiltonmusichall, facebook.com/wiltonsmusichall

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