Love Is My Sin Plays London Dates At The Rose Thru Jan. 16

C.I.C.T. / Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord production of Love Is My Sin, the sonnets of William Shakespeare conceived and directed by Peter Brook and performed by his wife, Natasha Parry and Michael Pennington will play its only London dates at the Rose Theatre from 14-16 January.

Love Is My Sin premiered in Paris at Bouffes du Nord April, 2009. The first series of performances were played by Natasha Parry and Bruce Myers. Subsequent to an engagement for Bruce Myers at the National Theatre in London a second successful European tour brought the outstanding Shakespeare actor Michael Pennington into the cast.

Peter Brook said "Shakespeare's Sonnets allow us to penetrate into his own, most secret life. They are his private diary, in which we find his intimate questions, his jealousy, his passions, his guilt, his despair.

Above all, he searches to discover for himself the deep meaning of being attracted by a man or by a woman, even by the act of writing itself.
Natasha Parry and Michael Pennington bring their long experience of Shakespeare and their own humanity to serve these unique confessions as they read, deliver and act his sonnets."

Born in 1925, Peter Brook has directed a number of plays in London, Paris and New York. He has worked extensively for the RSC and directed many Opera productions. He founded the International Centre for Theatre Research in Paris and in 1974, opened its permanent base in Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord.

Mr. Brook's autobiography, Threads of Time, was published in 1998 and joins other titles including The Empty Space (1968) - translated into over 15 languages, The Shifting Point (1987), Evoking (and Forgetting) Shakespeare (2002), and There are No Secrets (1993).

His films include Lord of the Flies, Marat/Sade, King Lear, Moderato Cantabile, The Mahabharata and Meetings with Remarkable Men

Natasha Parry made her stage debut at 12 years old and went onto become one of the original members of Peter Brook's International Centre of Theatre Research. They performed an experimental Tempest at the Round House in London, before continuing their work in Paris, later travelling to Africa, Iran, Australia and the U.S.

She returned to England to play in A Streetcar Named Desire and at the RSC's Stratford and London bases Hippolytus, Measure for Measure and Children of the Sun by Maxim Gorki, directed by Terry Hands.

Later, Peter Brook directed her in The Cherry Orchard with Michel Piccoli, Tchin Tchin opposite Marcello Mastroianni, Beckett's Happy Days in French, which she performed over 350 times in Paris, followed by a worldwide tour, including London at the Riverside Studios and in 2001, she played in Brook's The Tragedy of Hamlet at the Bouffes du Nord which came to the Young Vic during its world tour. She played in London, opposite Michel Piccoli, in Peter Brook's production of Ta Main dans la Mienne.

Natasha has starred in a number of other productions both in Paris and London, and has extensive film credits.

Michael Pennington first played Hamlet and Troilus at Cambridge University and was then invited to join the RSC and subsequently played a number of title roles for them.

He was also co-founder and Joint Artistic Director of the English Shakespeare Company from
1985 to 1992, playing the title roles in Coriolanus, Henry V, Macbeth and Richard II, and Leontes in The Winter's Tale.

Michael has extensive theatre credits and his recent work includes two solo shows: Anton Chekhov (National Theatre and International touring) and Sweet William (on Shakespeare - West End and US tour). He has recently finished playing Richard Strauss in Collaboration and Wilhelm Furtwängler in Taking Sides in the West End.

Michael Pennington's published writing includes User's Guides to Hamlet, Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night's Dream; Are You There Crocodile - Inventing Anton Chekhov; and Sweet William (in preparation). He was the British Academy Shakespeare Lecturer in 2004.