Preview: Breakfast Hearts / Choirplay at Live Theatre

A pioneering new theatre company present a double bill of plays by award-winning writer Robin French

Wednesday 15 to Saturday 18 October, 
Breakfast Hearts / Choirplay
Presented by The Six Twenty
Written by Robin French 
Directed by Melanie Rashbrooke

Due to demand the run of Breakfast Hearts / Choirplay is being extended at Live Theatre. They've added two extra performances on Friday 20 and Saturday 21 February. The Wednesday and Thursday performances are now sold out.

From Robin French, the award-winning writer of Bear Hug (Royal Court) and screenwriter of Cuckoo (BBC 3), comes a double bill of piercingly funny and irreverent plays about what it means to live and love in the 21^st century – with Ikea and cannibalism.

Breakfast Hearts / Choirplay is presented by The Six Twenty from Wednesday 18 February to Saturday 21 February at 7.30pm in Live Theatre’s intimate Studio Theatre. The Six Twenty is a pioneering new theatre company, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, created by theatre director Melanie Rashbrooke.

Breakfast Hearts is a dark and disturbing comedy following two mismatched couples determined to find love. This sharp satire offers a startling exploration of the harsh realities of relationships. And cannibalism.

Breakfast Hearts features an exciting cast of up-and-coming north east talent including Alex Tahnée, one eighth of north east theatre company The Letter Room, as a wife that can’t swim who is obsessed with buying a pool and Chris Foley (10 Minutes To...Take Off, Mixtape and Write Stuff, Live Theatre) as a loud-mouth insurance broker who saws his secretary (Amy Foley) in half. They’re joined by an innumerate accountant (Stan Hodgson) and his obsessive girlfriend who has unexpected urges (Katie Powell) and her first husband (Steven Blackshaw). Joining the Breakfast Hearts cast in Choirplay are Glen Collier, Jessica Dawson, Zoë Hakin and Hannah Walker.

Choirplay is an audacious experiment with form and style in which the eternal problem of finding happiness is pitted against our insatiable modern desire for never-ending choice. Featuring a cast of ten, Choirplay takes a wry and cynical swipe at our endless battle with wanting more. Society’s individuals blend to become one in this hauntingly compelling play of voices searching for the ultimate fulfilment of true happiness.

The plays were originally produced as work-in-development showings at Theatre503 in 2007, by Tickle Productions. The Six Twenty are previewing the shows for the first time as full scale productions.

As Melanie Rashbrooke, The Six Twenty’s artistic director explains:

“I’m thrilled to be previewing this double bill at Live Theatre early next year as The Six Twenty’s first official production. Ever since I was involved with the initial work-in-development showings of Robin’s plays, at Theatre503, I’ve always wanted to direct them and see them produced as full scale shows. I’m particularly excited to bring the double bill to Newcastle and preview them at Live Theatre, which is a powerhouse of bold new theatre. We’ve got a fantastic cast of emerging north east talent who are going to bring these piercingly funny and poignant plays to life. I hope you can join us”

Robin French’s first play, Bear Hug, was produced at The Royal Court in 2004, and he was one of Paines Plough and Channel 4’s Future Perfect writers. He was chosen by The Observer as one of Britain's brightest up and coming talents in 2005. He has twice been chosen as a Broadcast Hotshot (2006 and 2008). His short film Crocodile won production funding from the BFI and was nominated for a BIFA for Best British short. In 2014, the completed film went on to win awards at Cannes, Encounters, and Guanajuato festival in Mexico. He’s also recently co-written the hit BBC3 sitcom Cuckoo with his best friend from school, Kieron Quirke.

“Blazingly funny, intensely disturbing and audaciously ambitious”
The Times on Bear Hug

Tickets

These bold and ambitious shows will be performed in Live Theatre’s Studio Theatre from  Wednesday 18 February to Saturday 21 February  at 7.30pm. Tickets for Breakfast Hearts / Choirplay cost £8 full price and £6 concessions and can be booked by contacting Live Theatre’s box office on (0191) 232 1232 or by visiting www.live.org.uk.