Billie Piper will take the title role in a new play based on Lorca’s Yerma written and directed by Simon Stone, his first original work for the UK
Run now extended to 24 September 2016
Making her debut at the Young Vic, Piper will play Yerma, a woman whose inability to have a child tears her life apart.
The masterpiece of the greatest Spanish playwright of the twentieth century, Yerma tells the story of a woman whose fierce desire to be a mother is met with painful indifference by her husband, provoking a desperate reaction.
Simon Stone writes and directs a contemporary version of this tragedy of yearning and loss as his first original work in the UK.
Further casting for Yerma to be announced.
Billie Piper makes her Young Vic debut as Yerma. Her previous theatre credits include: Great Britain, The Effect – Oliver nomination for Best Actress (National Theatre); Reasons To Be Pretty (Almeida) and Treats – Evening Standard Theatre nomination for Best Actress (Garrick). Her film work includes: City of Tiny Lights, Animals United, Things to Do Before You’re 30, The Calcium Kid and Spirit Trap. Television credits include: Showtime’s Penny Dreadful, Doctor Who, A Passionate Woman, The Shadow in the North, The Ruby in the Smoke, Much Ado About Nothing, True Love and Canterbury Tales: The Miller’s Tale for the BBC, Secret Diary of a Call Girl and Mansfield Park for ITV.
Simon Stone is one of Australia’s leading theatre directors. He is currently working with Toneelgroep Amsterdam, Münchner Kammerspiele, Burgtheater Wien and TheatreBasel. His production of Thyestes was performed at Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers in Paris in 2015. In 2013 he collaborated with Andrew Upton and Cate Blanchett, directing Reunion, a short film which premiered at Berlinale. His adaptation of The Wild Duck which won a Helpmann Award and a Sydney Theatre Award played at London’s Barbican Theatre. It inspired his debut feature The Daughter which premiered in 2015 at the Sydney Film Festival before screening at the Melbourne and Toronto International Film Festivals, the Venice Days section of the Venice Film Festival and the London Film Festival. It will be released in the UK later in May 2016.
The Young Vic’s Taking Part department will produce a parallel production inspired by Yerma, featuring an all-female cast. It will be directed by Cat Shoobridge.
The Jerwood Assistant Director working with Simon Stone on Yerma is Sophie Moniram. The role is supported through the Jerwood Assistant Directors Program at the Young Vic.
Yerma by Simon Stone after Federico García Lorca, directed by Simon Stone runs 28 July – 24 September 2016 in the Young Vic’s Main House. Design is by Lizzie Clachan, costumes by Alice Babidge, light by James Farncombe and music and sound by Stefan Gregory.
www.youngvic.org
