New York City, 1940. A dilapidated house in Brooklyn Heights.
The bohemian lifestyle of Benjamin Britten, WH Auden, Carson McCullers and Gypsy Rose Lee in the artistic community at 7 Middagh Street starts to unravel as World War II becomes a brutal reality.
Exiled in America for his beliefs and a national disgrace Benjamin Britten must decide which way his conflicted political ideals lie but the constant parties, doomed affairs and John Dunne, the mysterious stranger provide an easy distraction.
Based on true events, the World Premiere of Zoe Lewis’s passionate and thought-provoking play takes place in the beautiful and unique setting of Wilton’s Music Hall.
Starring Sadie Frost and directed by Oli Rose, Britten in Brooklyn will play for a strictly limited season of 21 performances from 31 August – 17 September.
Sadie said: “I am thrilled that the premiere of Zoe’s brilliant play is to be staged in Wilton’s Music Hall. It was always our first choice of venue and the stunningly restored theatre with its beautiful, faded bohemian elegance, will form an integral part of the production.”
Sadie Frost previously starred in Zoe Lewis’s one-woman play, Touched, in the West End at Trafalgar Studios.
Director Oli Rose is the artistic director of Rogues’ Gallery. His acclaimed production, Run, recently premiered at the 2016 London Vault Festival. Oli won the Old Vic New Voices Ignite 5 competition.
Further exciting casting and creatives to be announced.
www.britteninbrooklyn.com
SADIE FROST (Gypsy Rose Lee)
Sadie was foremost an actress, performing extensively on stage and screen. She achieved success at an early age, attending Italia Conti school and appearing in the play Mumbo Jumbo, directed by Nicholas Hytner, at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester at 19. Her first film role came as ‘Rebecca’ in the film Dark Obsession (originally titled Diamond Skulls), opposite Gabriel Byrne and Amanda Donohue. Since then Sadie has featured in over 20 films, including working with Francis Ford Coppola as ‘Lucy Westenra’ in Bram Stoker’s Dracula alongside Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder and Anthony Hopkins. She starred in the one-woman West End play Touched…For The Very First Time, directed by Douglas Rintoul and produced by Imogen Lloyd Webber, and in 2010, acted in Fool For Love at Riverside Studios opposite The Libertine’s Carl Barat. In the mid-nineties, Sadie’s interest in production grew and she helped form the production company Natural Nylon with Jude Law, Ewan McGregor, Sean Pertwee, Jonny Lee Miller and Bradley Adams. They produced the science fiction/horror feature eXistenZ in 1999, which was followed by films Nora XX/XY, Owning Mahowny and To Kill a King. Sadie has been behind a number of features and short films; she produced the short film Come What May with Rhys Ifans and the fashion film Enchantment with supermodel Helena Christensen and Liberty Ross. She also co-produced Love, Honour and Obey starring Jude Law and Ray Winstone, and Sky Captain starring Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, which went on to make $58 million at the box office. Continuing her desire to work in film, Sadie formed Blonde to Black Pictures with her friends Emma Comley and Andrew Green in 2011. With an ethos to nurture and develop new talent, mixing a formula of art-house with more mainstream commercial successes and exposure, they completed their first feature Buttercup Bill in 2013. Featuring a strong female led story, and written and directed by singer Tony Bennett’s grand-daughter Remy Bennett, this premiered in the US at the Marfa Film Festival and also screened at New Orleans Film Festival in 2014. It most recently premiered in Europe at London’s Raindance Film Festival with another Blonde to Black short feature, Dotty, which co-starred her youngest son, Rudy. Sadie, Emma and Andrew have a further four films in development, and their newest project is, Set The Thames on Fire; which stars Noel Fielding, Lily Loveless and Sadie. It is due to premiere this September. Sadie also ex-produced the documentary Black on Canvas.
Photo: Rachell Smith
