Love and Understanding ...

"Captivating stuff ****"

Three Weeks

Trident Theatre
presents

LOVE and UNDERSTANDING
by JOE PENHALL

2005 Tour Dates

.

Demarco Roxy Art House, Edinburgh: 15th-20th Aug

Start time: 20:55, End Time: 22:35, Tickets £7/£5

Melton Theatre, Nottingham: 16th Sept

Start: 19:30 End: 21:10

Hope Centre, Bristol: 28th Sept

Start: 20:00 End 21:40, Tickets £8

The Pleasance, London: 14th-17th Dec

Start: 19:45 End 21:25, Tickets £10/£8

Box Office: 020 7609 1800

Trident Theatre presents this poignant play from award winning Joe Penhall ('Blue/Orange', 'Enduring Love') one of Britain’s most powerful and acclaimed contemporary writers. LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING explores with painful realism our conflicting needs for freedom and stability in the modern world, reminds us nothing lasts forever and that friendship carries unspoken obligations.  When Ritchie returns from abroad and arrives on his friends’ doorstep, Neal and Rachel are forced to reassess their relationship, ambitions and lives.

"[This] play confirms Penhall as one of our best new writers"
Sunday Times

Penhall’s work includes the Olivier Award winning play 'Blue/Orange' which was recently made into a BBC film starring John Simm and Brian Cox.  'Some Voices' was also made as a film with Daniel Craig.  Last year Joe adapted Ian McEwan's 'Enduring Love' for the big screen and 'The Long Firm' for the small.  And Joe's most recent play 'Dumb Show' received great acclaim at the Royal Court.

"An exceptional new play"
Time Out

LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING stars Adrian Der Gregorian fresh from his West End run as the lead in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘The Woman In White’.  Rowan Bangs made his Edinburgh directing debut this year after great success in previous years as an actor with his one man show ‘RED PETER’ 2003 [“A beautiful performance… Brilliant” Three Weeks] and last year in Trident’s EQUUS [“a grounding performance… the kind of earthy believability that is so rare” Three Weeks].  LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING is being produced by Henry R Swindell; one of the founding members of Trident Theatre.  Henry now works as part of the script team on the BBC Drama series ‘Casualty’.  This year Trident’s Artistic Director, Giles Ramsay, has also produced four shows from Mexico including Mark Ravenhill’s award winning new translation of ’LAS CHICAS’ [‘The Girls of the 3.5 Floppies’] By Luis Enrique Gutierrez Ortiz Monasterio, directed by John Tiffany at the Traverse.

“In an era of brutal writing, [Penhall] says some unfashionable things: that friendship carries with it unspoken obligations and that a loving heart, even when badly fractured, can still heal.”

The Guardian

Trident Theatre are giving away free music with their production of LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING.  Director Rowan Bangs and Producer Henry R Swindell have spent the last year scouring the British new music scene to find the perfect artists and tracks for this exciting original sound track. “I’m really pleased with the soundtrack and its been a joy putting it together” says Director Rowan Bangs “music is as important to the show as the actors, the lights, the set and the props; we use it to tell the story”. 

The soundtrack is made up of great new music from all over Britain and its all available to download for free from here . “I thought it would be a wonderful idea to make the sound track available free of charge” says Henry R Swindell producer for Trident Theatre “We’re so proud of this collection of songs we wanted to be able to share them with the audience beyond the confines the performance”.

FREE MUSIC DOWNLOADS

The excellent soundtrack to Love and Understanding is available to download free here.

Cast:

Music:

1. Intercooler – Out of my Reach
2. Agent 16 – Spig Bender
3. Freshman – Till I Reach
4. Dee Fisher – Aint Got Time
5. Malone – Recharge
6. Tom Gisby & Neil Townsend – Roll On Dreaming
7. Qualia – Friction
8. Amberglow – Secret Thought
9. Austin Davey – Left at the Lights
10. The Light Years – Away Day
11. Beamer Grande – Letter to Liza
12. Dee Fisher – Without A Doubt

Crew:

Artwork: Ruth Ward

Directed by: Rowan Bangs

Produced by: Henry R. Swindell

For Trident Theatre:

Chairman: Roger Allen

Artistic Director: Giles Ramsay

Supported by:

Special Thanks:

Angela Allen and Vinetree Cottage,

Jen Standage and St. Margaret's, Blackheath

Richard Demarco and The Demarco European Art Foundation

Nomad Theatre, Horsley

The Trent Association

Stuart Bangs,

Abigail Faulkner

Downloads:

Press Release June 2005

Press Release August 2005

Press Release September 2005

Press Release December 2005

Programme

Tour Programme

Love and Understanding Flyer

eFlyer:

Edinburgh Poster:

Bristol Poster:

Early design for flyer/poster:

Reviews:

Three Weeks rating: 4/5

This is a play about people. And a very good play too. Forget gimmicks, puppets and visual trickery to involve the audience, this relies on plot and dialogue alone. Its simple premise focuses on a couple reunited with an old friend, and follows the twists and machinations of a relationship when things start to unravel. All three actors offer enticing, engaging and believable performances and the dialogue is witty and natural. It is almost uncomfortable to watch at times as the friend manipulates with near Iago-esque proportions. But there's never any two-dimensional devilry these are real people, or could be real people, who underneath it all are just struggling to communicate and co-exist, desperate to understand what happiness is. Captivating stuff.

http://www.threeweeks.co.uk/detail_review.asp?id=1742

HAIRLINE: fringe 3/5

After years of traversing the globe, the maverick Ritchie returns to Blighty and pitches up on the doorstep of his old friend Neal, looking for a place to stay. Neal can’t say no but Ritchie’s challenging presence starts to make waves in the lives of Neal and his girlfriend, Rachel.
Through this complicated triangle. Love and Understanding explores the questions thrown up by life in 21st century Britain; work and satisfaction, communication in relationships, security versus adventure.
Playwright Joe Penhall has a good ear for natural dialogue and draws some very convincing characters. Through his writing, the competent cast manages to explore the uncomfortable grey areas of love and friendship well. That said the play is somewhat overlong, and bad soundproofing plagues the venue, letting in the noise of the neighbouring flamenco production and conversations on the street. Naturally this detracts from the feel of the piece but there is still a lot of enjoyment to be had from Penhall’s masterful writing.

http://www.hairline.org.uk/review.php?id=368

Also check out Edfringe.com for more star ratings.

If you enjoyed the show then please vote for us by text message: All you need to do to vote is text EVOTE, then LOVEA and a rating between 1 and 5 to 83010 Example: EVOTE LOVEA 5 to 83010 Or go to www.edfringe.com and vote for us there.

Adrian and Mike Adrian and Mike2 Jess and Adrian Mike and Jess Mike and Jess2 L&U rehearsal

Adrian and Jess Rehearsing The Boys Relaxing