Neil LaBute Trilogy comes to Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold

Jan 21 2010 Flintshire Chronicle

The work of American writer-director Neil LaBute has graced both stage and screen and is now the subject of a trilogy of plays coming to Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold next week.

Dialogue is a theatre company with a growing reputation for bringing the best international contemporary theatre to the UK.

On Tuesday and Wednesday (January 26-27), they will be presenting Land of the Dead, Helter Skelter and the British premiere of The Furies.

In a chic restaurant in New York city a husband and wife meet to take a break from Christmas shopping. He doesn’t know that she has already seen him earlier in the day.

Elsewhere in town, a couple part. He goes to the office, she visits a clinic.

Two lovers meet to talk about their relationship – no easy task with a surprise guest.

This triple bill features Stuart Laing (Rob Minter in BBC’s EastEnders), Frances Grey (Marianne McKee in River City) and Patrick Driver.

Director Patricia Benecke works in the UK and Germany and directs all Dialogue shows.

Neil LaBute is an American playwright and filmmaker, whose films include In the Company of Men (1997) and Nurse Betty (2000).

He has written numerous plays, five of which have been produced by the Almeida Theatre, London including The Mercy Seat, which starred John Hannah and Sinead Cusack and In A Dark, Dark House with David Morrissey and Steven Mackintosh.

London awaits a West End production of his most recent play Reasons to be Pretty, which is due to star Lily Allen.

Commenting on the trilogy, LaBute said: “I love the form of Land of the Dead, where characters break the fourth wall and directly address the audience.

“Helter Skelter is a more conventional drama from a structural standpoint, but its message is as old as the Greeks.

“It is a primal scream about injustice and children and lost love and in the hands of the right actors it makes even my hair stand on end.

“The plays were not written as companion pieces, but because of the pregnancy theme that runs through both Land of the Dead and Helter Skelter, I recently went back to the newest play of the three, The Furies, and added a “birth” element to connect the trilogy together more solidly.”

For booking details, ring 0845 330 3565 or visit www.clwyd-theatr-cymru.co.uk.