Rehearsals are underway as a Chester-based theatre company prepares to stage a compelling and thought-provoking hostage drama at a City Centre venue.
Following on from its production of "The Birthday Party" by Harold Pinter at Chester Little Theatre earlier this year, local theatre company Against The Grain is set to stage playwright Frank McGuinness' award winning play "Someone Who'll Watch Over Me" at The Live Rooms in Chester from Monday 7th August - Thursday 10th August at 7.30pm.
Set in Lebanon during the hostage crisis of the 1990s, the play will feature Mark Newman as Irish Journalist Edward Sheridan, Stuart Evans as American Doctor Adam Canning and Simon Phillips as English academic Michael Watters. The play draws its inspiration from the experiences of real-life hostages including Brian Kennan who was held hostage in Beirut for four and a half years and Sir Terry Waite who spent almost five years in captivity. First staged in 1992 at the Hampstead Theatre in London, "Someone Who'll Watch Over Me" quickly transferred to the West End later the same year and went on to win several awards following its Broadway run. The production in Chester will be directed for Against The Grain by Marian Newman.
Speaking about the play, Marian Newman said:
"Someone Who'll Watch Over Me" is a play about 3 strangers who are being held as hostages in Lebanon in the 1990s. They are unaware of the reasons they have been taken and whether they will get out of their situation alive. Their humour, imagination and strength helps them sustain their sanity and hope for the future. The play is poignant, but most importantly, has moments of sheer joy and unexpected humour. The playwright, Frank McGuinness, approached Brian Keenan who endured four and a half years as a hostage in Beirut in the late 1980s, before writing the play and told him about his proposed ideas. Brian gave the work his blessing and after watching a production of the play, described it as "A life-enhancing interaction of human souls" and said of it "I knew this was to be an uproarious celebration, Frank McGuinness’ play made me choke and laugh and cry and hold myself."
Full details of "Someone Who'll Watch Over Me" can be found at:
...where tickets can be booked online.
Pictured - The cast of "Someone Who'll Watch Over Me" - (l-r) Stuart Evans, Simon Phillips and Mark Newman.
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