Who’s Piper Makes Stage Debut in Hampton TreatsDate: 8 November 2006
Billie Piper (pictured) may have left TV’s Doctor Who, but theatregoers won’t have to wait long to catch up with the time traveller’s faithful sidekick. The pop star-turned-actress will make her theatrical debut, torn between two men, in a revival of Christopher Hampton’s 1976 play Treats in the new year.
The three-hander opens at the Theatre Royal Windsor where it runs from 16 to 27 January 2007 ahead of a brief regional tour and West End transfer (exact dates and venues to be confirmed).
In Treats, when young newspaper professional Ann (Piper) loses her egotistical ex-boyfriend Dave, she tries to rebuild her shattered confidence by forming a rebound relationship with Patrick, the office bore. All is going as expected until Dave returns on a macho mission to try and win her back. With a barrage of belittling mockery unleashed on Ann’s new love interest, and home truths mercilessly revealed at every turn, the question is who – if anyone – will conquer this testosterone-charged battleground and ultimately get the girl.
Piper first shot to pop fame at the age of 15. She had two number 1 singles and several other hits before quitting music to focus on an acting career. For her Doctor Who role as Rose Tyler, opposite first Christopher Eccleston and then David Tennant, she won a National Television Award for Most Popular Actress. Her other TV credits have included The Canterbury Tales, Much Ado About Nothing, Things to Do Before Your 30 and an upcoming adaptation of Mansfield Park.
Treats premiered at the Royal Court in 1976. Christopher Hampton’s other plays include Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Savages, Tales from Hollywood, The Philanthropist, The Talking Cure and Embers as well as myriad translations such as Art, Life x 3, Three Sisters, The Wild Duck, Don Juan, Ghosts, Tartuffe and Tales from the Vienna Woods.
No further casting or creative details have yet been confirmed for Treats, which is produced by Bill Kenwright.
- by Terri Paddock
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