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Teachers Bower & Lance Premiere Ordinary Dreams

Former Teachers co-stars Adrian Bower and James Lance (pictured) will reunite in May for the world premiere of Ordinary Dreams, a new dark comedy by Marcus Markou which will have a limited season from 14 May to 6 June 2009 (previews from 12 May) at Trafalgar Studios 2.

Subtitled How to Survive a Meltdown with Flair, the play centres on Penny and Miles (Lance), who are awaiting the imminent birth of their first child from completely different perspectives. While recovering alcoholic Penny is the epitome of calm anticipation and deep breathing, Miles is consumed by fear about the baby’s future and tries to create a utopian fantasy for his son and everyone else to live in. Penny’s ex-alcoholic, ex-boyfriend Dan (Bower) and his new-age karma-embracing girlfriend Layla are also on hand to offer their own unique blend of advice.

In addition to Teachers, both Bower and Lance are familiar faces from various other screen credits including: for Bower, Apparitions, Dirty Filthy Love and The Quatermass Experiment; and for Lance, No Heroics, Moving Wallpaper, Absolute Power, Rescue Me and The Book Group on TV, and the films Bronson, City Rats and Marie Antoinette.

On stage, Bower’s last West End appearance was in Elling, which ran in Trafalgar Studios 1 in 2007 after transferring from the Bush Theatre; he’s also been seen in Hedda Gabler, Hotel in Amsterdam and The Knocky. Lance’s theatre credits include Pirandello’s Henry IV, Christmas, A Place at the Table and The Inland Sea.

Author Marcus Markou’s last play was Age Sex Location, premiered at Riverside Studios in 2004. Ordinary Dreams is directed by Adam Barnard, whose other credits include Lie of the Land, which transfers to the Arcola Theatre next month after a run at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, and Ted Hughes’ adaptation of The Story of Vasco, which opens this week at Richmond’s Orange Tree Theatre.

Ordinary Dreams is produced by Kat Portman and James Seabright for Ordinary Dreams Ltd. Further casting has yet to be announced.

- by Terri Paddock

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