Bristol Old Vic to host UK premiere of Matthew López play Reverberation

Exclusive: Matthew López, the scribe behind the likes of The Inheritance, Some Like It Hot and hit Amazon series Red, White and Royal Blue, will bring his 2015 play Reverberation to UK shores later this year.

The play, first seen in Connecticut, will be re-imagined by López for the new run, with its backdrop moved across the Atlantic to London. He said today: “I am overjoyed to bring my play Reverberation to Bristol Old Vic under the direction of Jack Sain. In the years since the premiere of The Inheritance, the UK has become my creative and literal home. I am excited to be back in front of a British audience with my first UK-set play.”

The piece follows a man, Jonathan, who retreats into a digital bubble following a tragedy – until a neighbour upstairs upends his world. Sain explains: “Reverberation is a unique piece of writing: at times tender, at others visceral; at times hilarious, at others disconcerting. It is a play about lost souls finding each other in the dark, about loneliness and longing, comfort and denial.”

Joining Sain on the creative team will be Ti Green (Touching the Void), who returns to Bristol Old Vic to design, alongside sound designer Nicola T Chang (For Black Boys…), lighting designer Robbie Butler (The Glass Menagerie), video designer Daniel Denton (Misty) and intimacy co-ordinator Robbie Taylor Hunt (Red, White and Royal Blue).

It will run at Bristol Old Vic from 2 October to 2 November, with venue’s artistic director Nancy Medina saying: “Reading Reverberation for the first time felt like a much-needed balm for my heart and soul.

“The beauty in the writing and the tenderness of the relationships reminded me how much we truly need and deserve human connection, generosity and love – especially in this troubled time we are in globally and still reeling from the aftermath of the pandemic. This is a play we need right now, and we are so excited to share this with Bristol.”