Theatre News

Mackenzie Crook Identifies Bush Aliens with Little

13 August 2010

After his Royal Court and West End success opposite Mark Rylance in Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem, for which he was Whatsonstage.com and Olivier Award nominated, Mackenzie Crook will return to the stage next month to star in the UK premiere of American Annie Baker’s play The Aliens at the 80-seat Bush Theatre in Shepherd’s Bush, west London.

The three-hander – in which he’ll be joined by Ralf Little (best known from TV’s Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps and The Royle Family) and teen screen actor Olly Alexander – is directed by Peter Gill, also in his Bush debut. The Aliens runs from 20 September to 16 October (previews from 15 September).

Set in Vermont, Jasper (Crook) and KJ (Little) are professional dropouts and best friends. They spend their days outside the back of a small coffee shop, talking music and Bukowski. Evan (Alexander) is a 17-year-old eking out his summer working in the cafe, who they draw into their world of magic mushrooms, philosophical musings and great bands that never were.

Mackenzie Crook is best known internationally for his screen roles in the three Pirates of the Caribbean films and TV’s The Office. In recent years, he’s made an impact on the London stage with his appearances in Jerusalem and The Seagull, both for the Royal Court, and in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, opposite Christian Slater in the West End.

The Aliens premiered Off-Broadway in April 2010. Baker’s other plays Body Awareness and Circle Mirror Transformation, which won an Obie Award for Best New American Play. A playwright and director, Peter Gill was founder of Riverside Studios and the National Theatre and a veteran of the Royal Court in the 1960s. His recent directing credits include The Importance of Being Earnest, Gaslight, The Voysey Inheritance and Scenes from the Big Picture.