Ralf Little Leaves Lover More Ways at Bush for Xmas

Heartbreak will be back on the menu at the Bush Theatre next month with the return of the summer box office hit now given a cruelly festive twist. 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover … at Christmas will have a limited season from 10 December 2008 (previews from 8 December) to 10 January 2009.

The original collection of short new “break-up” plays, written by various dramatists and inspired by theatregoer contributions solicited over 12 months, was commissioned by the Bush and the Latitude Festival. After success at the Suffolk-based festival, it transferred to the Bush, where it was meant to run for only six nights and eventually tripled its number of dates due to box office demand.

The Christmas edition of the comic cocktail of characters and stories will include fifty percent new material, penned by playwrights Leah Chillery, Ben Ellis, Stacey Gregg, Lucy Kirkwood, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm and Ben Schiffer.

The original four-strong cast – Ralf Little (best known for TV’s The Royle Family and Two Packets of Lager and a Packet of Crisps and seen on stage last year in Stacy, for which he was nominated for a Whatsonstage.com Award for Best Solo Performance), Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Claire Keelan and Michelle Terry – return to relive the myriad break-up experiences.

50 Ways to Leave Your Lover … at Christmas is directed by Anthea Williams, designed by Mika Handley, with lighting by Tom White and music composed by Arthur Darvill.

– by Terri Paddock