Scarborough & Hare Vertical Hour Add Court Dates

The Vertical Hour, which opened at the Royal Court on 22 January (previews from 17 January), has just announced extra performances to meet a huge demand for tickets. The play, which is directed by Jeremy Herrin, will now also have Thursday matinee performances at 3.30pm in addition to the usual Saturday schedule.

Nadia Blye knows exactly what her stance is on Iraq. A former war reporter and professor of international relations at Yale, she has advised the president and seen action in Sarajevo and Baghdad. She is sure of her place in the world and her opinion of it. Until, that is, she meets an equally opinionated and lethally charming man – her boyfriend Phillip’s father, Oliver – over a weekend in Shropshire. Oliver’s intervention has far-reaching consequences for them all.

The Vertical Hour was first seen in November 2006 on Broadway, the first of author David Hare’s plays to premiere on the other side of the Atlantic. In the new production, Indira Varma, Anton Lesser and Tom Riley play Nadia, Oliver and Phillip, the roles originated in Sam Mendes’ Broadway premiere by Hollywood’s Julianne Moore and Britons Bill Nighy and Andrew Scott. At the Royal Court, the cast also includes Joseph Kloska and Wunmi. The production is designed by Mike Britton with lighting by Howard Harrison and music and sound by Nick Powell.

Not only that, but another Court show has also added extra performances. Scarborough, by Fiona Evans, has extended by a week to 15 March at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, where it was originally playing until 8 March.

Step into a faded hotel room where Lauren and Daz are having an illicit weekend away. Amongst the peeling wallpaper, they laugh, quarrel and make love, but they don’t dare go out. After all, at just 15 years old, one of them is just a child… the other their teacher. A dangerously charged romance is played out amidst bittersweet love songs in this award-winning new play.

Scarborough was first performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2007, winning a Fringe First award. This production, in two parts, is directed by Deborah Bruce, with a cast including Holly Atkins, Daniel Mays, Jack O’Connell and Rebecca Ryan.

– by Tom Atkins