Wet Weather Cover & Lilies Land Arts Transfers

Actor Oliver Cotton’s playwriting debut, Wet Weather Cover, which premiered at the King’s Head Theatre in January starring Michael Brandon and Steve Furst, transfers next month to the West End’s Arts Theatre (See News, 8 Jan 2010).

Wet Weather Cover’s limited season, from 6 April to 5 June 2010, will be followed by the transfer of touring production Lilies on the Land, a new play based on letters and interviews with Second World War “Land Girls”, which runs at the Arts from 8 June to 17 July 2010.

Wet Weather Cover focuses on what happens when the filming of an epic movie is delayed by torrential rain whilst on location in Spain. Two actors are trapped in a leaking trailer. A Brit (Furst) and a Yank (Brandon) battle it out over issues of status, ego and assumptions of national identity.

The production is directed by Kate Fahy (the actress wife of Jonathan Pryce, making her directorial debut) and designed by Tanya McCallin. The cast also includes Pepe Balderrama. Prior to the Arts, Wet Weather Cover ran at the King’s Head from 28 January to 21 February 2010 (previews from 20 January).

Lilies on the Land charts the personal journeys of four women who signed up for the Women’s Land Army during World War Two. The piece is devised by The Lions part company based on hundreds of letters and extensive interviews with real Land Girls who signed up to work long hours on rural farms and “Dig for Victory” as part of the war effort.

The cast comprises Rosalind Cressy, Sarah Finch, Dorothy Lawrence and Kali Peacock. The piece is directed by Sonia Ritter and presented by Fresh Glory Productions. It receives its West End premiere at the Arts following a regional tour.