Clockwork Canaries

Theatre Royal Plymouth announces the première of Christopher William Hill’s new play, Clockwork Canaries from Thursday 22 February to Saturday 10 March. Luke Kernaghan directs Richard Booth, Christopher Staines, Dominic Marsh, Charlie Cameron and Jeremy Ang Jones.

When death-fixated Tatiana Dressler rescues a cat from the River Schwartz, she little suspects how her quiet life with her inventor father is about to change.

The cat is soon slaughtering a neighbour’s canaries at an alarming rate, her father is inventing a contraption to make the feline more human, and it seems the Dressler house may harbour some sinister secrets. This darkly comic and blood-thirsty gothic fairy tale comes from the author of the UK Theatre Award-winning Mister Holgado and the Tales of Schwartzgarten series of books.

Christopher William Hill is a playwright, radio dramatist and children’s author. His stage plays include Song of the Western Men (Minerva Theatre Chichester), Inglorious Technicolour (Stephen Joseph Theatre),

Lam (Northcott Theatre) and Blood Red, Saffron Yellow (Theatre Royal Plymouth). He has written two plays for National Theatre Connections,
Multiplex and Heartbreak Beautiful, which have been performed throughout the UK and internationally. Mister Holgado, produced by the Unicorn Theatre, won Best Show for Children and Young People at the TMA UK Theatre Awards and was shortlisted for a Writers’ Guild Award.

Christopher is a former writer-in-residence at Theatre Royal Plymouth (Pearson Playwrights’ Scheme). He has written many plays for BBC Radio 4, including Killing Maestros, winner of a BBC Radio & Music Award and the Peter Tinniswood Award. His comedy series for Radio 4 include Tomorrow, Today! and Says on the Tin. Christopher has written four books for children, Osbert The Avenger, The Woebegone Twins, The Lily-Livered Prince and Marius and the Band of Blood. Orchard Books will publish What Manor of Murder? in July.

Luke Kernaghan’s directing credits include Unplugged (National Theatre of Scotland); Alice, Edward II, The Man Of Mode (Arts University Bournemouth); Códice Ténoch (Compañia Nacional de Teatro de Mexico/Royal Shakespeare Company); Redcrosse (Royal Shakespeare Company); Heartbreak Beautiful (Theatre Royal Plymouth); The Urban Girl’s Guide to Camping, No Way Out (Huis Clos) (Southwark Playhouse); Vantastic & Lobster (Oval House); Rebels & Retail (Trafalgar Studios); The B File, The Rover (Etcetera Theatre). Associate or Assistant Director credits include Let The Right One In (Abbey Theatre Dublin/National Theatre of Scotland); What Shadows, Winnie & Wilbur (Birmingham Rep); The James Plays, Dunsinane (National Theatre of Scotland); The Homecoming (Jamie Lloyd Company); Richard III, A Soldier In Every Son (Royal Shakespeare Company); Novecento (Donmar Warehouse).

Luke was the inaugural Resident Assistant Director at the Theatre Royal Plymouth. He is an Associate Director of the multi-award winning
Australian company Big hART, collaborating on Namatjira (Southbank Centre, London); Hipbone Sticking Out (Canberra Centenary Theatre/Melbourne Festival); Blue Angel (Tasmanian International Arts Festival) and To A Different Drum (WHS).

Richard Booth’s stage credits include The Terrible Infants/Les Enfants Terribles (Wilton’s Music Hall), Bobbin (for Tea Break Theatre), Alice’s Adventures Underground (for Les Enfants Terribles), Hansel and Gretel (Citizens Theatre), Goosebumps Alive, (The Vaults), and War Horse (New London Theatre).

Charlie Cameron’s stage credits include The Master Builder, The Hairy Ape, (Old Vic), Stop! (Trafalgar Studios), Macbeth, (Manchester International Festival and The Armory, New York) and West Side Story (UK tour), Don Juan Comes Back From The War (Finborough Theatre).

Jeremy Ang Jones’s recent stage credits include Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Palace Theatre), and Richard III (The Faction).

Dominic Marsh’s recent stage credits include Romantics Anonymous, Tristan and Yseult (Shakespeare’s Globe), I Am Thomas (for Told By An Idiot/National Theatre of Scotland), Dead Dog In A Suitcase And Other Love Songs and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (for Kneehigh Theatre).Christopher Staines’s recent stage credits include Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Chester Storyhouse), The Philanderer (Orange Tree Theatre), Our Town (Almeida), and Dr Faustus (Rose, Bankside). His TV and film credits include Wolf Hall, Pride and Prejudice, Judge John Deed and Mrs Dalloway.

Tickets are priced at £15 and can be booked online at www.theatreroyal.com or by calling the Theatre Royal Plymouth Box Office on 01752 267222.