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Dateline: 1st June, 2005
Flannery Returns to the Stage Newcastle's Live Theatre has appointed Peter Flannery to fill the specially created post of Writer Emeritus. One of theatre's most significant writers of the 80s and one with epic vision, Flannery had seemed long lost to film and television, despite attempts by companies such as the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company to bring him back. Live's coup means that Flannery, who has not written a full length stage play since Singer in 1989, will write two new plays for the company and be closely involved in aspects of its work over the next two years. This appointment clearly illustrates Live¹s continuous commitment to new writing, at the heart of the company since it began in 1973. Then the company dedicated itself to reflecting local culture, discovering and nurturing writers such as Tom Hadaway (The Filleting Machine) and Alan Plater (Close the Coalhouse Door). For many years, Live was identified with the gritty North East culture it portrayed but, as times and the North East changed, so did the company. In the 90s a new generation of writers were drawn to the company and wrote plays which were still rooted in the North East but no longer class-bound. Lee Hall launched his career with Cooking With Elvis, written while the company¹s writer-in-residence, and Peter Straughan soon followed with Bones. At the beginning of the next decade, Live broke the mould again and declared its ambition by producing the political verse drama Laughter When We're Dead by Forward Prize winning poet Sean O'Brien. This was consolidated by OBrien's next play, Keeper of the Flame, a co-production with the RSC starring Alan Howard, in 2003. Future plans take these developments further, to work with both national and international companies. Live has already begun a long term creative collaboration with the Market Theatre Johannesburg. Jim Beirne, Executive Director, said, "We are thrilled to have been instrumental in bringing back to theatre one of its major talents. Already Peter Flannery as our Writer Emeritus has delivered a fantastic script, The Bodies, for us. This production promises to be a highlight in our history and it marks the beginning of a new chapter as we begin a project which will see the company's premises more than double in size. The Bodies is part of the International Festival of Rivers & Sea and we received significant support from Culture 10 to help realise this ambitious project." The Bodies is based on Emile Zola's novel, Thérèse Raquin, and its territory is the deepest, darkest recesses of the psyche. Published in 1868, this study of sexual obsession, murder, guilt and revenge caused a scandal for its portrayal of depravity but was, of course, an immediate success with the public. Flannery read the novel, found himself totally transfixed by its passion but finally unconvinced. He determined to rewrite it, saying what he is convinced Zola would have said if he could, unconstrained by the mores of the times. Set in Victorian Tyneside, Flannery's The Bodies is a thoroughly modern play, savagely sexual and violent. Jill Halfpenny, of Eastenders fame, has just ended her run as Roxie Hart in Chicago and returns to the North East to play Thérèse. Colin MacLachlan plays Michaud, the detective; Anny Tobin plays Madame Raquin; Craig Conway plays Camille and Ben Porter is Laurent. The Bodies is directed Maggie Norris. Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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