COME JOIN PRACTICUM FOR OUR WEST END DEBUT!

PRACTICUM PRESENTS THE UK PREMIERE OF DANIEL JOSHUA RUBIN’S THE VIEWING ROOM STARRING LEONARD ROBERTS OF THE HIT BBC TV SERIES HEROES!

Inspired by the hard realities of prison overcrowding and perceived threat from enemies within and without, The Viewing Room opened at Chicago’s legendary Steppenwolf Theatre and now receives its UK premiere in London’s West End with Leonard Roberts, star of the international block buster TV series Heroes.

The near future: a white surburban couple enlist as in-house prison officers to host a black inmate. Complete with cage and instruction manual, cameras and tracking devices, their new guest is installed in the living room.

But is he what he seems to be? Is his crime greater than they have been led to believe? Behind the closed doors of a comfortable neighbourhood a dance of life and death begins.

With touches of dark farce, Daniel Joshua Rubin’s psychological thriller finds a paranoid world where spy drones float overhead, CCTV peers in and a state baying for blood colides with human nature - who really is free to choose? In a world become prison, where is freedom to be found? Welcome to The Viewing Room.

Cast:
Leonard Roberts
Leonard is thrilled to be making his West End debut with The Viewing Room. US theater credits include The Geffen Playhouse’s world premiere of Atlanta, A Hole in the Dark Blank Theatre, Black Star Line and Let Me Live Goodman Theatre, Pudd’nhead Wilson Steppenwolf, The Coat (American Premiere) Baliwick Repertory, Bus Stop American Theatre Company, The Merchant of Venice Chicago Shakespeare. Film roles include Drumline, Love Jones, Hoodlum, Spike Lee’s He Got Game, Joe and Max, The Last Adam, and the upcoming The Stone House. Leonard is known to television audiences as D.L. Hawkins on Heroes. Other television roles include Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville, Bones, CSI: Miami, 24, Providence, JAG, Navy NCIS and The 60’s.

James Flynn
Joining Roberts is Practicum’s James Flynn whose theatre credits include Lie Detector (Edinburgh Festival); Orpheus (ATC); and Julius Caesar, The Revengers Tragedy and The Duchess of Malfi (Loose Canon, Dublin). On screen, he has appeared in The Tudors, Field of Honour, Countess Cathleen, and Ballykissangel.

Samantha Wright
The third cast member is Practicum’s Samantha Wright whose theatre credits include The Tale of Rancor (London, New York, Philadelphia) and Measure For Measure (Off Broadway). She can also be seen in the feature film Lie Still, which is currently showing at selected European Film Festivals.

Playwright – Daniel Joshua Rubin
Daniel Joshua Rubin graduated with honours from the Yale School of Drama with an M.F.A in Playwriting, and from SUNY Purchase with a Bachelor of Science degree in Dramatic Studies. His plays Selling Water, Wild Dogs! and THE VIEWING ROOM, as well as several short pieces, have been performed throughout the US. Most notably, THE VIEWING ROOM was produced at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, where Mr. Rubin served as Playwright-In-Residence. Wild Dogs! was produced in New York City, where it was directed by Ethan Hawke, and Mr. Rubin has performed his monologue, The Wedding Present at the Comedy Central Theatre in Los Angeles as part of Maggie Rowe and Jill Solloway’s Sit-n-Spin. Another monologue, The Beer Man was optioned by National Lampoon for development as a sitcom.

Richard Christiansen, of the Chicago Tribune, writes, “Rubin has a gift for turning social issues into vibrant theatre” and raves, “His work always makes one want to see what he will do next,” while Hedy Weiss of the Chicago Sun-Times says, “He demonstrates a remarkable ability to summon raw emotion and to use theatrical conventions with flair.”

For television, Mr. Rubin has written for the NBC sitcom, Tucker and the WB’s hour-long, Related.

Crew:

Director – A C Wilson
The Viewing Room is directed by A C Wilson whose credits include How To Kill, A Mouthful of Birds, Salome, The Balcony, The Human Voice and, at Southwark Playhouse where he was Resident Assistant Director and Literary Associate, The Biggleswades. In 2007 two shows directed by Alan, 1:19 for Net Curtains Theatre Co. and The Unconquered by Torben Betts for Stellar Quines had successful runs at the Arcola Theatre.

Assistant Director: Mel Cook
Designer: Alex Marker
Lighting Designer: Peter Harrison
Sound Designer: Joel Cahen
Costume Designer: Fabrice Serafino
Production Manager: Tim Highman
DSM: Rachael Hewer
CSM: David O’Brien
Set Construction: Polka Theatre Workshops
CCTV Cameras: Chris Barham
Technical ASM: Lucy Tsang
Production Electrician: Mim Spencer

NB: The opening night gala performance on Wednesday, March 5 will benefit Amnesty International and the play will be featured in Amnesty’s events to mark the 60th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights.

Times: Tuesday to Saturday at 7.30pm, Thursday and Saturday matinee at 3pm.

For more information call the box office on 0844 847 1608 or visit the website.
Arts Theatre
Great Newport Street
London
WC2H 7JB
www.artstheatrelondon.com

tickets: 0844 847 1608
www.ticketmaster.co.uk