2019. The wall has been built, and the President impeached – starring Angela Griffin and Trevor White, the UK premiere of the political thriller Building The Wall, from Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning writer Robert Schenkkan (Hacksaw Ridge, All the Way) comes to Park Theatre.
A harrowing tale of the terrible events that resulted when Donald Trump made good on his promise to build a “beautiful wall” between Mexico and the United States. The official press night will be Friday 4th May, 7pm.
2019, America. Rick is incarcerated awaiting sentencing for the crime of the century. He grants just one interview – to Gloria, an African American historian. In a world of ‘fake news’ surrounding one of the world’s most powerful and controversial political figures, Gloria is Rick’s only chance to tell his version of the truth.
“Shit rolls downhill and the little guy takes the fall while the people who really set things in motion, they always walk. Always.”
Angela Griffin plays Gloria, who stands to receive the first unfiltered confession from Rick. Angela’s most recent screen credits have included Lewis (ITV), Brief Encounters (ITV), The Detail (CTV) and Ordinary Lies (BBC One), as well as the 2008 film Last Chance Harvey (Overture Films). Her stage credits include The Captive Queen (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, The Globe), Breeders (St James Theatre) and One Man, Two Guvnors (Theatre Royal Haymarket).
Trevor White plays Rick, who stands accused of crimes unspeakable that befell after the President’s wall was built. Trevor is currently appearing in Series 3 of The Durrells (ITV). His film and TV credits to date include: The Dark Knight Rises (Warner Bros. Pictures), Jason Bourne (Universal Pictures), American Assassin (Lionsgate Films), Downton Abbey (ITV), World War Z (Paramount Pictures), Episodes (BBC) and Burton & Taylor (BBC). His stage credits include: Thebes Land (Arcola Theatre), Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Apollo Theatre), Henry IV Part I and II (Royal Shakespeare Company), Enron (Royal Court & West End), Macbeth (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) and The Machine (Donmar Warehouse).
Robert Schenkkan says: “I wrote Building the Wall in October, 2016, before the Presidential election because even then it seemed to me that real and lasting damage had been done to the American republic. The consequences of that election have certainly born out my presentiment, but it is important to remember that Trump is only a uniquely American expression of a problem currently facing all the Western Democracies – the rise of right-wing, nationalist movements. The real danger lies in the ways in which political leaders and ordinary people excuse, rationalize, and even seek to justify such dangerous sentiments. The results, as history has shown us time and again, are disastrous. The UK is not immune to these baleful currents. It is hardly a coincidence that Trump has approvingly quoted Britain First. As always, the triumph of evil requires only that good men do nothing.”
Building The Wall will also include a gala performance on Tuesday 15th May at 6pm, as part of Park Theatre’s 5th birthday celebrations.
Written by Robert Schenkkan, Building the Wall examines what happens when an ordinary person becomes a cog in a regime and how the inconceivable becomes the inevitable. Robert Schenkkan is a Pulitzer Prize, Tony, and WGA Award winner, and three-time Emmy nominated writer. Author of sixteen plays: All the Way, The Great Society, Hanussen, Shadowplay, By the Waters of Babylon, Handler, A Single Shard, Devil and Daniel Webster, Lewis and Clark Reach the Euphrates, Final Passages, The Marriage of Miss Hollywood and King Neptune, Heaven on Earth, Tachinoki, The Dream Thief, and The Kentucky Cycle (Pulitzer prize, Tony and Drama Desk nominations) and a musical, The Twelve. In its first year, Building The Wall has had over 60 US productions as well as performances in Canada, Mexico, Sweden, Austria, and Tehran. His film writing credits include Hacksaw Ridge, directed by Mel Gibson and starring Andrew Garfield, and The Quiet American directed by Phillip Noyce. His TV credits include: All The Way, The Pacific (WGA Award, two Emmy and Humanitas nominations), The Andromeda Strain, Crazy Horse and Spartacus.
LISTINGS
BUILDING THE WALL
Park200, Park Theatre, Clifton Terrace, Finsbury Park, N4 3JP
Dates: 2 May – 2 June 2018
Press night: Fri 4 May, 7pm
Age guidance: 13+
Duration: 90 mins approx.
www.parktheatre.co.uk