Hampstead Theatre announces new Spring 2017 Season

Two world premieres and a UK premiere to be staged in North London

The Hampstead Theatre in Hampstead, north London, has now announced details of its forthcoming spring 2017 season for the venue's main stage.

The first production in the season will be the world premiere of Filthy Business by Ryan Craig, directed by Hampstead's Artistic Director Edward Hall, and starring Sara Kestelman. The new play will run from 10 March to 22 April 2017, with an official opening set for 16 March.

"1968, East London. Over the years and against all the odds, Yetta Solomon has built a thriving business from nothing through sheer grit and passion. Ignoring all the obstacles - insufficient capital, economic downturns, aggressive competition - she has found a way to survive everything adversity could throw at her.
Now she faces her toughest challenge: her family. In a rapidly changing Britain, Yetta must protect the shop and keep it in the Solomon family. But her sons, grandchildren and in-laws have other ideas... Always ruthless, how far will she go to keep the business in the family and the family in the business?"

Sara Kestelman previously appeared in the Hampstead Theatre production of 'The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures' in 2016. Her London theatre credits include 'Cabaret' (Donmar Warehouse), 'Torchsong Trilogy' (Menier Chocolate Factory), 'King Lear' (Barbican), 'Lettice & Lovage' (Gielgud), and 'Fiddler on the Roof' (London Palladium). She is also a regular performer at the National Theatre and RSC. NT credits include 'Making Noise Quietly,' 'Nine,' 'Hamlet,' 'Love for Love,' 'As You Like It,' 'The Double Dealer,' 'The Threepenny Opera' and 'The American Clock.' RSC credits include 'Macbeth,' 'Custom of the Country,' and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.'

This will be followed by the world premiere of Occupational Hazards - a new play by Stephen Brown, based on the memoir by Rory Stewart. Directed by Simon, the play runs from 28 April to 3 June 2017, with an official opening on 8 May.

"September 2003. Rory Stewart, a thirty year old former British diplomat and soldier of distinction and accomplishment, is posted to serve as governor in a province of the newly liberated Iraq. His job is to help build a new civil society at peace with itself and its neighbours - an ambitious mission, admittedly, but outperforming Saddam should surely not prove too difficult...
Yet, freedom from repressive tyranny has allowed centuries of tribal conflict, sectarian tension and ethnic division to burst into the open once more. These sharp local realities plunge Stewart into a dangerous whirlpool of political intrigue in which the double-dealing of opposing interest groups creates intensifying confusion and chaos. As pressure for a settlement mounts from all sides he comes to realise that all politics is indeed local, and that Washington may have to rethink its dreams of Iraqi democracy."

The final production will be the UK premiere of Branden Jacob-Jenkins' comic-drama Gloria, directed by Michael Longhurst, which will run from 15 June to 22 July 2017, with an official opening set for 21 June.

"New York. A city that runs on ambition - and coffee.
In the offices of a notorious Manhattan magazine, a group of ruthless editorial assistants vie for their bosses' jobs and a book deal before they're thirty. But trapped between Starbucks runs, jaded gossip and endless cubicle walls, best-selling memoir fodder is thin on the ground - that is until inspiration arrives with a bang..."

The play staged its world premiere at off-Broadway's Vineyard Theatre in 2015 and went on to become a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Tickets for the new season will go on general sale from Monday 30 January 2017.