Nigel Harman to direct Steven Berkoff's Lunch and The Bow of Ulysses

Nigel Harman directs a Steven Berkoff double-bill.

A new Steven Berkoff double-bill will run at the Trafalgar Studios 2 this October, directed by Nigel Harman. Lunch and The Bow of Ulysses will run for five weeks from 6 October to 5 November 2016 with an official opening on 10 October.

Lunch (1983) and it's sequel The Bow of Ulysses (2002) are two of Berkoff's finest small pieces, examining the relationship between a couple when they first meet and have, what appears to be, an abortive one-night-stand; and how they are years later after two decades of marriage.

Harman has assembled a creative team that includes Olivier Award-nominated sound designers Ben & Max Ringham, designer Lee Newby, lighting designer Joshua Carr and choreographer Alistair David as movement director.

Nigel Harman said: "I am thrilled to have the opportunity of working on two of Steven Berkoff's rarely performed short plays, When I first read them I was struck by the caustic beauty of the writing. Berkoff manages to amuse, horrify and move all in one sentence. And his instinct for the human condition, with all it's flaws and wonders, is unique. I'm intrigued to put these plays on stage and see how an audience will react. They are a challenge to watch. Some people will laugh and enjoy the theatricality of them. Others may find them uncomfortable in the way they hold a dark mirror up to relationships. One thing's for sure, they don't pull any punches."

Casting for the production is yet to be announced.