The Sovereign Season Of Dumb Show By Joe Penhall

A sensational new comedy from the multi-award winning British playwright, Joe Penhall (Blue/Orange) DUMB SHOW has its New Zealand premiere at CIRCA TWO opening on Saturday 30th June at 7.30pm and running until 28th July.

DUMB SHOW continues Circa's emphasis on presenting some of the best new writing in the intimate space of CIRCA TWO with this sharp, funny, fast-paced satire that targets the modern tension between freedom of expression and the right to privacy, and also looks at society's obsession with fame and celebrity. It is a subject that resonates far beyond the tabloid sting to issues of media manipulation and government spin.

Barry's fifteen minutes of infamy are overdue, and when laughter's your living ... that's no joke.

Courted at the end of his show by bankers John and Jane, TV star Barry believes he is to get the 5-star treatment that he deserves. However urged to provide a candid account of his off-stage life and views, the Barry that emerges is the least of the surprises in the tense game of power and manipulation that ensues.

About DUMB SHOW, Joe Penhall a former newspaper reporter subsequently turned award-winning playwright, says, "The main theme is the exploitation of people's misery for entertainment, which is what we see everywhere in the tabloids, on reality TV shows, and on pretty much most popular TV. It's about the "tabloidification" of popular culture and the media. It fascinates me that it's so enduringly popular. The fact that we've got that kind of media must say something about the kind of society we live in. We've also incidentally got that kind of government as well; we've got a government that prides itself on spin and manipulation. It's axiomatic that if you've got a government and a popular press that are willfully manipulative you're going to wind up with a society that's increasingly manipulative. That's the central assertion of the play."

DUMB SHOW premiered at the Royal Court in September 2004 to great reviews:-

"This is theatre as it should be: holding a mirror to the world, addressing serious problems in contemporary society - in this case, the integrity of the press and the dangers of celebrity - and doing it with real wit, blunt honesty, and an acute sharpness of focus.

This is a very funny play, and also a wincingly painful one. Joe Penhall has an exquisite ear for the many shades and flavours of meaning in the half-spoken word, and a penetrating eye for the absurdity, cruelty, contradictions and menace of things - here, tabloid journalism" - Times Literary Supplement

"Brilliantly written and shaped ... the satire is meant to bite deep and it does" - Observer

"Penhall hits the bulls-eye of his targets time after time ... hilarious" - Mail on Sunday

"At every point, its sheer skill confirms how fortunate we are to have a playwright under 40 with such finesse, rhythm and diversity ... and how you laugh!" - Financial Times

"Superb, mesmerizing, utterly persuasive ... a theatrical scoop that really is in the public interests" - Daily Telegraph

DUMB SHOW

"A furious black-comic satire ... the twists keep on coming until the very last line .. superb" –Daily Telegraph

Featuring: STEPHEN GLEDHILL, JESSICA ROBINSON and GAVIN RUTHERFORD.

Opens SATURDAY 30th JUNE at 7.30pm and runs until 28th July 2007.

$20 PREVIEW - Friday 29th June - 7.30pm

$20 SUNDAY SPECIAL - Sunday 1st July - 4.30pm

AFTER-SHOW FORUM - TUESDAY 3rd July

Performance times: Tuesday - Saturday 7.30pm, Sunday 4.30pm

Prices: $35 Adults;28 Students, Senior Citizens and Beneficiaries $30 Groups 6+ $18 Student Standby - from 1 hour before the show Circa Two special - SUB 25s only $20

BOOKINGS: CIRCA Theatre, 1 Taranaki Street, Wellington
Phone 801 7992 www.circa.co.nz

ENDS

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