Saturday 18th 19.00 – 19.40 & Sunday 19st August 16.00 – 16.40
Renard Music Theatre
Synopsis:
In the quiet and peace of a lakeside town in Switzerland, the famed psychiatrist Mathilde von Zahnd runs the Les Cerisiers home for the mentally ill. The Doktor has fondly nick-named three of her patients ‘The Physicists’. All physicists by trade, each of these three has his particular delusions: the first believes he is Sir Isaac Newton, the second believes himself to be Albert Einstein and the third believes he is frequently visited by the biblical King Solomon, dressed in rags and speaking through a megaphone. We join the story with the arrival of Detective Inspector Voss. The Inspector is here to investigate the murder of Irene Straub, one of the young nurses, and the main suspect is the patient ‘Einstein’. This is the second murder by one of the ‘Physicists’, the first having been committed by ‘Newton’ the previous month. The Inspector attempts to investigate but is increasingly bewildered by the curious goings-on at Les Cerisiers. This is the first instalment of a two-part drama based on the Friedrich Dürrenmatt play of the same name. To be continued…
Timothy Burke and Nina Brazier, alongside design team Polly Webb-Wilson and Giulia Scrimieri have produced three sell-out successes for the Grimeborn Opera Festival including Spilt Milk & Trouble in Tahiti – Time Out Critics’ Choice, and The Old Maid and the Thief ‘Glorious Grime in Grimeborn’ Evening Standard.
Music and Words: Timothy Burke and James Waterfield
Conductor: Timothy Burke
Director: Nina Brazier
Set Designer: Polly Webb-Wilson
Costume Designer: Giulia Scrimieri
Sound Designer: David Gregory
Lighting Designer: Oscar Wyatt
Assistant Director: Elisa Amesbury
Fräulein Doktor Mathilde von Zahnd: Penelope McDonald
Monika Stettler: Miriam Sharrad
Herbert Georg Beutler, ‘Newton’: Martin Lamb
Ernst Heinrich Ernesti, ‘Einstein’ : Alun Rhys-Jenkins
Johann Wilhelm Möbius: William Robert Allenby
Inspector Voss: Nicholas Gillott
Frau Rose: Anita Watson
Herr Rose / Blocher: Phil Minns
George-Lucas Möbius: Scott Westoby
Music and Words: Timothy Burke and James Waterfield
Conductor: Timothy Burke
Director: Nina Brazier
Set Designer: Polly Webb-Wilson
Costume Designer: Giulia Scrimieri
Sound Designer: David Gregory
Lighting Designer: Oscar Wyatt
Assistant Director: Elisa Amesbury
Fräulein Doktor Mathilde von Zahnd: Penelope McDonald
Monika Stettler: Miriam Sharrad
Herbert Georg Beutler, ‘Newton’: Martin Lamb
Ernst Heinrich Ernesti, ‘Einstein’ : Alun Rhys-Jenkins
Johann Wilhelm Möbius: William Robert Allenby
Inspector Voss: Nicholas Gillott
Frau Rose: Anita Watson
Herr Rose / Blocher: Phil Minns
George-Lucas Möbius: Scott Westoby
William Robert Allenby studied at the RAM and RSAMD. Recent roles; Dulcamara (Elixir of Love), Sacristan (Tosca), Pish Tush (Mikado), Reischmann (Elegy for young lovers) all ENO, Somarone (Beatrice and Benedict), Bartolo (Barber of Seville) WNO, Monterone (Rigoletto) and Simone (Gianni Schicchi) for OHP. Future plans: Alcindoro (La Boheme) ROH, Sacristan (Tosca) and Gualtiero Raleigh (Roberto Deveraux) for WNO.
Nicholas Gillott trained on the Contemporary Drama course at RADA. Recent theatre includes: Jack in Grappling (Yorkshireman Productions), King Richard II in Richard II (Wakefield Theatre Co.), Christ in English Mystery Plays (The Secret Theatre Company). He has also directed Of Mice and Men and Blackadder Goes Forth for Lamproom Theatre Co.
Martin Lamb read English at St John’s, Oxford, before studying at Guildhall. He debuted at the Savoy Theatre as Sergeant Meryll in The Yeomen of the Guard (D’Oyly Carte Opera Company). Recent performance highlights include Antonio, Le Nozze di Figaro and title role in The Money Man (Five: 15 2010), both Scottish Opera. Future engagements include: Dr Grenvil, La Traviata for the ENO.
Penelope McDonald’s acting career began at the Bolton Octagon where she played several of Shakespeare’s heroines as well as roles in plays by Ayckbourn, Rattigan, Whelan, Miller, Shaw and Priestley. Recent credits: Fairy Godmother in Broadway or Bust (Jersey Arts Centre), Virginia Woolf in A Good Day (Beat Productions) and Karen in The Final Days of Fringe Theatre (Northern Elastic Theatre Company).
Phil Minns Credits include: Peter and Paul in the double bill Hope In Boxes and A Light In Every Window North West tour (Elysion Productions), Stampfer in Future Shock (Killing Time Productions) for 24:7 Theatre Festival and
Re:Play Festivals in Manchester. He has climbed Kilimanjaro, walked the Bedouin trails of Jordan and has recently been honoured as an Olympic Torch bearer.
Alun Rhys-Jenkins read Music at the University of Wales and studied at Cardiff International Academy of Voice. Notable engagements: Don Curzio (Figaro) ENO; Pedrillo (Seraglio), Remendado (Carmen), Sailor (Tristan und Isolde), First Tenor (Seven Deadly Sins), Fourth Jew (Salome), Streshnev (Khovanshchina) WNO; Witch (Hansel and Gretel), Bardolph (Falstaff) Iford, and Carmina Burana at L’Auditori, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra. Future plans include Remendado (Carmen) ENO.
Miriam Sharrad debuted with the Australian Opera Studio in 2004. Recent credits include Marcellina in Figaro, Mrs Fox in The Fantastic Mr Fox (both ETO), Filippyevna in Onegin and Woodpecker/Frog in The Cunning Little Vixen (both Grange Park Opera), Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti (Renard Productions), Fenena in Nabucco (Opera South East). Future engagements include: Schwertleite (Die Walküre) with the Philharmonia Orchestra.
Anita Watson was a Jette Parker Young Artist at the Royal Opera House 2007-9. A prize-winner in numerous international competitions, recent roles include: Governess (The Turn of the Screw) Teatro La Fenice, Fifth Maid (Elektra) Salzburg Festival, recorded Naiad (Ariadne auf Naxos) Chandos, Mimì (La Bohème) Reisopera, and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) Landestheater Salzburg, Teatro La Fenice and Opera Australia.
Scott Westoby studied Drama & Theatre Studies and Physics at Wath Comprehensive and has performed in several plays with the school and local theatre groups. At 13 he joined the National Youth Theatre. Credits include: Supernumery in LeanerFasterStronger (Sheffield Crucible Studio) and Cast Audience Member in Lives in Art (Sheffield Crucible). This is his first performance in London.