RoughHouse Theatre is thrilled to announce the full cast for Dougie Blaxland's new play, The Long Walk Back which tours nationally in April 2019.

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THE LONG WALK BACK

By Dougie Blaxland

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Director: Shane Morgan

Movement Director: Moira Hunt

Original Music by Owen Morgan

Designed by RoughHouse Theatre

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‘Here I am - look at me - a black immigrant kid with a few quid in his back pocket.

What are you gonna do now?'

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Based on real live events, The Long Walk Back tells the epic story of an international sporting star’s catastrophic fall from grace. England cricketing all-rounder Chris Lewis enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame and fortune in the 1990s. Playing 85 Tests and One Day Internationals for England he seemed on the verge of greatness when he was named England’s International Cricketer of The Year in 1994.

 

Within months of his cricketing career ending, however, his life lay in ruins when he was sentenced to 13 years in prison for smuggling cocaine into the UK.

 

Beginning with his arrest at Gatwick Airport in 2008 and an attempted suicide on his first night in custody, The Long Walk Back charts the extraordinary journey that took Lewis from the brink of despair to a profound moral awakening.

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RoughHouse Theatre are thrilled to announce that joining the creative team as cast for The Long Walk Back are Martin Edwards and Scott Bayliss.

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Director Shane Morgan's recent credits include When The Eye Has Gone (National Tour), Hands Up For Jonny Wilkinson's Right Boot (National Tour), The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Butterfly Psyche Theatre), Venus and Adonis (Theatre Royal Bath, Engage), The Sneeze (Victoria and Albert Museum, London). He has also adapted for the stage Daniel Wallace's novel Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician and Nick Hornby's NippleJesus. He is an Associate Director of the Rondo Theatre Bath and Director of RoughHouse Theatre.

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Movement Director Moira Hunt's work includes Glitz Dies! (Performance Space, Sydney as Director in Residence), The Sneeze (Director, Victoria and Albert Museum, London), The House of Bernarda Alba (Movement Director for Theatre Royal Bath), Henry Walker and the Wheel of Death (Movement Director, Rondo Theatre, Bath), Hands Up For Jonny Wilkinson's Right Boot (Movement Director and Director, National Tour) and When The Eye Has Gone (Movement Director). Moira is Director of RoughHouse Theatre.

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Award winning writer Dougie Blaxland is also Director of South West based Live Wire Theatre. His writing credits include That Moment, Never Any Fruit, Chauntecleer and Pertelotte, Hands Up For Jonny Wilkinson's Right Boot and When The Eye Has Gone. He has also written stage adaptations of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre.

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Composer Owen Morgan is a musician, producer and DJ. His previous projects include 3.3, Nazuri, and Trictum Sound. This is his first work for the stage.

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The Long Walk Back is supported by Arts Council England, The Big Lottery Fund and The Professional Cricketer's Association.

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For all press enquiries and images, contact Shane Morgan at shane@roughhousetheatre.com

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Tuesday 2nd April - Saturday 27th April 2019

The Long Walk Back

By Dougie Blaxland

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Website: www.roughhousetheatre.com

Twitter: @RoughHouseUK

Facebook: facebook.com/RoughhouseTheatre/

Instagram: @roughhousetheatre

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Talkback: There will be a Q&A with cricketer Chris Lewis and Director Shane Morgan after each performance.

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Full tour details:

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Tues 2nd April    The Chipping Norton Theatre  01608 642350  www.chippingnortontheatre.com

Wed 3rd April     The Phoenix Theatre, Bordon  01420 472664  www.phoenixarts.co.uk

Thurs 4th April    Everyman Theatre Cheltenham  01242 572573  www.everymantheatre.org.uk

Fri 5th April         Everyman Theatre Cheltenham       

Sat 6th April        Everyman Theatre Cheltenham       

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Wed 10th April   The Haymarket, Basingstoke  01256 844244  www.anvilarts.org.uk

Thurs 11th April  Dorchester Arts  01305 266926  www.dorchesterarts.org.uk

Sat 13th April      Royal & Derngate, Northampton  01604 624811  www.royalandderngate.co.uk

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Tues 16th April   The Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol  0117 902 0344  www.thewardrobetheatre.com

Wed 17th April   The Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol         

Thurs 18th April  The Blue Orange Theatre, Birmingham  0121 212 2643  www.blueorangetheatre.co.uk

Fri 19th April       The Rondo Theatre, Bath  0333 666 3366  www.rondotheatre.co.uk

Sat 20th April      Leicestershire County Cricket Club  0116 283 2128  www.leicestershireccc.co.uk

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Tues 23rd April   Nottingham Playhouse  0115 941 9419  www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk

Wed 24th April   Greenwich Theatre, London  020 8858 7755  www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk

Thurs 25th April Greenwich Theatre, London

Fri 26th April      Greenwich Theatre, London

Sat 27th April     Greenwich Theatre, London

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CAST BIOGRAPHIES:

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Scott Bayliss was a member of the Bristol Old Vic's Made In Bristol Programme (2014/2015) and trained at Identity School of Acting.

Stage credits include SPILL for Propolis Theatre at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Wild Men for Hotel Echo Theatre and You Know What You Are for Doppelganger Productions.

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Martin Edwards was a journalist for more than a decade before training professionally as an actor at ALRA. Since then he has performed at various venues including Soho Theatre, Theatre503, Greenwich Theatre and The Old Red Lion. As a playwright, he is currently developing a play with The White Bear theatre in London for performance next year. His play The Glory Road was shortlisted for The Alfred Fagon Award in 2013.

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ABOUT ROUGHHOUSE THEATRE:

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RoughHouse Theatre was formed in Sydney and after successful collaborations and residencies, including Sydney Fringe, Old Fitzroy Theatre, Cat and Fiddle and the Performance Space, moved to the UK in 2005. Since then, RoughHouse collaborations have included the Victoria and Albert Museum London, Ben Crystal, Theatre Royal Bath, Tobacco Factory Theatres Bristol, Rondo Theatre Bath, writers Nick Hornby and Daniel Wallace, the Rugby Football Union and the Professional Cricketer's Association.

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