The Headlong and Royal Court Theatre’s co-production of Jennifer Haley’s multi-award-winning play The Nether, produced in the West End by Sonia Friedman Productions and Scott M Delman, will complete its limited run at the Duke of York’s Theatre on 25 April 2015 as previously announced.
Jeremy Herrin’s critically acclaimed production of Haley’s piece of new writing transferred to the West End in January from the Royal Court Theatre where it premiered last year. More than 19,000 theatregoers have seen The Nether for under £20.50 thanks to the extension of accessible “off-West End” pricing and the production has received four nominations at the upcoming 2015 Olivier Awards: Best New Play, Best Set Design, Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
The current West End cast of The Nether comprises David Calder (Doyle), Amanda Hale (Morris), Ivanno Jeremiah (Woodnut) and Stanley Townsend (Sims) who are joined by Jaime Adler, Perdita Hibbins and Isabella Pappas who alternate the role of Iris. From 13 April, David Beames returns to the production in the role of Doyle, which he previously played at the Royal Court Theatre. Set designs are by Es Devlin, with costume designs by Christina Cunningham, video design by Luke Halls, lighting by Paul Pyant, compositions by Nick Powell and sound by Ian Dickinson.
The Nether offers complete freedom – a new virtual wonderland providing total sensory immersion. Just log in, choose an identity and indulge your every desire. An intricate crime drama and a haunting thriller set in the year 2050, The Nether follows an investigation into the complicated, disturbing morality of identity in the digital world, and explores the consequences of making dreams a reality
Jennifer Haley’s other writing includes Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom, which premiered at the Actors Theatre of Louisville at the 2008 Humana Festival, Breadcrumbs for the Contemporary American Theatre Festival and Sustainable Living written in the 2011-2012 CTG Writers’ Workshop and featured at the Ojai Playwrights Conference. Her play Froggy is in development with The Banff Centre and American Conservatory Theater. Haley’s plays have been developed at the Sundance Theatre Lab, the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, the Lark Play Development Center, PlayPenn, Page 73 and the MacDowell Colony. She is a member of New Dramatists in New York City and lives in Los Angeles where she founded a writing collective called the Playwrights Union.
The Nether was the first play Jeremy Herrin directed for Headlong as Artistic Director. Previously he was Deputy Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre from 2009 until 2012 where his credits included No Quarter, Hero, Haunted Child, The Heretic, Kin, Spur of the Moment, Off the Endz, The Priory, Tusk Tusk, The Vertical Hour and That Face. Herrin directed the world premieres of Hilary Mantel’s Man Booker prize-winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies in two parts for the Royal Shakespeare Company – the productions transferred to the West End in May 2014 and commenced on
Broadway earlier this month. He was the recipient of the 2014 Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Director for the productions. Herrin’s other recent credits include Another Country, Uncle Vanya and South Downs for Chichester Festival Theatre all of which transferred to the West End, This House for the National Theatre, Absent Friends at the Harold Pinter Theatre and The Tempest and Much Ado About Nothing for Shakespeare’s Globe. Herrin’s production of David Hare’s The Absence of War opened at Sheffield Theatres earlier this year and is now on a UK tour.
In a Headlong and Royal Court Theatre co-production, The Nether is produced in the West End by Sonia Friedman Productions and Scott M Delman in association with Tulchin Bartner Productions, Lee Dean & Charles Diamond, 1001 Nights, JFL Theatricals/GHF Productions, Scott & Brian Zeilinger/James Lefkowitz.
The Nether is the latest in a number of collaborations between Sonia Friedman Productions and the Royal Court Theatre (Rock ‘n’ Roll, Clybourne Park, Jerusalem in the West End and The River on Broadway) and Headlong (1984 and Chimerica).
Development of The Nether was supported by the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center during a residency at the National Playwrights Conference 2011, Preston Whiteway, Executive Director; Wendy Goldberg, Artistic Director.