Kathy Burke is to direct the World Premiere of Sam Bain’s new comedy drama The Retreat at Park Theatre from 2 November to 2 December 2017.
Luke, a former high-flyer from the City, is sitting in a remote stone hut halfway up a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. He is on a meditation retreat, searching for the inner peace that so far has eluded him. The trouble is, not only will his mind not settle, but an uninvited guest arrives – his obnoxious older brother, Tony. Is Tony everything that’s wrong with Luke’s old life, or is he the only one who can really see into his soul? And is Luke’s quest for spirituality a way of transforming himself, or is it just another form of addiction? The Retreat is a sharp new comedy drama about a world where we can never escape ourselves, or find ourselves either.
Kathy Burke is a director, actor and writer, well known for television work including Ab Fab, Harry Enfield and Chums and Gimme Gimme Gimme, for which she won a British Comedy Award. Film work includes Absolutely Fabulous the Movie, Pan, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Nil By Mouth, for which she won Best Actress at Cannes. Work as a theatre director includes Betty (Vaudeville Theatre), Kosher Harry (Royal Court), Out in the Open and Born Bad (Hampstead Theatre), Blue/Orange (Sheffield Crucible), The God of Hell (Donmar Warehouse), Smaller (Lyric Theatre) and The Quare Fellow and Once a Catholic (Tricycle Theatre).
The Retreat is written by Sam Bain (award-winning creator of Channel 4’s Peep Show and Fresh Meat and the film of Four Lions co-written with Chris Morris), directed by Kathy Burke, set and costume design by Paul Wills, lighting design by Paul Keogan and sound design by Paul Leonard.
Casting is to be announced.
