Theatre 503 will present Valhalla by Paul Murphy as the seond play in their Autumn season. The play is a tense psychological thriller set in a world in which men have become gods, but gods have become depraved.
Clint Dyer and Carolina Main have been named as the cast of Valhalla; Main has recently appeared in Grantchester for ITV as well as King Lear for the RSC and The Winter’s Tale and All’s Well That Ends Well for the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival. Dyer’s extensive credits include The Royale (Bush Theatre), Sus (Young Vic and Tour) and Big White Fog (Almeida).
As violence sweeps the city, a young couple flee to an isolated Nordic research facility. On the brink of discovering the cure for a devastating disease, cracks start to appear in their marriage as they are forced to choose between conflicting allegiances to love and science.
Conceived against a backdrop of bewitching Icelandic scenery, this extraordinary play asks questions about the ethics of genetic research, fertility and the endurance of human love.
Valhalla was the joint winner of the inaugural international Play-writing Award.
Playwright Paul Murphy comments: “I wanted to use the subject of genetic research to explore the question of what makes us who we are, on both the genetic level and the individual level. I’m attracted to challenging pieces of work that ask important questions whilst retaining an emotional rawness. The play provides no answers but I hope it will provoke plenty of question”.
Valhalla is directed by Jo McInnes, designed by Katie Lias, lighting design by Nigel Edwards and sound design by Becky Smith.
Theatre503 is unrivalled in its support of new writers, reading and reporting on more unsolicited scripts than anywhere in the country. The next Theatre503 Playwriting Award will be open for applications from Autumn 2015, with the selected winner being staged in 2017.
Valhalla runs at Theatre 503 from 30th September to 24 October 2015
