James Phillips’s award-winning play The Rubenstein Kiss, inspired by the true-life story of Soviet spies Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, is to be revived at Southwark Playhouse.
Devil You Know Theatre Company is staging the first London production of the play since 2005 from 14 March to 13 April 2019, directed by Joe Harmston.
It is the story of the Rubensteins, a deeply devoted Jewish couple whose Communist idealism leads to their world being torn apart by suspicion and treachery which then echoes through the generations.
Phillips’s explosive and affecting drama is a study of conspiracy, betrayal, and guilt. It was inspired by the Rosenbergs who were executed in the USA in 1953 for allegedly providing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union.
The Rubenstein Kiss was originally staged in 2005 at Hampstead Theatre in London starring Gary Kemp and Samantha Bond, winning the John Whiting Award and the TMA Award for best new play.
Phillips said: “I’m incredibly excited to see Joe Harmston’s new production of The Rubenstein Kiss. Our current, dangerous, fraught political moment – where so many are trying again to test the limits of political idealism, where we read daily of Russian agents in this country and in the United States – seems a perfect time to revive the play.”
Phillips’s first staged play, The Little Fir Tree, was commissioned by and performed, under his direction, at the Sheffield Crucible in 2004. His other work includes Hidden in the Sand (Trafalgar Studios), McQueen (St James Theatre and Theatre Royal Haymarket), City Stories (St James Theatre and 59E59 Theaters, New York) and Flood, which premiered as part of Hull UK City of Culture in 2017.
Harmston has directed over 100 productions in London‘s West End and at various regional theatres including Chichester Festival Theatre and Belgrade Theatre Coventry, as well as multiple number-one UK and international tours.
His career highlights include productions of The Lover and The Collection at Donmar Warehouse starring Harold Pinter. His other West End credits include The Birthday Party, A Talent to Amuse and Wait Until Dark. He was nominated by the TMA as best director for his 2012 production of Strindberg’s The Father at Belgrade Theatre, Coventry.
Casting, led by casting director Kate Plantin CDG, is still to be announced. Set design will be by Sean Cavanagh and sound design by Matthew Bugg.
