The Briar Patch

The Briar Patch description

The Briar Patch is a new domestic thriller about memory, scandal and losing trust in the people closest to you.

Dara is learning to live with the blank spaces: conversations she can't remember and the occasional hallucination. When a scandal rocks her community and a family friend is arrested, Dara starts asking questions, and the answers risk pulling her life apart. As the questions multiply, she has to work out how far she can trust the people around her, and her own memory.

The play receives its world premiere in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court Theatre, presented in association with Prime Cut and Brian and Dayna Lee. It was developed through the Royal Court's Genesis Next Generation Programme and was first featured in the theatre's Open Submissions Festival, in partnership with Character 7. The original commission was supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. The production is recommended for ages 14+.

The play is written by Ciara Elizabeth Smyth, whose earlier work includes Lie Low. It is directed by David Byrne, Artistic Director of the Royal Court and an Olivier Award nominee. Casting is by Saffeya Shebli.

Olivier Award winner Juliet Stevenson leads the cast as Dara. She won the Olivier Award for Best Actress for Ariel Dorfman's Death and the Maiden, which began at the Royal Court, and her recent stage work includes Robert Icke's The Doctor. Her screen credits include Truly Madly Deeply, Emma and Bend It Like Beckham.

Book now for The Briar Patch, a new play in which one woman's search for the truth puts everything she relies on at risk.

Playing at Royal Court Theatre

Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8AS GB (venue info)

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