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Debbie Hicks & Jesse Romain in association with Kings Head Theatre and Park Theatre present the World Premiere of
The Retreat
SAM BAIN l WRITER
KATHY BURKE I DIRECTOR
SAM BAIN l WRITER
Together with Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain has co-created and co-written nine series of the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show from 2003-2015.
Peep Show has won two British Comedy Awards, two Royal Television Society Awards, a BAFTA and the Writers Guild of Great Britain Award for Comedy Writers of the Year.
In 2011 Sam and Jesse created Fresh Meat, a team-written comedy-drama about university students, which won two RTS awards and a British Comedy Award. The fourth and final series will be broadcast in 2016
In 2014 Sam and Jesse wrote Babylon, a 6-part hour-long comedy-drama series for Channel 4 and the Sundance Channel. The feature-length pilot was directed by Danny Boyle.
The duo’s film writing includes 2010’s Four Lions, co-written with Chris Morris, which premiered at Sundance and won the BAFTA for Outstanding Debut.
Sam’s first solo series, three-part comedy thriller Ill Behaviour, will premiere on BBC iPlayer before being broadcast on BBC Two later this year.
Sam’s novel, Yours Truly, Pierre Stone, is available as an ebook on Amazon.co.uk.
KATHY BURKE I DIRECTOR
Kathy Burke has worked extensively as director, actor and writer enjoying considerable success in each of the disciplines. Kathy won Best Actress at Cannes (1997) and a BIFFA Award for Nil By Mouth; a British Comedy Award (2002) for Gimme Gimme Gimme and an RTS Award for Mr Wroe’s Virgins (1994).
Recent film work includes: Absolutely Fabulous the Movie, Pan, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Kathy is well known for her TV work which includes: Walking and Talking which she wrote and acted in as ‘the Nun’, Ab Fab, Gimme Gimme Gimme and several series of Harry Enfield and Chums and the spin-off film Kevin and Perry Go Large.
Writing credits include the award winning stage play Mr Thomas which was later televised and a Little Cracker for Sky called Better Than Christmas which led to a spin off four part series called Walking and Talking.
Theatre directing includes: Mr Thomas (the Old Red Lion), which Kathy also wrote. Out in the Open by Jonathan Harvey (Hampstead Theatre), Betty by Karen McLachlan (Vaudeville Theatre), Kosher Harry by Nick Grosso (Royal Court Theatre), Born Bad by Debbie Tucker Green (Hampstead Theatre),The Quare Fellow by Brendan Behan (Oxford Stage Company), Love Me Tonight by Nick Stafford (Hampstead Theatre), Blue/Orange by Joe Penhall Sheffield Crucible and tour, The God of Hell by Sam Shepard (Donmar Warehouse), Smaller by Carmel Morgan (Lyric Theatre, London) and Once a Catholic by Mary O'Malley (Tricycle Theatre).
PAUL WILLS | SCENIC & COSTUME DESIGNER
Theatre includes: Measure for Measure (Theatre For A New Audience, NY); American Buffalo, Di and Viv and Rose, Mrs Henderson Presents (West End/Toronto); King Lear, First Light (Chichester); King Kong, Shakespeare in Love (The Fugard Theatre, Cape Town); Hamlet, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (RSC); Running Wild (Regent’s Park Open Air/Chichester/UK Tour); Anna Christie, Making Noise Quietly, The Man Who Had All The Luck, The Cut, Novecento (Donmar Warehouse); Blasted, Saved, Punk Rock, The Chair Plays (Lyric Hammersmith); The Acid Test, Routes, Breathing Corpses (Royal Court); Richard II, Dr Faustus, Front Line (Shakespeare’s Globe); Occupational Hazards (Hampstead); Our Few and Evil Days, Drum Belly (Abbey Dublin); A Room with a View; A Steady Rain; The Hypochondriac (Theatre Royal Bath); Juno and The Paycock (Gate Theatre Dublin); A Human Being Died That Night, (Hampstead/The Fugard; South Africa/Bam); Howie The Rookie (Dublin/The Barbican/BAM); Once a Catholic, Pornorgraphy, The Field (Tricycle Theatre); A Number, Total Eclipse (Menier Chocolate Factory); My Fair Lady, Afterplay, Sisters, Gladiator Games (Sheffield Theatres); The Indian Wants The Bronx (Young Vic); Finding Neverland, Buried Child, Barnum (Leicester Curve); The Changeling (ETT) Orpheus Descending 1984, Macbeth, See How They Run (Manchester Royal Exchange).
Opera and Dance Credits include: Bastard Amber (Liz Roche, Dublin Dance Festival); Rusalka (English Touring Opera); The Magic Flute (National Theatre of Palestine).
PAUL KEOGAN | LIGHTING DESIGNER
Paul was born in Ireland and studied drama at Trinity College Dublin and Glasgow University.
Credits include: Jenufa, La Bohème, Eugene Onegin, Idomeneo, and Les Dialogues des Carmelites (Grange Park Opera UK); Falstaff (Vienna Staatsoper); Far Away, Sacrifice at Easter (Corcadorca, Cork); The Gaul (Hull Truck Theatre); Maria de Buenos Aires (Cork Opera House); Sinners, Here Comes The Night (Lyric Theatre, Belfast); Blue/Orange, Tribes (Crucible Studio, Sheffield); Born Bad, The Stock Da’wa (Hampstead); Smaller (West End); Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, The Plough and The Stars, Cyprus Avenue, Shibboleth, Our Few and Evil Days and The Risen People (Abbey Theatre, Dublin); The Fairy Queen (RIAM Dublin); Powder Her Face (Teatro Arriaga, Bilbao); Wake (Nationale Reisopera, Netherlands); Novecento (Trafalgar Studios, London); Big Maggie (Druid, Galway); The Matchbox (Galway International); A Streetcar Named Desire (Playhouse, Liverpool); The Birds (Gate Theatre, Dublin); and The Walworth Farce (Landmark, Dublin); Giselle, Sceherazade, Lost (Ballet Ireland); Flight (Rambert); No Man’s Land (English National Ballet); Cassandra, Hansel and Gretel (Royal Ballet).
JOHN LEONARD | SOUND DESIGNER
John Leonard has written an acclaimed guide to theatre sound, is the recipient of Drama Desk, LDI Sound Designer Of The Year and USITT Distinguished Career Awards and is a Fellow of The Guildhall School of Music and Drama and an Honorary Fellow of The Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts.
His most recent theatre includes: All Our Children, (Jermyn Street Theatre); Consent, Waste, Detroit, Grief, Untold Stories-Cocktail Sticks, 2000 Years, England People Very Nice, Much Ado About Nothing, London Assurance and Rocket to the Moon ( National Theatre); The Heresy Of Love ( Royal Shakespeare Company); The Dark Earth and The Light Sky, The Master Builder, Little Eyolf and Ghosts (Almeida Theatre, West End and New York); Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Bristol Old Vic); Into The Woods ( Royal Exchange, Manchester); The BFG (Birmingham Rep); Birthday and Tribes (Royal Court); Stevie, Farewell To The Theatre, Lawrence After Arabia, Ken and Mr. Foote’s Other Leg (Hampstead Theatre); Macbeth (Shakespeare’s Globe); The Libertine, Dead Funny, Hand To God, The Duck House, Just Jim Dale, Firebird and McQueen (West End).
DEBBIE HICKS | PRODUCER
Debbie is a theatre producer & manager working in the West End and on tour within the UK & internationally both as an independent producer and for Tom O’Connell Productions. She formerly worked for Jamie Hendry Productions, where she trained as an apprentice under the Stage One initiative for new producers. She is also a current postgraduate student of the University of Oxford and a member of the Society for Theatre Research.
Current projects include the UK tours of the Olivier-award winning Out Of Order, directed by theatre luminary Ray Cooney, and Million Dollar Quartet.
Other recent credits include: For Debbie Hicks Productions: Dinner With Friends (Park Theatre), Holes (Arcola Tent), Shakespearience (UK Tour). For Tom O'Connell: The Boys In The Band (UK Tour & West End), Babe, the Sheep-Pig (UK Tour), Raising Martha (Park Theatre), Loot (London 2017). For Jamie Hendry: Impossible (West End & International Tour), Let It Be (West End & International Tour), Neville's Island (West End), The Wind In The Willows (in development).