Actors Touring Company, the UK’s leading producer of international plays, announces a new major 11-week national tour of Rice, a powerful drama written by award-winning Australian writer Michele Lee and directed by Actors Touring Company’s Artistic Director Matthew Xia.
The play is a wickedly humorous observation on globalisation, politics and family – and true to ATC’s mission, it amplifies global stories and female voices. ATC tours international plays to local audiences – finding common resonances and opening up conversations about our global community.
This new touring version of ATC’s production of Rice will visit venues and places from the South West to the North East, following on from a successful 5-week London run at The Orange Tree Theatre last month. It marks ATC’s return to touring after almost two years due to the global pandemic.
The tour opens with new casting at Theatre Royal Plymouth on the 4 February until 12 February and goes on to Oxford’s North Wall before heading up North with performances at Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough; Sheffield’s Crucible Studio, Liverpool’s Unity Theatre, HOME in Manchester; Newcastle’s Northern Stage and ending on the main stage at the York Theatre Royal on the 13 and 14 April. Additional dates are expected to be confirmed shortly.
The drama centres around a young hotshot executive working for Australia’s largest producer of rice, determined to become the first female Indian CEO in Australia and an older Chinese migrant, the office cleaner, who has her own entrepreneurial ambitions. The two form an unlikely bond as they navigate the complexities of their lives and the world at large.
The 2022 European tour of RICE is produced by Actors Touring Company and the Orange Tree Theatre, in association with Theatre Royal Plymouth.
