Liam McLaughlin Productions has announced the cast for the UK tour of Emma Hemingford’s Flinch.
Writer Emma Hemingford will be playing the role of Jess and Benjamin Aluwihare will be playing the role of Mark.
The UK Tour of Flinch will open at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford on Saturday 6th November, before heading to Bristol, Bradford, Scarborough, and Leicester. It will then return to London, at the Pleasance Theatre, for a limited run.
Emma Hemingford, on playing Jess said: “I’m so excited to be back on stage and to be performing in venues across the UK! Flinch is a dark comedy about the way gender roles affect a young couple’s relationship. Jess and Mark both say and do some ugly (relatable?) things behind closed doors – but that’s what makes them such fun characters to play. I can’t wait to get going, and thanks to the Arts Council for making it all possible!”
Benjamin Aluwihare, on playing Mark said: “I’m thrilled to be playing Mark and look forward to exploring some of the play’s trickier questions, like, when push comes to shove, do you dare to be the hero?”
Directed by Gemma Aked-Priestley, Flinch is a darkly comic examination of a modern relationship.
Jess is an actor, or will be, as soon as she hears back from her latest audition. Mark works in the city, an up-and-coming trader who’s never really made it past the starting line. The pair are definitely fine, almost-some-of-the-time – until the night they have an experience that threatens to change everything.
When Mark reacts unexpectedly in the face of a violent mugging, his girlfriend Jess is left questioning the cornerstones of their relationship. Is she right to feel betrayed by Mark’s refusal to defend her – even when the incident turns out to have been a harmless prank? As the young couple try to mend their relationship, rom-com sparring reveals something more sinister: a thorny and unsettling discussion of gender politics that refuses to take sides.
A raw, unsettling comedy, Flinch is an intense 80-minute show that forces you, the audience, to occupy an uncomfortable space as both jury and accomplice. By presenting us with recognisable characters rather than moral pariahs, the play holds up a mirror up to our own most private instincts.
Tickets for Flinch are on sale now.
