Chronicles of Narnia star, Georgie Henley, will make her professional stage debut in the world premiere of Philip Ridley’s new monologues, Angry, next February at Southwark Playhouse.
Henley will be joined by a male actor (casting to be announced), to perform the series of five gender-neutral monologues on subjects as diverse as refugees, millennial anger, and interstellar travel. All five monologues will be performed by each actor over the course of the run, but which actor performs each individual monologue will alternate night-to-night.
A spaceship hurtles towards a black hole. A book-loving couple flee a burning city. A bloodshot eye conjures up kisses and wild animals. Angry is a menacing, magical, and darkly comedic collection of stories that vibrate with the lingering unease of our times.
Philip Ridley developed Angry over a four-year period in a close partnership with director Max Lindsay.
“Phil and I started exploring things that made us, well angry, and the play sort of grew out of that.” says Lindsay, “We were drawn to this idea of what it means to be a man and to be a woman in the modern world, and where the differences are. Having the same words said by both a man and a woman over the course of the run will give the audiences the chance to see the how the same events can have a very different impact.
“What’s incredible is how relevant Angry feels today. Phil wrote it before President Trump, Weinstein and #MeToo but it feels like it could have been a direct response to current events. He’s always a dozen steps ahead of the rest of us, it’s part of his genius.”
Georgie Henley shot to worldwide fame aged eight when she was cast as the lead, Lucy Pevensie, in the Oscar-winning Chronicles of Narnia series. She took time out of acting to study English at Cambridge before returning to star opposite Ella Purnell in indie film Access All Areas.
Angry is at Southwark Playhouse 14th February – 10th March 2018.