Based on real life stories of journalists who have altered the truth to serve their own stories, Press is the story of a fictional ex-tabloid journalist.
Juxtaposing the lack of consequences for his lies with the terrible toll paid by journalists for truth telling in other countries, it asks pertinent questions about media scrutiny and accountability. Written and performed by Sam Hoare (Dickie in BBC One’s Bert and Dickie), it’s directed by actor, writer and director Romola Garai (Atonement, The Hour, The Miniaturist)
Ex-tabloid hack Matt has made a living doing whatever was necessary, at whatever the cost. Based on the real actions taken by journalists, he’s telling his own story. How can so much be done with so few consequences? And how can the telling of truth be so much more dangerous than the telling of lies?
Writer and performer Sam Hoare said, “I was struck when reading about the treatment of some journalists across the world by the contrast with the freedom given in our own country to the press, who seem almost unrestricted in their growing ability to shape culture and public discourse, often through means described by an ex-tabloid hack as ‘the dark arts”.
Make Mine a Double is a season of four shows starting mid-November and running for four weeks, programmed to give emerging artists and companies a chance to present their work in short run double bills. The new strand of work aims to give theatre makers a lower-cost and lower-risk way of producing new work in the Finsbury Park venue, as well as offering multi-buy tickets to encourage local audiences to see compelling new work. Press is programmed in a double bill with Tunnels, a play based on the real-life escape stories of the men and women who burrowed under the Berlin Wall in 1968.
Press is at Park Theatre 28 Nov – 10 Dec 2022.
