Rehearsals for One Cold Dark Night | Photo by Helen Murray
“We’ve already established that the street was empty when I turned around. But just because no one was there does not mean that no one was there. I just couldn’t see them. Like so much else in life.”
One cold, dark night, a woman is followed to the doorstep of her Victorian terrace in Shepherd’s Bush. With only a lonely glass of red to greet her, she wills the eyes that watch her to see into her shimmering past.
Our narrator is a former dancer, a rags-to-riches girl who married Harry, a charismatic film producer. Amongst memories of lost friends, dark London clubs, and a perfect front door, a stranger arrives with an alternative story to disrupt what’s gone before.
Nancy Harris’ theatre credits include Our New Girl and Little Dolls (Bush Theatre), BADDIES: The Musical (Unicorn Theatre), No Romance (Peacock Theatre), Journey to X (National Theatre Connections), The Man With The Disturbingly Smelly Foot: A Version of ‘Philoctetes’ by Sophocles for children (Unicorn Theatre), The Kreutzer Sonata (Gate Theatre), Love in a Glass Jar (Peacock Theatre). She has also had numerous productions of her work staged in internationally. Nancy received The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and The Stewart Parker Award for her debut full- length play No Romance in 2012. She was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize that same year and was long-listed for an Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright Award in 2013 for Our New Girl. She also writes for film and television and was nominated for a BAFTA in the Breakthrough Talent category in 2014 for her writing on the Channel 4 series DATES.
Omar is an award winning Italian/Palestinian theatre director, deviser and performer, who trained at Jacques Lecoq International Theatre School in Paris. He joined the Bush in 2012 alongside Madani Younis and since then has been the resident Associate Director. He is in charge of the Bush’s talent development, leading on the Associate Artists and Project 2036 schemes. He is also involved in the development and delivery of the Bush’s artistic program and lead the programming of the RADAR festival between 2012 and 2015. His directing credits for the Bush include gig theatre sensation Misty by Arinzé Kene, the Edinburgh Fringe First winning NASSIM by Nassim Soleimanpour, One Cold Dark Night by Nancy Harris and Islands by Caroline Horton. As Associate Director, he has worked alongside Madani Younis on the Bush’s productions of The Royale, Perseverance Drive and Chalet Lines. Other credits include acclaimed site-specific production The Mill – City of Dreams, Olivier Award nominated You’re Not Like The Other Girls Chrissy, Testa di Rame (Italy), Les P’tites Grandes Choses (France) and L’Envers du Décor (France).
Priscilla John, Orla Maxwell and Francesca Bradley have worked together as a casting team since 2009 on diverse and exciting film and international TV projects. Priscilla leads the team with a wealth of experience including the Royal Court Theatre in 1970’s, Granada TV, and an independent career casting for David Lean, Steven Spielberg, Gore Verbinski, Terrence Davies and Andrei Tarkovsky. Always on the hunt for new UK talent, the team are passionate theatregoers attending fringe, West End and drama graduate shows.
The Defector’s Weld is a friendly West London pub nestled at the foot of Shepherd’s Bush Green, serving British food and traditional and craft beers. As well as food and drink, this local boozer also serves up good music from DJ’s and live bands, as well as games and film screenings.
