PRESS RELEASE
5th December 2014
Daniel Krupnik Productions presents:
Happy Ending
UK PREMIERE
A musical about the life choices of a cancer patient adapted from the award winning play by
Anat Gov
Written by Anat Gov | Directed by Guy Retallack | Music by Shlomi Shaban and Michal Solomon
Arcola Theatre, 28th January to 7th March
PRESS NIGHT: Monday 2nd February 7.30pm
Based on her personal experiences of living with and succumbing to cancer, Anat Gov’s play tackles
difficult life choices, presenting with sincerity and matter-of-fact humour the treatment of illness in all
its highs, lows, dignities and absurdities. Translated from Hebrew and adapted by Hilla Bar and with music
by composers Shlomi Shaban and Michal Solomon, this UK premiere is about the nature of courage, the role of
treatment and the choices that we didn’t know we could make, touching all aspects of living with illness and
teaching that the question isn’t “to be or not to be”: it’s how to be.
Carrie Evans, a theatre star in her late forties, arrives at an Oncology clinic to begin a series of treatments to
prolong her life. From her interactions with doctors and talking to other patients who will try anything from drugs
with unpronounceable names to horse’s milk to cannabis smoking, she finally reaches liberation in her
realisation that there is always a choice.
Israeli playwright Anat Gov died from cancer aged 58 in 2012, four years after she was diagnosed with the
disease. Happy Ending won the Nissim Aloni award for Original Writing in 2011 and the Gottlieb and Hannah
Rosenblum Performing Arts Award in 2012.
Director Guy Retallack’s previous credits include musicals Thrill Me (Tristan Bates Theatre and Charing Cross
Theatre) and The Last Session (Tristan Bates Theatre), both of which were nominated for WhatsOnStage
Awards. He recently directed Macbeth at Bridge House Theatre (nominated for two Offies and two Broadway
World Awards including Best Director), where he is co-artistic director alongside his wife, Rachel Tucker.
Guy Retallack said, “It’s a deeply moving play, written with acuity and wit that is unique in its treatment of a
subject most of us would rather not talk about. It goes through a whole range of emotions and is frequently
savagely funny. Above all the play, often in the most surprising way, challenges our perceptions about what is
acceptable, and seeks to make us think again about the choices we think lie before us."
Choreographer Paul Harris is best known for Catherine Zeta-Jones’ laser scenes in Entrapment and for the
wand combat sequences in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. For theatre, he’s worked as
choreographer and movement director on shows including The Entertainer and Gaslight (Old Vic), Liberty
(Shakespeare’s Globe), and The Importance of Being Ernest (Theatre Royal Bath). He won the Carl Alan Award
for choreography in 2008.
Composer Shlomi Shaban was born in Israel, where he is a recording and performance artist. He’s just released
his fourth album. Michael Solomon is composer and musical director from New York. She won the first prize of
the BACA competition in New York, and was a finalist at the Oberlin International Piano Competition in Ohio.
The shows she has performed with in New York include A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd and Chicago.
Press Contact: Sharon at Mobius 020 3195 6269 or sharon@mobiusindustries.com
The cast includes Gillian Kirkpatrick, whose recent productions include American Psycho at the Almeida
Theatre, Chess at the Union Theatre, and Sweeney Todd at the Adelphi Theatre, where she played the Beggar
Woman. Also in the cast are Beverly Klein (original London cast of Les Miserables, the Witch in the Royal
Opera House’s Into the Woods) and Jodie Jacobs, whose West End credits include Audrey in Little Shop of
Horrors, Serena in Fame and Joanne in Rent.
@HappyEndingUK | #HappyEndingMusical
Running Time: 110 minutes | Suitable for ages 13+
Company Information
Written by Anat Gov
Music by Shlomi Shaban and Michal Solomon
Directed by Guy Retallack
Design by Simone Romaniuk
Produced by Daniel Krupnik
Sound Design by David Glover
Medical adviser Dr. Dana Niry
Translated and adapted by Hilla Bar
Musical direction by Tom Turner
Choreographed by Paul Harris
Lighting design by Richard Williamson
Assistant Producer Sofi Berenger
Production manager Tammy Rose
Cast
Thea Beyleveld, Jodie Jacobs, Gillian Kirkpatrick, Beverley Klein, Andrea Miller, Oliver Stoney and Gemma
Wardle
(Further casting to be announced)
Listings information
Arcola Theatre, 24 Ashwin St, London E8 3DL
28th Jan to 7th Mar, Mon – Sat 7.30pm, matinees Wed and Sat 3pm
£18 (£14 concs) £12 previews (28th – 30th Jan) | www.arcolatheatre.com | 020 7503 1646
Press Contact: Sharon at Mobius 020 3195 6269 or sharon@mobiusindustries.com