Following its Fringe First-winning premiere at the Edinburgh Festival in 2010, Oxford
Playhouse ’s Resident Company Shared Experience tours Speechless this autumn , a powerful play based on the extraordinary true story of identical twins June and Jennifer
Gibbons. The tour starts at The North Wall Arts Centre from Wednesday 14 to Saturday
17 September .
Inspired by Marjorie Wallace ’s best-selling book The Silent Twins , Polly Teale and Linda
Brogan 's poignant play is an astonishing portrayal of the secret world of a very special but ultimately destructive alliance between two sisters. Against a 1980s backdrop of race riots and a royal wedding, their story is touched by isolation, bullying, racism and the legacy of imperialism.
June and Jennifer’s parents were post-war immigrants to the UK from Barbados. The twins were brought up on an RAF base in Wales, where their father and mother struggled to fit in with a close-knit English military community. The twins communicated in their own private language and withdrew into an exclusive and turbulent relationship. Increasingly troubled, they were committed in their teens to high security mental hospital Broodmoor, where they were to spend 14 years as their story headed towards its eventual end.
The production premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2010, where it received outstanding reviews, exceptional audience response, and a Fringe First award. The touring production reunites original cast members Natasha Gordon and Demi Oyediran as
Jennifer and June and Anita Reynolds as their mother.

Tickets for Speechless at The North Wall are available from The North Wall Ticket Office on 01865 319450 or book online at www.thenorthwall.com
– ENDS –
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Press Night: Wednesday 14 September
Dates: Wednesday 14 to Saturday 17 September
Times: Wed – Sat eves: 8pm, Thurs mat: 1.30pm, Sat mat: 2.30pm
Tickets: £14.50 £16.50 £18.50 (no concessions)
Age guideline: 14+
Speechless is presented by Shared Experience in association with Sherman Cymru.
POLLY TEALE (director / co-writer, Speechless)
Polly is Joint Artistic Director of Shared Experience. Her productions for the company include: The
Glass Menagerie , Mine (writer/director), Speechless (co-writer/director), Ten Tiny Toes ,
Kindertransport , Jane Eyre (director/adapter, touring and West End), After Mrs Rochester
(writer/director, touring and West End; Evening Standard Award for Best Director, Time Out Award for
Best West End Production), Madame Bovary , The Clearing , A Doll’s House , The House of Bernarda
Alba , Desire Under the Elms ; and as co-Director with Nancy Meckler: War and Peace (co-production with the National Theatre) and Mill on the Floss .
LINDA BROGAN (co-writer, Speechless )
Linda’s writing credits include Basil and Beattie , produced at the Royal Exchange and Liverpool
Everyman, which won the NWP 21 st anniversary commission; What’s in the Cat , produced by Contact and Royal Court, nominated for MEN Best New Play, published by Methuen; Black Crows , produced by Clean Break at The Arcola and shortlisted for The Alfred Fagon Award and The Susan Smith
BlackBurn Prize, and published by Oberon.
SHARED EXPERIENCE
From acclaimed adaptations to contemporary drama, Shared Experience has given theatre a new dimension, giving form to the hidden world of emotion and imagination. The company’s rehearsal process is a genuinely open forum for asking questions and taking risks that redefine the possibilities of performance. At the heart of the company's work is the power and excitement of the performer's physical presence and the unique collaboration between actor and audience - a shared experience.
Recent productions include Brontë, The Glass Menagerie, Speechless, Caucasian Chalk Circle and
War and Peace. Shared Experience has been resident theatre company at Oxford Playhouse since
January 2011.
Shared Experience is Resident Company at Oxford Playhouse
Previous acclaim for Speechless:
‘A gripping, poignant, thought-provoking 90 minutes’ Daily Telegraph ****
‘emotionally nuanced and entirely absorbing’ The Times ****
‘dark, brutal and... delicate... its script captures a huge, resonating and conflicting world of colonial history, loyalties and identities... unforgettable performances’ The Scotsman ****
‘superb performances... it will leave you tongue-tied’ The Guardian
For further information, interviews or images please contact:
Madeleine Woolgar, Press & Marketing Officer
T: 01865 305388 | E: madeleine.woolgar@oxfordplayhouse.com
For information about the North Wall and their current season please contact:
Paula Clark, Producer, The North Wall Arts Centre
T: 01865 319450 | E: clarkp@thenorthwall.com