22nd August 2007

Grab your woolly socks and waterproofs and set sail for Neville’s Island; the award-winning British comedy shoring up on the Hull Truck stage this September!

Penned by Tim Firth, the acclaimed writer of the hit film Calendar Girls, this dark comic drama tells the savagely-funny tale of the ill-fated (mis)adventures of four middle managers; packed off for a weekend of ‘team building’ in the Lake District - only to end up marooned on an island in the middle of Derwentwater!

Back at the office, ’Captain’ Neville and his colleagues Gordon, Angus and Roy, may be clued-up Internet Explorers, but out here in the wilderness their orienteering is way off track! Stranded; tired, hungry and helpless - armed with only a defunct mobile phone, a cold sausage and a rucksack full of camping gear that none of them have a clue how to use - their only hope is that Angus’s wife will pick up their SOS message on the answer phone.. if she ever gets back from Sainsbury’s that is! As darkness falls and tensions mount, a sinister atmosphere looms over the foggy isle, and the men begin to wonder whether they’re alone ..…

Director Gareth Tudor Price’s brand-new production of this celebrated black comedy will star top actors John Biggins, Charlie Dickinson, Bruce McGregor and Stephen Omer; who are all bracing themselves for a soaking on the Island, as they plunge into vats of icy water before the show in order to acquire the authentic, bedraggled look required for each performance as the sodden shipwreckers!

Tickets for the great escape to Neville’s Island are selling out fast, so early booking (as well as a supply of Kendal Mint Cake) is essential!
More info / Book online

Cast and Director available for interview by arrangement
All Media Enquiries to: Hull Truck Theatre Marketing Department
Tel: 01482 325012 / Email: marketing@hulltruck.co.uk

Editor’s Notes


Press Night is Friday 14th September, 8pm. RSVP to marketing@hulltruck.co.uk by Friday 7th

Post-show talkback with director and cast: Tuesday 18th September

The Neville’s Island setting will be created by Designer Richard Foxton, who has previously produced sets for a number of acclaimed productions directed by Gareth Tudor Price at Hull Truck – including Up On Roof, Macbeth and Toast.

Gareth Tudor Price has previously directed Bruce McGregor (playing Gordon) and Charlie Dickinson (playing Angus) in a production of Neville’s Island at Harrogate Theatre.

Charlie Dickinson (Angus) has worked performed in a number of Hull Truck productions, including playing Lucky Eric in its first tour of John Godber’s Bouncers.

John Biggins (playing Neville) and Hull-born actor Stephen Omer (playing Roy) will both make their Hull Truck Theatre debut in Neville’s Island. Stephen has previously starred in the Steven Coogan film, The Parole Officer.

Nominated for Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy, Neville’s Island was first staged at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in June 1992. It has also been produced at Nottingham Playhouse and Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue. Foreign productions have taken place in New Zealand, South Africa, Germany, Australia, Canada, America, Norway, Spain and Poland and Slovenia.

A television film of Neville’s Island was produced and broadcast on ITV in 1998, starring Timothy Spall, Jeff Rawle, David Bamber and Martin Clunes.

As well as the acclaimed British films Calendar Girls, Blackball (starring Vince Vaughn and Johnny Vegas) and Kinky Boots , Neville’s Island writer Tim Firth has written extensively for television, theatre and radio; including three series of the award-winning Preston Front, Once Upon a Time in the North, the hit play Safari Party, BAFTA-Winning children’s television series Roger and The Rottentrolls, and his most recent television film, Cruise Of The Gods; a science-fiction fan cruise in the Med. starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon.