by Peter Oswald
Directed by Reuben Grove
Designed by Louie Whitemore
Lighting by Scott McMullin
Music by Alastair Putt.
Movement Direction by Vanessa Mildenberg.
Cast includes: Penelope Dimond. Richard Franklin. Ria Jones. Jacob Krichefski. Tom Sangster. Pericles Snowdon. Liana Weafer.

[ new work season 2007 ]
30 October – 24 November 2007

The world premiere of a new play by Finborough Theatre Playwright-in-Residence Peter Oswald.

Lucian Willow has a dark past; so dark he can’t remember it. Twenty years after the end of the Second World War, a former Army Chaplain lives in a state of amnesia on his old comrade Lord Brook’s country estate, deep in the slumbering fields of England. The arrival of a circus from across the channel - with its anarchic forces of magic and comedy - impels these wounded men to confront their horrifying and entangled past. Written in verse and prose, Lucifer Saved is an astonishing interweaving of modern story and Christian myth, of tragedy and comedy, by one of the UK’s foremost verse playwrights.

Peter Oswald was writer-in-residence at the Globe Theatre where his plays The Storm, The Golden Ass and Augustine’s Oak were all produced. In 2005, his version of Schiller’s Mary Stuart, directed by Phyllida Lloyd, transferred to the West End after a sell-out run at the Donmar Warehouse. Other London credits include The Odyssey and Shakuntala (Gate Theatre), Dona Rosita: The Spinster (Almeida), Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards (National Theatre), and Don Carlos (Lyric). He is now Playwright-in-Residence at the Finborough Theatre. Lucifer Saved received a staged reading at the Finborough Theatre in 2006 with Mark Rylance, Juliet Rylance and John McEnery.

Reuben Grove is an exciting young director who has worked closely with Peter Oswald and his Devonshire theatre company Hearts Tongue. He recently directed Bed and Breakfast by Jennie Coles at The Gate Theatre before a successful run on the Edinburgh Fringe. London credits include work as Writer on Hidden Light (Barons Court Theatre), Assistant Director to Dominic Leclerc on Love and Human Remains (Soho Theatre and The Warehouse), and Silver Tongue Theatre’s The Fire Play (Holborn Church Crypt), and Assistant Musical Director on Mother Clap’s Molly House (National Theatre).

A reading of Lucifer Saved with Mark Rylance was also presented at the Finborough Theatre in 2006. Details here

The Press on Lucifer Saved

“Oswald’s glittering verse is more delectable at such close quarters in Reuben Grove’s inventive production.”
Lucy Powell, Time Out

“The characters of Reginalda…and Ronaldo…are brought to winsome, ribald life by the diamante talents of Ria Jones and Tom Sangster.”
Lucy Powell, Time Out

“Perri Snowdon and Liana Weafer are impressive.”
Lucy Powell, Time Out

“Bizarre, yet intriguing.”
Lalayn Baluch, The Stage

“Alastair Putt’s music adds a necessary haunting texture to the show.”
Lalayn Baluch, The Stage

“Vanessa Mildenberg’s movement direction is particularly commendable in the aviary scene.”
Lalayn Baluch, The Stage

“The most notable performance is by Liana Weafer as Sarah, a punchy little sprite whose friendship with Willow (Jacob Krichefski) injects the production with convincing emotion.”
Lalayn Baluch, The Stage

“Ria Jones’ Reginalda is colourful and energetic.”
Lalayn Baluch, The Stage