RSC returns to The Lowry with captivating Iraq play

The RSC returns to The Lowry Theatre in November with Roy Williams' acclaimed and blisteringly topical play, Days of Significance.

The story centres around two young soldiers who join their friends to binge drink the night before they leave for active service in Iraq.  Their complex love lives and mortal fears directly impact on their tour of duty.  Roy Williams' timely and explosive play examines the aftermath of a war whose conflicts rage far beyond the Iraqi battleground.

George Rainsford, who plays Jamie, one of the two main characters who goes to war, studied drama in Manchester. Sarah Ridgeway, who plays Trish, another main character also went to university in Manchester.

In a nutshell, the play is about the war in Iraq and how it impacts on a group of young working class Londoners.

Days of Significance enjoyed an initial run at the Swan Theatre in Stratford before a critically acclaimed transfer to the Tricycle Theatre in London. It will run at The Lowry from Tuesday 24th to Saturday 28th November.

Roy Williams, says of the piece: “In a nutshell, the play is about the war in Iraq and how it impacts on a group of young working class Londoners.  Whether they like it or not, the war forces them all, in ways they never thought possible,  to re-examine themselves away from the stereotype they are associated with, young, thuggish, sexually frustrated binge drinking white trash.”

RSC Company Dramaturg Jeanie O'Hare said: “Roy's play is very funny and captures the other side of the news. It is a captivating portrait of young people pitting their wits against a political war they find baffling. Roy captures the subtle moods and atmospheres of disillusion and desperation of small town life. He looks at how we make our young soldiers into extreme versions of themselves and then we dump them back into the life they left.  His characters have an inventive wit, which when mixed with cigarettes, sex and alcohol becomes lethal. It drives them tumbling into an uncertain future.”

Roy Williams is one of the UK's most exciting playwrights.  His recent work includes the stage adaptation of Absolute Beginners (Lyric Hammersmith), Joe Guy (Tiata Fahodzi in association with Soho Theatre and New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich), Fallout (Royal Court), Baby Girl and Sing Yer Heart Out For The Lads (National Theatre and tour).  He was awarded the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright in 2001 for Clubland (Royal Court), the Alfred Fagon Award in 1997, and the OBE in 2008.

For more information visit www.thelowry.com