Organised Crime Theatre Further Details about our Edinburgh Fringe production of Pornography by Simon Stephens

Booking Information: theSpace @ Venue 45 (63 Jeffrey Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DH) 20th 25th August 2012 8.15pm 9.45pm Tickets 8 (5) Box office 0845 508 8387 boxoffice.venue45@thespaceuk.com (from Aug.1st) O Online at www.edfringe.com In person at the Fringe Box Office (180 High Street) Phone: 0131 226 0000 Press contacts: Peter Jackson 07976 311981 / peter@organisedcrimetheatrecompany.co.uk Angela Thorpe 07813 911141 / angela@organisedcrimetheatrecompany.co.uk

More about the production: Pornography, written in response to the 7/7 London attacks, explores the days leading up to the fatal atrocities, as the country crashed from the euphoria of winning the Olympic Games. Set in July 2005, between the Olympic announcements and the London bombings, it tells seven intimate and entwining stories, including the journey of one of the bombers travelling towards the City to commit an act of terrorism. Seven years on, Pornography becomes all the more relevant in the year that the London 2012 Olympics finally arrive in the UK. The play premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2008 and its return in Olympic year gives us the chance to reflect on Britain 7 years on. Beyond the title of Stephens shattering play, the topic figures minimally in its action. Instead, pornography is seen as a symbolic symptom of the countrys disaffection, isolation and capacity to erase the humanity of those around us. The title refers to a more pervasive kind of objectification. It's summed up in the awful final sequence in which the 51 people who died in the bombings are reduced to radio sound bites.

More from Simon Stephens on the play: But I dont think it is a detached play. Ive lived in London for more than 15 years now. I was married here. I raised my children here. Its a city I love. I think I would like to be buried in the East End. I dont think I could write in response to the events of that day with clinicism or irony. I couldnt sensationalise the events of that day. I hope this play doesnt do that. It was never my intention. This play is entirely a work of fiction. It was my intention to use that fiction in an attempt to humanize the people of my home city. In the end, for me, the plays not about terrorism, its about human beings.

About Simon Stephens: Simon is Artistic Associate of the Lyric Hammersmith. Theatre includes: For the Lyric: Punk Rock (also Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester nominated for Evening Standard Theatre Award and Whatsonstage Award for Best New Play, and winner of Manchester Evening News Theatre Award for Best Play) and A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky. The Trial of Ubu (Hampstead/Essen Schauspielhaus/Toneelgroep Amsterdam); Wastwater, Herons, Country Music, Motortown, Bluebird (Roya Court); an adaptation of Jon Fosses I am the Wind (Young Vic); Marine Parade (Brighton International Festival); Port (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester 2002 Pearson Award for Best New Play); On the Shore of the Wide World (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester/National Theatre 2005 Olivier Award for Best New Play); Harper Regan (National Theatre); Sea Wall (Bush/Traverse); One Minute, Christmas (Bush) and Pornography (Hamburg and Berlin Theaterffen/Traverse/Birmingham Repertory Theatre/Tricylce). TV includes: An adaptation of Pornography for Coming Up, Channel 4 and Dive. About the cast and crew: The cast of eleven is diverse in its range of experience: whilst some have experienced performing at The National Theatre, as part of the Young Persons Theatre Company, or winning roles in major film releases such as Tamara Drewe (2010), others are discovered raw talent with no previous theatre background. Company members have trained at respected institutions such as RADA, Drama Centre London, Drama Studio London and Metropolitan Film School, as well as from academic backgrounds such as University of Warwick, Goldsmiths University, Rose Bruford College and Brunel University.