The Big Fellah, a new play by Olivier-nominated writer Richard Bean about Irish Americans and their relationship to the IRA, will receive its world premiere at the Corn Exchange, Newbury from Thursday 2 – Saturday 4 September before embarking on a national tour.

The Big Fellah is directed by the legendary Max Stafford-Clark for Out of Joint and the Lyric Hammersmith.  Out of Joint is an outstanding British theatre company known for producing the UK’s sharpest writing and who regularly perform at the National Theatre and the Royal Court.  Max Stafford-Clark’s productions for Out of Joint include Talking to Terrorists, The Permanent Way, Shopping and F***ing and the world-touring, Africa-inspired Macbeth. As Artistic Director of the Royal Court, his work included the premieres of Serious Money, Top Girls and Our Country’s Good.

Max Stafford-Clark said today: “I’m very proud to announce The Big Fellah by Richard Bean, a writer I’ve admired for a long time. Support among Irish Americans for the Republican cause was huge, and Richard’s play - both thoughtful and brutally funny - is I think the first to explore this on stage.”

Richard Bean is best known as the writer of the controversial England People Very Nice (National Theatre, Olivier-nominated for Best Comedy) and Harvest (Winner: Best Play, Critics' Circle Awards).  The Big Fellah is a gripping, darkly comic play about a young New York fireman (David Ricardo-Pearce) who decides to live up to his Irish heritage by joining the IRA. He's recruited by Costello (Finbar Lynch), the charismatic "Big Fellah", who wants to use Doyle's brownstone apartment in The Bronx as a safe house for an escaped killer. But it soon becomes clear that someone is leaking information to the FBI...

The cast includes Finbar Lynch who has been widely acclaimed for his roles for the National Theatre, RSC and in the West End, and was nominated for a Tony Award for Not About Nightingales on Broadway. 

The Big Fellah will open at Corn Exchange, Newbury on Thursday 2 September – Saturday 4 September, starting at 7.45pm. Tickets cost £15, £13.50 concessions, and are available at the Box Office on 01635 522733 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              01635 522733      end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              01635 522733      end_of_the_skype_highlighting or online at www.cornexchangenew.com. See the ‘cinematic’ style trailer online as well: http://www.outofjoint.co.uk/prods/bigfellah_video.html