Following her acclaimed performance in Manchester earlier this year as Hamlet, Maxine Peake is to return to the stage for How to Hold Your Breath, a new work by Zinnie Harris. It opens at the Royal Court in London on 4 February.
The play “dives into our recent European history, providing an epic look at the true cost of our principles and how we live now,” according to the theatre, whose artistic director Vicky Featherstone will direct the production.
Peake appeared at the Court in the 2002 production Mother Teresa Is Dead. Featherstone and Harris have worked together before, on a National Theatre of Scotland production of Harris’s play The Wheel in 2011. As well as numerous plays, Harris has written episodes of Spooks as well as forthcoming Agatha Christie BBC adaptation Partners in Crime, which stars David Walliams and will air in 2015 as part of the celebrations for the 125th anniversary of Christie’s birth.
The Royal Court has also announced that their staging of 2071, in which scientist Chris Rapley outlines the challenges presented by climate change, will return for three more performances. The production blends lecture with drama – Michael Billington observed that “some will argue this is not really theatre,” but described it in a five-star review as being “better than good: it is necessary”.
The Guardian has recently completed a series of filmed microplays in collaboration with the Royal Court, inspired by conversations between journalists and theatre practitioners, and covering everything from education to food banks to the poignancy of mixtapes. You can see the final play below, and head here to watch them all.
