23 February 2018
Newsdesk
The world premiere of Kevin Armento's thrilling political drama Devil With The Blue Dress will star: Emma Handy (Handbagged, Tricyle Theatre; Miss Julie, Chichester Festival Theatre; Flare Path, Theatre Royal Haymarket), Dawn Hope (Follies, National Theatre; The Scottsboro Boys, Young Vic Theatre and Garrick Theatre; Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, New Players Theatre and National Tour), Daniella Isaacs (Hear Me Raw, Soho Theatre, Arcola Theatre, Underbelly Edinburgh; Fleabag, BBC/Amazon; Mush and Me, The Bush, Holden Street Theatre Award winner at Adelaide Fringe, Underbelly - Ideas Tap Underbelly Award winner), Flora Montgomery (Gaslight, Royal Alexandra Toronto; Arcadia, English Touring Theatre; Quirk, BBC1) and Kristy Philipps (Hush, Paines Plough; Clean Break, ITV1; Vera, ITV).
Directed by The Bunker's Artistic Director Joshua McTaggart, this exciting new production interrogates America's biggest political sex scandal of all time: The Monica Lewinsky Scandal. The production unfolds across two timelines - in 1995 when the affair took place and in 1998 when it burst into public view and almost took down the Clinton presidency. In Armento's dramatisation of this shocking scandal, we are taken along the corridors of power and through the closed doors behind which the abuse of that power took place.
Slyly exhuming the little blue dress that launched the biggest media circus of a generation, the five women who were at the centre of this infamous scandal collide on stage: A First Lady, a secretary, a daughter, a confidant, and an intern. A theatrical battle emerges over how it all went down, who were the heroes and villains, and why, twenty years later, we're only beginning to grapple with one of the most challenging questions in American political history: How do we respond to women seeking power, and the men who abuse that power?
Kevin Armento comments, England boasts such a rich tradition of political theatre and I'm thrilled to share this American story in that context at one of London's most exciting new venues. This scandal was an even crazier spectacle than people remember and some of the most surprising details have been forgotten by history - in no small part because of who got to write that history. As both our countries pass through this major moment of cultural reckoning regarding abuses of power and the gender norms those abuses have enforced, it's a story that merits new interrogation. The Bunker has been a fantastic partner in helping shape the play and setting a vision for how this unique spin on a political drama might unfold on stage.
Performance Schedule Thursday 29th March - Saturday 28th April 2018
Tuesday - Saturday, 7:30pm
Saturday, 3pm
Sunday, 5pm
Twitter @BunkerTheatreUK, #BlueDevil
Playwright Kevin Armento
Director Joshua McTaggart
Producer The Bunker Theatre, Seaview Productions and Desara Bosnja
Designer Basia Bińkowska
Lighting Designer Jess Bernberg
Sound Designer Anna Clock
Hilary Clinton Flora Montgomery
Monica Lewinsky Daniella Isaacs
Linda Tripp Emma Handy
Betty Dawn Hope
Chelsea Clinton Kristy Philipps
Location The Bunker, 53A Southwark Street London SE1 1RU
How to get there The Bunker is located on Southwark Street. The nearest underground stations are London Bridge (on the Jubilee and Northern lines - Borough High Street exit), Borough (on the Northern line) and Southwark (on the Jubilee line). The nearest rail station is London Bridge.
Box Office Tickets are available priced £19.50 (Standard), £15.00 (Concession), £10.00 (Under 30), £12.00 (Previews)
Ten £10 tickets are available at each performance for under 30s. Purchase from https://www.bunkertheatre.com/ and 0207 234 0486.
Upcoming Press Nights at The Bunker
Grotty Thursday 5th May 2018
Kevin Armento
Kevin Armento's plays include Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally (Drama Desk nomination, Stage Edinburgh Award, New York Times Critics' Pick), Good Men Wanted (New York Stage and Film), Balls (co-written with Bryony Lavery, Stages Repertory Theatre and 59E59 Theaters with One Year Lease), and Companion Piece (Pleasance Theatre). Work has been produced and developed with Arena Stage, Cape Cod Theatre Project, Dixon Place, The Flea, Johnny Mercer Writers Colony, and The New Ohio, among others, and he is an alum of The Working Farm at SPACE on Ryder Farm, Artist-in-Residence at The Drama League, and Play Group and Makers Lab at Ars Nova. Upcoming works include Playing Hot with Pipeline Theatre, and a commission from Ars Nova.
