Royal Court Theatre Presents Leaves By Lucy Caldwell

LEAVES, a stunning new play from award winning playwright and novelist Lucy Caldwell, will open at the Royal Court Theatre on 19 March 2007. Directed by Garry Hynes, the play is co-produced by the Royal Court and Druid Theatre Company. Designed by Francis O'Connor, with lighting design by Ben Ormerod and sound design by John Leonard. Original music composed by Sam Jackson.

Cast includes Fiona Bell, Alana Brennan, Daisy Maguire, Conor Lovett, Penelope Maguire and Kathy Rose O'Brien.

Lori is coming home from her first term at university. It's only been a few weeks and already things have gone badly wrong. But none of the rest of the family knows, or understands, what really happened. This fiercely observed family drama sees three teenage girls struggle to define who they are, and why, and where they might be going.

"'We are where we come from?' That's not true. That's not true because if that's true there's no hope for any of us."

LUCY CALDWELL who was born in Belfast, won the 2006 George Devine Award for Leaves - the premier award for new writing by an emerging playwright in the UK and Ireland. Caldwell's haunting and lyrical debut novel, Where They Were Missed, is published in March 2006 by Penguin (Viking) and was short-listed for the 2006 EDS Dylan Thomas Prize. She has also been nominated for the 2007 Susan Smith Blackburn award.

GARRY HYNES is co-founder and Artistic Director of Druid Theatre Company. Past productions include: The Year Of The Hiker, DruidSynge (Druid), On Raftery's Hill and The Leenane Trilogy (all Royal Court). She has the distinction of being the first woman ever to win a Tony for directing (for The Beauty Queen of Leenane). Leaves will have a limited Galway run, for ten performances, before it transfers to The Royal Court Theatre through April 7. -- royalcourttheatre.com