Matthew Schmolle Productions are delighted to announce the 10 year anniversary production of Alistair McDowall’s critically acclaimed Captain Amazing will open at Southwark Playhouse Borough this May. With previews from 1st May and press night on 2nd May. Tickets are on sale now and are available from https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/captain-amazing.
Returning to play the titular character will be Mark Weinman who previously inhabited the role to critical acclaim and who the piece was initially written for. Once again, Clive Judd directs with re-imagined lighting and projection from Will Monks, sound design from Asaf Zohar and set design from Georgia de Grey.
On his return to the production Mark said today: “I’m absolutely delighted to be able to play Captain Amazing one more time – not least because I’m now closer to the titular characters age and I don’t have to play up any more! There’s not many chances for an actor to go back to a role ten years on and it’s a real privilege to get to speak Ali’s words again. What a treat to share this story in a new version which brings it up to date for new audiences.”
Playwright Alistair McDowall added: “I have very fond memories of making Captain Amazing with Mark and Clive ten years ago. Mark is one of the most powerful actors around and Clive is a director of impeccable skill – the two of them returning to the play with a new production is extremely exciting.”
Captain Amazing tells the story of the transformative power of fatherhood, everyday acts of courage and how even the invincible aren’t immune to tragedy. Award-winning Alistair McDowall’s funny, inventive and poignant one-man show was showered with glittering reviews after its world premiere at Live Theatre, Newcastle and the 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, receiving a national tour in 2014.
Have you ever met a superhero? A real superhero? What if superheroes were all around us, quietly walking the streets, working in offices, or taking their children to school? Mark, a reticent young man, is impelled into articulacy, action and superherodom by the arrival of his daughter, Emily. You see, some superheroes don’t know they are superheroes until they become fathers.
As part of the production, in partnership with arts charity The Working Party, MSP will be creating a bursary supported production traineeship on the show for an early career, solo theatre maker. For more information keep an eye on the production social channels.
Alistair McDowall (Playwright)
Alistair McDowall is an award-winning writer whose credits include, The Glow, all of it, X (The Royal Court, Avignon Festival) Talk Show (The Royal Court – Open Court), Zero for the Young Dudes! (National Theatre Connections), Pomona (Orange Tree/National Theatre/Royal Exchange, Manchester) and Brilliant Adventures (Royal Exchange, Manchester/Live, Newcastle). Awards include: Abraham Woursell Prize, Harold Pinter Commission and Bruntwood Judge’s Award.
Clive Judd (Director)
Clive Judd is an award-winning director, writer & bookseller. As a director, Clive’s credits include Chair (Spazju Kreattiv, Malta), The MP, Aunty Mandy and Me (Curve Theatre), Macbeth (Teatru Manoel), Rails (Theatre by the Lake), This Will End Badly and Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against The Eunuchs (Southwark Playhouse), Captain Amazing (Live, Newcastle/Edinburgh Festival Fringe). As a writer, Clive’s debut play Here won the Papatango Prize in 2022 from a record 1553 scripts and he was nominated for Most-Promising New Playwright at the Off West End Awards during its run at Southwark Playhouse. Clive’s story We Can Collect The Keys, a collaboration with the artist Patrick Wray, was published by Exit Press in 2022 & his story Joel Lane’s Carrier Bag will be published by Left Cultures in 2024. Clive co-runs the Birmingham-based Voce Books, recently voted in The Times as one of the UK’s best independent bookshops.
Mark Weinman (Mark)
Recent theatre credits include Wildfire Road (Sheffield Crucible), Sitting (Arcola), Mr Noodles and So Here We Are (Royal Exchange), PrimeTime and The Bash (Royal Court), Plastic (Old Red Lion), The Hairy Ape (Southwark Playhouse), The Emperor Jones (National Theatre), Fastburn (KneeHigh Theatre/NYT), Big Aftermath (ATC/Summer Hall), Still Killing Time and Eating Ice Cream on Gaza Beach (Soho Theatre), Edmond (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Herons (Stephen Joseph/Manchester Library Theatre). For television his credits include, The Radleys (SKY); Ant Man & The Wasp: Quantumania (MARVEL/DISNEY), Criminal Record (APPLE TV), I May Destroy You (BBC/HBO), After Life, The One, Falling For Figaro (NETFLIX), Press Sitting and Salisbury Poisonings, RoadKill, Episodes and Gamechangers (BBC), Back, Humans, The People Next Door, The Guilt Trip (CH4), Sex Ed (STAN & LOLA FILMS – Winner of Best Actor, European Independent Film Festival), (CH4) and Stand Up Sketch Show (ITV2). Mark is also founder of The Ten; a not-for-profit mentorship programme designed to support and showcase outstanding undiscovered talent from underrepresented backgrounds.
