The Overcoat
MORE INFO
Time & Venue
- Previews: Aug 3-5
- Shows: Aug 6-29
- Day off: Aug 15
- Starting time: 12.25
- Show length: 80 min
- Venue: Pleasance Queen Dome
- Venue address: 1 Bristo Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9AL
Social Media
CREDIT LIST
- Authors: Esa Leskinen and Sami Keski-Vähälä
- Scottish adaptation by: Catherine Grosvenor
- English translation by: Nely Keinänen
- Director: Aleksis Meaney
- Set and costume design: Janne Siltavuori
- Sound design: Jussi Kärkkäinen
- Lighting design: Tomi Tirranen
- Make up design: Tuija Luukkainen
- Graphic design: Johannes Wilenius
- Producer: Hanna Roisko / Ryhmäteatteri
- Co-ordnator: Tanja Ljungqvist / ACE-Production
CAST
- Billy Mack, Karen Fishwick, Sarah McCardie, Hazel Ann Crawford, Simon Macallum and Tom Freeman
SCRIPT ENQUIRIES
- Hongjia Qi
- Ace-Production
- +358 40 026 7107
- hongjia.qi@ace-production.com
INFO
Esa Leskinen and Sami Keski-Vähälä’s new play “The Overcoat” is a modern reinterpretation of the legendary Nikolai Gogol’s story (published in 1842).The story is widely regarded as one of the most influential literary short stories and a absurdist comedy, fantasy and realism pioneered.
Akaky Akakievich – a sympathetic, but inconspicuous bank clerk – finds himself in financial dire straights, and decides that the key to his own personal happiness would be a brand new overcoat. This fateful decision sends Akaky on an amazing journey through jungle of modern working life, and the ever stranger twists and turns of the global economy, all the way to the very fundamental question of his existence. The Overcoat is a very funny comedy, but it is also a gripping statement about alienation in a world where laws and principles have become unfathomable and about the unquenchable desire to find happiness and love.
- THE SCOTSMAN
- ‘This is a real treat…hilarious and thought provoking…’
BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE - ‘this topical production is a real winner’
BROADWAY BABY - ‘A very professional, fully worked out show’
FRINGE REVIEW - ‘A genuinely funny show with a tender heart’
EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS - THE TIMES
- THE HERALD
RYHMÄTEATTERI
Founded in 1967, the Ryhmäteatteri (“Group Theatre”) is Finland’s oldest independent theatre group. It operates in two performance spaces in Helsinki, main space in Kallio (capacity 350) and Summer theatre space in Suomenlinna, island of the coast of Helsinki (capacity 550).
With its light and flexible organization and excellent contacts with the most interesting playwrights in Finland today, the Ryhmäteatteri has a finger on the pulse of the times. The theatre takes special pride in promoting new domestic playwrights.
The Ryhmäteatteri is structured as an association whose goal is not to generate profit, but to create and promote values which encourage individuals to take responsibility for themselves and for the world. The Ryhmäteatteri is committed to the idea that individuals can make a difference, and that even the smallest acts are significant.
