News: Sian Clifford and Nikesh Patel star in world premiere of Good Grief

Good Grief is directed by Natalie Abrahami (Anna at the National Theatre). A romantic comedy about grief, the production is a sharp, funny and often brutal depiction of an everyday emotion – and is quintessentially British. It will be rehearsed entirely via Zoom, then filmed in a covid-safe studio.

Clifford said, “It’s neither film nor theatre, it’s a hybrid that’s why it’s so thrilling to be part of it, something that is so innovative and has been born entirely of this chaos. It’s really thrilling, a bit of a brain maze, structured around the stages of grief. I always said it would take a lot to get me back on stage, but the play blew me away, I absolutely tore through it, it made me weep. And I loved the idea of doing something radical and helping save our industry and to keep people engaged with the arts.”

Tickets will be launched on 15 December via Original Theatre and ATG tickets, with the production available to view from 15 February 2021.

Further team members include Isobel Waller-Bridge, who is developing the sound design and score, and Fin Oates (I Hate Suzie) as Editor, Emma Dalesman as director of photography and Natalie Pryce as production designer.

Lorien Haynes said, “When I wrote Good Grief – as a heartfelt one act comedy – no one said it was long enough to produce on stage. For it to have a life now – virtually – at a time where we miss and need theatre – is a truly wonderful thing. Theatre has to survive and our art adapt, to make storytelling vital in the midst of this pandemic. I am so grateful for this short, sharp play to get out there – and shout ‘GO THEATRE. We’ll be back’. I hope this new stage, the 45-minute virtual playing space, raises the curtain for fresh work, new playwrights and new form of theatre to guide us through these trying times. It should be there to remind people that we will always find a way to tell our stories. Whatever we are up against.”

Director Natalie Abrahami said, “It’s thrilling to be collaborating with Platform Presents again and forging a way to harness theatre in a different way at this moment in time. Our production of Lorien Haynes’ Good Grief is a love-letter to theatre. It reminds us of the theatre that we love and miss, whilst finding a way to transpose the theatre into a different medium where we retain the immediacy and vital relationship between actor and audience that is at the beating heart of theatrical experience.”