6 – 7 May

Lava, a new play starring Kacey Ainsworth, best known on television for her roles as Cathy Keating in Granchester and Little Mo in EastEnders, Bethany Antonia (Stay Close), Oli Higginson (Bridgerton, The Pursuit of Love) and Dan Parr (The Fall Of the Krays) appears at Bath’s Ustinov Studio on Friday 6^th and Saturday 7^th May on its first UK tour. Written by James Fritz, this hopeful, moving and humorous four-hander about friendship and reconnection is directed by co-founders of Fifth Word theatre company, Laura Ford and Angharad Jones.

Focusing on the stages of grief and the ways we find to cope, exploring love, friendship and human connection, Lava is set in the aftermath of a natural disaster which has struck London.

In a small town far from the capital, a young man called Vin can no longer speak. Is it shock? Grief? Or something else? While Vin’s mum Vicky is struggling with a loss of her own, his friend Rach is determined to help him find a way out of silence. But when Rach’s family take in a charismatic and articulate survivor of the asteroid disaster, who thinks talking – or even singing – about your suffering is the way to heal, Vin’s plight is suddenly eclipsed.

Lava considers what happens to those who can’t express themselves in a world that celebrates self-expression, and looks at the lengths we will go to to make sense of our sadness.

Kacey Ainsworth, who plays the role of Vicky, is best known on television as Cathy Keating in Grantchester, a role she has played since 2014, and as Little Mo in more than 500 episodes of EastEnders between 2000 to 2006. Winner of Most Popular Actress at the National Television Awards in 2002, Kacey’s many screen roles also include playing Inspector Jenny Black in Holby Blue, Valarie Wright in The Wright Way, Miss Gullet in The Worst Witch and guest roles in Moving On, Call the Midwife, Casualty, M.I High, Midsomer Murders, Tracey Beaker Returns and Hotel Babylon. Kacey’s theatre career has seen her perform in the West End, at London’s National Theatre and Royal Court, Liverpool Everyman, Nottingham Playhouse and on national tour, in productions ranging from Sweeney Todd to Calendar Girls and Carrie’s War.

Oli Higginson, whose previous credits include Bridgerton on Netflix and BBC1’s The Pursuit of Love, plays the role of Jamie. On stage, Oli recently appeared in A Christmas Carol at London’s Old Vic, and in the West End transfer of Southwark Playhouse’s acclaimed staging of The Last Five Years, for which he was nominated for a Stage Debut Award and an Offie Award. Oli can currently be seen on screen in the second series of Bridgerton, reprising his role from the first series and later this year in Michael Winterbottom’s This Sceptred Isle for BBC.

The role of Rach is played by Bethany Antonia, who recently appeared as Kayleigh Shaw in the Netflix series Stay Close and as Margot Rivers in BBC’s adaptation of the popular children’s novels Get Even. Making her stage debut in Lava, she returns to television later this year when she plays Baela Targaryen in the Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon. 

The role of Vin is played by Dan Parr, whose screen credits include Silent Witness, The Musketeers, Crimson Field and the role of Teddy in the films The Rise Of the Krays and The Fall of the Krays. His theatre credits include productions at London’s Royal Court and Barbican Theatres, Leeds Playhouse and Manchester’s Royal Exchange, Lowry and Library Theatres.

Lava is written by award-winning playwright James Fritz (Four Minutes Twelve Seconds, Ross & Rachel, Parliament Square) and co-produced by bold new writing company Fifth Word and Nottingham Playhouse.

Writer James Fritz said: “We were supposed to share Lava with audiences back in 2020, before the pandemic, so I’m excited to see how people respond to the play in the very different world of 2022. At its heart Lava is about four people looking for healing and connection in the wake of a national tragedy, which feels like a good story to be telling after everything we’ve been through. But more importantly, Fifth Word’s production is so funny, hopeful and full of beautiful moments that I can’t wait for people to see it. It’s been a long time coming.”

Co-director Laura Ford said: “Fifth Word commission work that tells the stories of people who often find themselves on the margins or struggle to be heard, and with Lava this is literally the case. Lava tells the story of a young man who stops talking in the wake of a catastrophic disaster, and who is struggling to make sense of his feelings in a world that feels out of control. Unbelievably, this piece was commissioned before the pandemic, so audiences will be watching through a different lens to its premiere in 2018. But this play feels so right for now and will be more pertinent than ever, asking questions around how a seismic global event ripples through our everyday lives and emotions, how we begin to process a tragedy that can feel distant and unfathomable, and whether some people’s grief or sadness has more legitimacy than others. At a time when the world feels unpredictable and sometimes terrifying, Lava shows that there is also hope, resolve, humour and a sense that anything is possible.”

Lava appears at the Ustinov Studio on Friday 6^th and Saturday 7^th May. Tickets are on sale at the Theatre Royal Bath Box Office on 01225 448844 and online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk/ustinov

Photo credit: Robert Day