''If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet'' is the first full-length professionally produced play by the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
playwright Nick Payne
Nick Payne (born 1984) is a British playwright and screenwriter.
Early life and education
Payne studied at the University of York and subsequently at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He is also a graduate of the Royal Court Young Writ ...
. It was produced at the
Bush Theatre in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in 2009.
Productions
London
The play opened in London in 2009 at the
Bush Theatre, where it was a smash hit. Directed by
Josie Rourke
Josie Rourke (born 3 September 1976) is an English theatre and film director. She is a Vice-President of the London Library and was the artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse theatre from 2012 to 2019. In 2018, she made her feature film debut ...
, the cast starred
Rafe Spall, Ailish O'Connor, Pandora Collin and Michael Begley. It received positive reviews calling it "flawless" and a "comic tour de force".
Payne received a nomination for the
Evening Standard Award
The ''Evening Standard'' Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are the oldest theatrical awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. They are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre, and are organised by the ''Evening Standar ...
for Most Promising Playwright in 2010; he won the
George Devine Award
George Alexander Cassady Devine (20 November 1910 – 20 January 1966) was an English theatrical manager, director, teacher, and actor based in London from the early 1930s until his death. He also worked in TV and film.
Early life and education
...
.
Off-Broadway
The play premiered
Off-Broadway at the
Roundabout Theatre Company
The Roundabout Theatre Company is a leading non-profit theatre company based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres.
History
The company was founded in 1965 by Gene Feist, Michael Fried and Elizabet ...
Laura Pels Theatre on 20 September 2012. Michael Longhurst directed, with
Jake Gyllenhaal
Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal (; ; born December 19, 1980) is an American actor. Born into the Gyllenhaal family, he is the son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, and his older sister is actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. He ...
starring in his New York stage debut. It was extended and then returned from a hiatus for another two weeks, through 23 December 2012. Designer Beowulf Boritt created an impressive submergable set suggesting a planet under siege. ''TimeOut New York'' called it "Stirring, Insightful & Brutally Honest....Using set changes that are both practical and neatly metaphoric, director Michael Longhurst shows that sometimes people with the highest ideals make the biggest messes."
As a family in a tailspin stuck somewhere between knowing what the problems are and doing something about it - questions of what or who really needs saving were presented in this stirring work.
Plot
Overweight and bullied Anna is neglected by her
global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
obsessed father and misunderstood by her
teacher
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
mother. When her dozy but charismatic uncle turns up out the blue he is the only one that seems be able to get through to her, however as he becomes more and more obsessed with his ex-girlfriend and his own problems he doesn't notice Anna spiralling into depression and that he is the only one who could save her.
Publication
The play has been published in the United Kingdom and in the United States.
References
{{reflist
External links
Internet Off-Broadway Database
British plays
Climate change plays