Hitting Town is a stage play written by Stephen Poliakoff and first performed in April 1975 at the Bush Theatre directed by Tim Fywell. Written early in his career, the play won Poliakoff the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright. [1] [2] The critic Michael Billington said it was "reminder of Poliakoff's precocious talent". [3]
Stephen Poliakoff, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, director and scriptwriter.
The Bush Theatre is in Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 and has since become one of the most celebrated new writing theatres in the world. The Bush strives to create a space which nurtures, develops and showcases the best of new artists and their work.
Tim Fywell is an English television and film director. In 2003 he made his first feature debut with I Capture the Castle, an adaptation of the novel of the same title by Dodie Smith. Fywell directed his first Hollywood feature, Ice Princess starring Michelle Trachtenberg, in 2005. Fywell started his career in British television, directing episodes of Brookside. Fywell recently directed the award winning Happy Valley 2 episodes (2014).
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In the original production Judy Monahan and James Aubrey played the lead roles and were supported by Lynne Miller.
James Aubrey Tregidgo, known professionally as James Aubrey, was an English stage and screen actor. He trained for the stage at the Drama Centre London. He made his professional acting debut in a 1962 production of Isle of Children. Aubrey made his screen acting debut in the 1963 adaptation of Lord of the Flies. Aubrey performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company during their 1974–1975 season. Theatres at which Aubrey performed included the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, the Comedy Theatre and the Old Vic. His last television work was in an episode of Brief Encounters in 2006.
Lynne Miller is a British actress. Her first TV role was in 1974, but she is best known for the role of Cathy Marshall in The Bill, a TV series she appeared in from 1989 to 1996. Since that time she has appeared mostly on stage. She is married to photographer Nobby Clark.
It was a shocking play in its time partly because it dealt with an incestuous relationship between a brother and sister.
Hitting Town was developed into a television play with Thames Television for ITV Plays For Britain. The television adaptation was half shot on location on single-camera video and the other half in the studio using multiple cameras. Directed by theatre director Peter Gill, it stars Mick Ford and Deborah Norton with Lynne Miller repeating her stage performance as the rebellious waitress, Nicola.
Thames Television was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding area on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992.
ITV is a British free-to-air television network with its headquarters in London, it was launched in 1955 as Independent Television under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to BBC Television, that was established in 1932. ITV is also the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990, its legal name has been Channel 3, to distinguish it from the other analogue channels at the time, namely BBC 1, BBC 2 and Channel 4. In part, the number 3 was assigned because television sets would usually be tuned so that the regional ITV station would be on the third button, with the other stations being allocated to the number within their name.
Peter Gill is a Welsh theatre director, playwright and actor. He was born in Cardiff to George John and Margaret Mary Gill, and educated at St Illtyd's College, Cardiff.
Hitting Town was released for the first time on DVD in 2013. [4] [5]
