Simon Bird will play Zack, Marek Larwood will play Mr Popov (etc) and Ciarán Owens will play Ivan in the world première of The Crocodile at Manchester International Festival.
Co-produced by Manchester International Festival and The Invisible Dot Ltd, The Crocodile will run at the Pavilion Theatre in Festival Square from 14 until 18 July. Written by Tom Basden and directed by Ned Bennett, The Crocodile is based on the short story of the same name by Fyodor Dostoevsky, which was published 150 years ago this year.
Having failed to achieve the recognition that he craves and, in his opinion, deserves, self-important actor Ivan discovers that his stock is about to rise dramatically when an afternoon at the zoo with his friend Zack ends with Ivan being swallowed whole by a Crocodile…
Simon Bird is a BAFTA-nominated actor whose previous theatre credits include The House of Windsor (Underbelly) and Niceties (Edinburgh Festival). Simon has starred in critically acclaimed television comedies such as Chickens, Friday Night Dinner and The Inbetweeners and his film credits include The Inbetweeners Movie, The Look of Love, The Harry Hill Movie, The Darkest Universe and The Inbetweeners 2.
Marek Larwood’s previous stage credits include Typecast (Edinburgh Festival) and television credits include Three Kinds of Stupid, Murder in Successville, Drunk History, Man Down, Doctors, Babylon, The Klang Show, Impractical Jokers, Johnny and Inel Show, Fast and Loose, Feliz and Murdo, Hotel Trubble, The Function Room, This is Jinsy, Little Howard’s Big Question, Laura, Ben and Tim, The Wall, Music Hall Meltdown, Roman’s Empire and Extras. Marek has appeared on film in The Inbetweeners 2 and Magicians.
Ciarán Owens theatre credits include Mercury Fur (Trafalgar Studios), Our Country’s Good (Out of Joint), Mad World My Masters, Titus Andronicus (both Royal Shakespeare Company), Oh What A Lovely War (Theatre Royal Stratford East), A Handful of Stars (Theatre 503 & Trafalgar Studios) and King John (Shakespeare’s Globe). Ciarán has appeared on screen in Wallander, The Inbetweeners, Spotless and Arthur and George.
Manchester International Festival has invited The Invisible Dot to curate a three-part programme of original works in the Pavilion Theatre at Festival Square, which includes the world première of The Crocodile adapted by Tom Basden, Adam Buxton and Friends, and late-night party-show The Invisible Dot Cabaret.
Commissioned by Manchester International Festival. Produced by Manchester International Festival and The Invisible Dot Ltd.
Box office: www.mif.co.uk or 0844 871 7654.
