Mackenzie Crook, Ralf Little and Olly Alexander will open the Bush theatre’s autumn season, starring in the UK premier of Annie Baker’s The Aliens.
The production, directed by Peter Gill, opens on 20 September (previews from 15 September).
The Aliens is the story of KJ and Jasper, two professional dropouts and best friends who spend their days outside the back of a small coffee shop in Vermont talking music and Bukowski. Evan, a 17-year-old preparing for life and working in the café during the summer, gets drawn into their world of magic mushrooms, philosophical musings and great bands that never were.
The Aliens, which puts modern day America and the generation that never grew up under the microscope, marks the London stage return of Crook, who was last seen starring opposite Mark Rylance in the hugely-acclaimed and multi-award-winning Jerusalem. His previous stage outings include The Seagull at the Royal Court, though he is still best known for his work alongside Ricky Gervais in hit sitcom The Office and in the Pirates Of The Caribbean movie trilogy.
For Little, The Aliens marks a return to the Bush theatre, where he previously starred in 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover. Most recently seen on television in comic drama Married Single Other, he is probably best known for his roles in BBC sitcoms The Royle Family and Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps.
Like Crook and Little, Alexander is also best known for his screen work, having appeared in children’s series Summerhill and films Bright Star, Tormented and Enter The Void.
The Aliens is the first production in the Bush theatre’s 2010/11 season, which also includes John Donnelly’s The Knowledge, Steve Waters’s Little Platoons and Deirdre Kinehan’s Moment.
MA