That Face Tickets

About That Face

Polly Stenham wrote That Face, her first play, at just 19 years old. That Face received its world premier in April 2007 at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre; with a cast that included Lindsay Duncan, Matt Smith and Julian Wadham. That Face opens at the Duke of York’s Theatre on 1 May and runs until 5 July.

Play plot

That Face is a compelling portrayal of an affluent family in melt-down. Mia is at boarding school. She has access to drugs: they are Martha's. Henry has dropped out of school. He has access to alcohol: from Martha. Martha controls their lives. Martha is their mother. That Face is a powerful and darkly comic exploration of children who have to become parents to their parents.

That Face Background

That Face by Polly Stenham was developed through the Royal Court’s Young Writers Programme. Stenham went on to receive the Evening Standard’s Charles Wintour Award and Critics’ Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright, as well as the TMA Award for Best Play. The original cast of That Face are nominated for this year’s Laurence Olivier Award Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre.

Cracking cast

Multi award-winning actress Lindsay Duncan (Private Lives, Rome) will reprise her critically acclaimed performance as Martha. Matt Smith (History Boys, Swimming with Sharks) plays Henry and Julian Wadham (Much Ado About Nothing, The English Patient is the absent father. Unstable daughter Mia, played by Hannah Murray (Cassie in E4’s Skins) is new to the cast.