Ink

A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Ink

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  4w, 14m

James Graham’s riveting historic play, about the 1969 rivalry between British newspapers The Sun and The Mirror, explores the beginning of tabloid news as we know it today.

Image: 2019 Manhattan Theatre Club Production (Joan Marcus)

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    4w, 14m
  • Duration
    Duration
    More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Docudrama/History
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult
Accolades
Accolades
  • Nominee: Six 2019 Tony Awards, including Best Play
    Winner! Two 2019 Tony Awards
    Nominee: Five 2019 Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Outstanding New Broadway Play
    Nominee: Four 2018 Laurence Olivier Awards, including Best New Play
    Nominee:Three 2017 Evening Standard Theatre Awards, including Best Play

Details

Summary

James Graham’s ruthless, red-topped play leads with the birth of England's most influential newspaper – when a young and rebellious Rupert Murdoch asked the impossible and launched its first editor’s quest, against all odds, to give the people what they want.

It’s 1969 London. The brash young Rupert Murdoch purchases a struggling paper, The Sun, and sets out to make it a must-read smash which will destroy – and ultimately horrify – the competition. He brings on rogue editor Larry Lamb, who in turn recruits an unlikely team of underdog reporters. Together, they will go to any lengths for success, and the race for the most ink is on! Inspired by real events, this electrifying new play was a West End and Broadway hit.

History
Ink premiered at the Almeida Theatre on 17 June 2017. Directed by Rupert Goold and starring Bertie Carvel and Richard Coyle, the production soon transferred to the West End, where it opened at the Duke of York’s Theatre on 19 September 2017. Ink premiered on Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on 24 April 2019. Again directed by Goold, the Broadway production featured Jonny Lee Miller as Larry Lamb, with Bertie Carvel reprising his Olivier-winning performance as Rupert Murdoch.
Cast Attributes

LARRY LAMB – 40s, Yorkshire; new editor of The Sun
RUPERT MURDOCH – 30s, Australian; owner of The Sun
HUGH CUDLIPP – 50s, Welsh; editor of The Mirror
STEPHANIE RAHN – 20s, London; model.

An ensemble can play the following team of Reporters and other occupants of The Street (possibly the minimum number required for the ensemble is 8, but equally possibly not):

BRIAN MCCONNELL
JOYCE HOPKIRK
SIR ALICK MCKAY
BERNARD SHRIMSLEY
BEVERLEY GOODWAY
LEE HOWARD
FRANK NICKLIN
PERCY ROBERTS
MURIEL MCKAY RAY MILLS
DIANA
ANNA MURDOCH
CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY
CHRISSIE
CHAPEL FATHER
APPRENTICE PRINTER
BENCH HAND
TYPESETTERS, STONE HANDS, PRINTERS, MESSENGERS

  • Time Period 1960s
  • Setting Fleet Street, 1969-70.
  • Features Period Costumes
  • Duration More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • Cautions
    • Alcohol
    • Strong Language
    • Smoking

Media

“An incredibly brilliant stunner.” – Time Out

“Riveting… This is a play that pins down a pivotal moment in newspaper history… And what makes this such a good and gripping piece of theatre is that it doesn’t preach us sermons about press ethics but leaves us to draw our own conclusions from the known facts. It strikes me as a first-rate play about newspapers in the honourable tradition of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s The Front Page.” – Michael Billington, The Guardian

“Invigorating… Mr. Graham’s account of the resurrection of that paper — into a tabloid behemoth that hypnotizes its readership while forever altering its competition’s DNA — foretells the age of populist media in which we now live and squirm.” – Ben Brantley, The New York Times

“Consistently engrossing, entertaining and disturbing.” – Matt Windman, amNY

“An engrossing, richly detailed play.” – Peter Marks, The Washington Post

“Exciting… A scrappy, seductive tabloid tale.” – Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post

Videos

  • Ink – Manhattan Theatre Club Montage youtube thumbnail

    Ink – Manhattan Theatre Club Montage

  • Ink: A First Look – Manhattan Theatre Club youtube thumbnail

    Ink: A First Look – Manhattan Theatre Club

  • Ink: “The Great Disruption” – MTC youtube thumbnail

    Ink: “The Great Disruption” – MTC

  • Ink: “Who needs friends when you have readers?” – MTC youtube thumbnail

    Ink: “Who needs friends when you have readers?” – MTC

Photos

  • Ink

    Image: 2019 Manhattan Theatre Club Production (Joan Marcus)

  • Ink

    Image: 2019 Manhattan Theatre Club Production (Joan Marcus)

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £85 per performance plus VAT when applicable.

Scripts

Available Formats:

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Authors

James Graham

James Graham is a playwright and screenwriter.

His recent work includes the play Dear England, commissioned by the National Theatre, about Gareth Southgate’s transformation of the national team. After a sold-out run at the National in 2023, the play transferred to the West End ...

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