Phoebe’s back! Why Run is set to be your TV obsession
You look forward to it all year, so your family holiday needs to live up to the fantasy. TUI know how to enchant kids, teens and adults alike. Happy days!
JUST AHEAD OF the reprisal of Fleabag on a New York stage last year, its director, Vicky Jones, gave an interview to website Women And Hollywood. ‘It’s a very exciting time to celebrate female characters who are flawed,’ she said, ‘to tell lots of new women’s stories that don’t necessarily follow the same path that female roles previously followed.’ With this brilliant premise in mind, anticipation has reached fever pitch for Run, a new HBO comedy-drama written by Vicky, starring the amazing comedy dynamo Merritt Wever and executive produced by Vicky’s BFF, Phoebe Waller-bridge, who also has a cameo.
Run is the latest addition to a glittering CV for Vicky and Phoebe, with shared credits that include Fleabag, Killing Eve and fabulously aggro stage show The One. It arrives in a climate that couldn’t be hungrier for new Pwb-affiliated work, ahead of her rewrite of the Bond script for No Time To Die.
In Run, Merritt plays Ruby, a 30-something who made an age-old promise to her college boyfriend that, if either ever wanted to escape their lives, they just had to text the other, meet at Grand Central Station and disappear together, going unapologetically off-grid. The premise of the drama speaks to a disappearance fantasy many share and has the familiarly destabilising ring of Vicky and Phoebe’s ambition to it. PWB’S old
Star Wars alumnus Domhnall Gleeson plays
Ruby’s pleasingly downbeat ex, Billy. Phoebe is a character they meet on their Thelma & Louise-ish travels. Last week’s first trailer was quickly watched by millions online.
The emergence of PWB and her affiliates often feels more like a punk band dropping casual atom bombs on male-dominated cultures than a group of erudite, funny, middle class professional screenwriters. ‘It’s good to bust taboos about women,’ Vicky told The Guardian last year. Clearly, from the pace, tone and queasy set-up of Run’s 90-second trailer, their mission is to continue their trailblazing and unique sense of gleeful screen disruption.
By their own admission, Vicky is the Boo to Phoebe’s Fleabag. She’s the other half of the most thrilling dramatic story of its age, driving a complete reimagining of how women write and star in their own stories. The two met when Phoebe was fresh out of RADA and Vicky spotted the incendiary freshness of her talent.
Their friendship and partnership is widely envied. It began with a bang, when Vicky invited Phoebe to be part of a play she later walked out on after an argument with the producer. Phoebe quit in solidarity. They set up the theatre company Drywrite together as a direct response.
Their ambitions were small in scale and huge in scope. Their breakthrough with Fleabag, PWB writing and starring, Vicky directing, cemented a new world for tenacious, laugh-out-loud funny and casually brave new work. They have stayed true to their principles ever since. Last week, Phoebe revealed that the pair ‘joke that our boyfriends were the mistresses to our marriage’.
Their mission statement will once again turn up sizzling new heat with Run. Run starts on Sky Atlantic on 15 April
STILL SLOGGING through winter, it’s dreams of our two weeks in the sun that keeps us going. So when it comes to planning your summer holiday, you need to know it’s going to deliver on excitement, fun, the wow-factor, relaxation and joy – and only drama of the entertainment kind.
TUI are the experts in family holidays. They’ve done all the groundwork for you and put everything you need in place, so you can simply pack your bags and jet off, knowing that at your chosen destination the kids will be entertained, inspired and delighted at every turn – which means you get the rest and relaxation every parent needs, as well as the enjoyment of seeing your little ones enjoy the holiday of a lifetime.
Their TUI BLUE getaways are based in holiday hot spots such as Greece and the Canary Islands. You’ll stay at hotels designed for families with spacious rooms, delicious healthy food options to suit the fussiest eaters and plenty of entertainment (from fitness classes to family shows), as well as free kids’ clubs (with age-appropriate activities) and swimming lessons*.
Meanwhile, TUI SENSATORI holidays offer five-star resorts that stimulate the senses and deliver unforgettable experiences for the whole family. With long-haul destinations, such as Dominican Republic and Mexico, as well as Mediterranean gems, these luxury holidays offer lots of dining options, from buffet to gourmet, as well as brilliant entertainment and childcare to suit every child – think multi-sensory nurseries, shows and Silly Science Labs. While water fun in splash parks, paddling pools and slides comes as standard.
So, this year, take the stress out of holiday planning and put yourselves in the hands of the experts. Turn your holiday dreams into a reality – and relax.
Visit tui.co.uk for more holiday inspiration