SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE ANNOUNCES CAST FOR
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Shakespeare’s Globe is delighted to announce the cast of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Elle While (The Merry Wives of Windsor, 2019; As You Like It, Hamlet, 2018). The cast of A Midsummer Night’s Dream comprises Sam Crerar as Lysander, Sarah Finigan as Egeus / Snug, Mariah Gale as Bottom, Vinnie Heaven as Demetrius, Jack Laskey as Oberon / Theseus, Molly Logan as Flute / Fairy, Francesca Mills as Hermia, Anne Odeke as Hippolyta, Marianne Oldham as Titania, Rebecca Root as Quince, Michelle Terry as Puck, Isobel Thom as Helena, and Tanika Yearwood as Snout / Mustardseed.
Director Elle While says: “I’m thrilled to bring together these brilliantly talented actors on the Globe stage for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This is a play of magic, of big betrayals, of deep passions and of true friendships. I can’t wait for audiences to join us in the Globe for the warm summer months ahead to enjoy this play anew in our magnificent wooden ‘O’.”
Cast biographies are as follows:
Sam Crerar will play Lysander. Sam trained at LAMDA and graduated in 2020. Theatre credits include Happy Meal (Australia and London Tour); Happy Meal (Regional UK Tour); Rapture (The Pleasance Theatre); Once Before I Go (The Gate Theatre, Dublin) and Living Newspaper (Royal Court Theatre). Screen credits include: Fool Me Once (Netflix/Quay Street Productions).
Sarah Finigan will play Egeus / Snug. Sarah trained at Drama Studio London. Previous work for Shakespeare’s Globe includes The Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night, The Taming of the Shrew, and The Merchant of Venice. Other theatre credits include Back To The Light (Pentabus Theatre); Cinderella (Hall For Cornwall); The Duration (Omnibus Theatre); A Christmas Carol (American Drama Group); Much Ado About Nothing (Bedouin Shakespeare); Much Ado About Nothing (Infinite Jest/Polka Theatre); Romeo & Juliet (AFTLS/USA Tour); Deny Deny Deny (Park Theatre); She Stoops To Conquer, All’s Well That Ends Well (Changeling Theatre); The BFG (Bolton Octagon), The Hunters Grimm (Watermill Theatre), Cabbage Heart (Lyric Hammersmith), The Last Women (Belgrade Theatre), The Portable Virgin (Bridewell Theatre and Segal Theater New York), Fahrenheit 451, Death Of A Salesman, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (TNT theatre), Stepping Out (Artsdepot London). Screen credits include The Ipcress File (ITV), Outlander (Starz), Eastenders (BBC), Marvellous, Call The Midwife, Count Arthur Strong, Cuckoo, Holby City, Doctors, Upstart Crow (BBC), Edge Of Heaven, The Great Fire, The Bletchley Circle (ITV), The Borgias (Sky), New Worlds, Thinspiration (Channel 4), And Mrs; Overlord; Ashes In The Snow; Suffragette; Cesar Chavez; 28 Weeks Later; Cass.
Mariah Gale will play Bottom. Mariah trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she earned a first class BA in Acting. She is also an Associate Artist at the Royal Shakespeare Company, where she has recently finished playing Margaret in Henry VI: Rebellion, Wars of the Roses and Richard III. Her roles at the RSC have included Juliet, Ophelia, Miranda, Portia in Julius Caesar, Celia, The Princess of France, Elaine of Astolat in Morte D’Arthur and Wendy Darling in Wendy and Peter Pan. She has performed Shakespeare for Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Charles and performed for the RSCs televised ‘Shakespeare Live!’ event. Other theatre credits include Much Ado About Nothing and Measure for Measure (Shakespeare’s Globe); Twelfth Night (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Three Sisters (Young Vic); Waiting For Lefty (Two Lines Productions); Afterplay (The Coronet); Eden (Hampstead Theatre); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at The Manchester Royal Exchange, Catherine in Proof at the Menier Chocolate Factory, Kayleen in Gruesome Playground Injuries at The Gate, Hayley in Pitchfork Disney and Klara in Musik at The Arcola, Rose in The Sea at Theatre Royal Haymarket, Ella/Taylor in Vernon God Little at the Young Vic, Anabella in ’Tis Pity She’s A Whore at the Southwark Playhouse, Rowan in The Lost Child at Chichester festival Theatre and Emily in Stealing Sweets and Punching People at The Latchmere. She was awarded the Laurence Olivier bursary whilst training at Guildhall, and throughout her career has been awarded the Ian Charleson Award (First Prize and Special Commendation), a Time Out Live Award, a Critics Choice Award, a Best Actress Evening Standard award nomination, and two Best Supporting Actor nominations at the OFFIE Awards. Screen credits include I May Destroy You, Broadchurch, Dr Who, The Great, Death Comes to Pemberley, New Tricks, Grantchester, Father Brown, Lucky Man, The Hollow Crown, Skins, The Diary Of Anne Frank, Oliver Twist, Hamlet, Rare Beasts, Abraham’s Point and Hercules 3D. Extensive radio work includes Brian Guillivers Travels, seasons I and II.
Vinnie Heaven will play Demetrius. Theatre credits include The Misfortune of the English (Orange Tree Theatre); Living Newspaper (Royal Court); Malory Towers (Wise Children) and Cuckoo (Soho Theatre). Writing credits include: FAUN (Cardboard Citizens); She’s A Good Boy (Strike A Light and BAC); Charmane (Collaborative Touring Network). Screen credits include The Nevers (HBO), A Month of Sundays (BBC) and Mo <3 Kyra (Film4). Radio credits include Power Out (BBC).
Jack Laskey will play Oberon / Theseus. Jack has previously appeared at Shakespeare’s Globe in As You Like It, Hamlet, A New World: A Life of Thomas Paine, Antony and Cleopatra and In Extremis, and is a Globe Associate Artist. Other theatre credits include The Realistic Joneses (Ustinov Theatre, Bath) Lawrence After Arabia (Hampstead Theatre), Sons Without Fathers (Arcola), I am the Wind, Sweet Nothings (Young Vic), The Merchant of Venice, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tragedy of Thomas Hobbes (RSC), Hamlet (Old Vic) and The Masque of the Red Death (Punchdrunk). Screen credits include Endeavour, Trust, X Company, Hatfield & McCoys, The Aftermath, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, A Royal Night Out, Secret Sharer, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, The Baby Shower and A Family Portrait.
Molly Logan will play Flute / Fairy. Previous work for Shakespeare’s Globe includes The Fir Tree, Macbeth, The Taming of The Shrew, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Blue Stockings. Other theatre includes A Christmas Carol (Mac Belfast), Love from a Stranger (Northampton Theatres), The Secret Seven (Chester Storyhouse), The Grapes of Wrath (Nuffield Tour), Sleeping Beauty (The Watermill), Once a Catholic (Tricycle/Royal Court Liverpool), Laugh Your Farce Off (Pleasance Theatre), The 24 Hour Plays (Old Vic). Screen credits include Holding, Dave Allen At Peace, Doctors, Our Girl, Spoof or Die and Ballywalter.
Francesca Mills will play Hermia. Francesca has recently been seen on screen as series regular Meldof the Mad in the smash hit Netflix series The Witcher: Blood Origin; Helen of Troy in Danny Boyle’s Sex Pistols biopic for Disney+ and as Jemma in Sneakerhead for Dave a role she was long listed for at the National Comedy Awards. Most recently onstage Francesca starred in Francesca Martinez’ play All of Us at the National Theatre. Further television credits include: Cherry Dorrington in Harlots (Hulu), Earthy Mangold in Worzel Gummidge (BBC), After Ever After (Sky), and Dr Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (NBC/SKY). Forthcoming TV credits include Boat Story (BBC) and Taika Waititi’s Bandits for Apple TV. Theatre includes: The Secretaries (The Young Vic), Malory Towers (Wise Children), The American Clock (The Old Vic), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Crucible Theatre), The Two Noble Kinsmen (Shakespeare’s Globe), Pity (The Royal Court Theatre), A Tale of Two Cities (Regent’s Park), Cyrano de Bergerac (Northern Broadsides/U.K. Tour), A Pacifist’s Guide to War on Cancer (National Theatre/Complicite), The Government Inspector (Birmingham Rep/U.K. Tour), Peter Pan (New Wimbledon Theatre) and See How They Run (U.K. Tour). Francesca was nominated in 2017 for the Ian Charleson Award for her performance in The Government Inspector (Birmingham Rep/U.K. Tour).
Anne Odeke will play Hippolyta. Anne trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Previous work for Shakespeare’s Globe includes As You Like It, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Comedy of Errors & Bartholomew Fair. Other theatre credits include The Winter’s Tale (RSC); Macbeth (AFTLS – USA Tour); A Midsummer Night’s Dream & Julius Caesar (Storyhouse); Notes from a Small Island (Watermill Theatre); Princess Essex (UK Tour); The Witchfinder’s Sister & Misfits (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch); The Crucible (Royal Lyceum – Edinburgh); Women in Power (Nuffield Theatre); The Secret Keeper & Snow White and the Happy Ever After Beauty Salon (Oval House); Next Lesson (Pleasance Theatre); Winnie & Wilbur (Birmingham Rep). Audio work includes Megamonster (Harper Collins); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (RSC/Harper Collins); Blackwater Mermaid (BBC Sounds) and United Kingdoms (BBC Radio 4). Writing credits include Little Women (Storyhouse), Princess Essex (UK Tour) & Misfits (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch). Anne has also written for BBC Radio 4, and is currently working on a new family play for the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch in tribute to the Windrush Generation.
Marianne Oldham will play Titania. Marianne trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Previous work for Shakespeare’s Globe includes King Lear. Other theatre credits include hang (Crucible Theatre), A Monster Calls (Bristol Old Vic), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (The Old Vic), The Argument (Hampstead Theatre), The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (Chichester Festival Theatre), Sons without Fathers, Uncle Vanya (Arcola Theatre / The Belgrade Theatre), You can still make a Killing (Southwark Playhouse), The Real Thing, The Changeling (ETT), Hamlet (The Factory), Design for Living (Salisbury Playhouse), Persuasion (Salisbury Playhouse), The Years Between (The Royal & Derngate), The Girl in the Yellow Dress (Market Theatre Johannesburg/Live Theatre Newcastle), An Inspector Calls (Novello Theatre / Wyndhams Theatre), Mad Forest (BAC), Mimi and the Stalker (Theatre 503), Troilus and Cressida (Cheek by Jowl), Hamlet (The Factory), Sweethearts (The Finborough Theatre), Relatively Speaking (English Playhouse Theatre), How many miles to Basra (West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Cherry Orchard (Southwark Playhouse), Present Laughter (Theatre Royal Bath), Intermission (True/False), Finally the Girl (Old Red Lion), The Venetian Twins, The Gentleman from Olmedo (The Watermill Theatre), and We Happy Few (Malvern Theatre). Screen credits include The Midwich Cuckoos (Sky), Endeavour, Foyle’s War (ITV), A Very English Scandal, The Living and the Dead, The Musketeers, The Crimson Field, Doctors, The Impressionists, WPC56 (BBC), Life in Squares (Ecosse Films for BBC), Obsession (October Films), Finding Your Feet (StudioCanal), Absolutely Anything (Bill and Ben Productions), Silent Girl (Ascension Productions), Titus (Dakus Films) and 500 Miles North.
Rebecca Root will play Quince. Rebecca trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. She was most recently seen on stage as Siobhan in the National Theatre’s UK tour of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Rebecca is perhaps most known for her work on BBC’s ground-breaking comedy Boy Meets Girl; and for her collaborations with Scott Frank, the latest of which, Monsieur Spade, will be released later in 2023. Theatre credits include The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time for the National Theatre (UK and Ireland tour); Rathmines Road for Fishamble at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin; Trans Scripts at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts; The Bear / The Proposal at the Young Vic; and Hamlet at the Gielgud Theatre and Athens International Festival. Screen credits include Monsieur Spade, This Is Christmas, Irvine Welsh’s Crime, Heartstopper, Annika, The Rising, Sex Education, The Gallery, The Queen’s Gambit, Finding Alice, Creation Stories, Last Christmas, The Sisters Brothers, Colette, The Danish Girl, Flack, The Romanoffs, Moominvalley, Hank Zipzer, Boy Meets Girl, Doctors, Casualty, The Detectives, and Keeping Up Appearances. Radio credits include Clare In The Community, Life Lines, The Hotel, and 1977 for BBC Radio 4. Guest appearances include Woman’s Hour, Front Row, Loose Ends, Saturday Live, and A Good Read. She plays Tania Bell in the award-winning Doctor Who: Stranded audio dramas. She has also recorded numerous documentary narrations, audiobooks, and voice-overs. Rebecca is also a voice and speech coach, holding the MA in Voice Studies from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Michelle Terry will play Puck. Michelle trained at RADA. She is the Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe. Previous work for Shakespeare’s Globe includes King Lear (2022), The Fir Tree (2021), Twelfth Night (2021), The Taming of the Shrew (2020), Henry IV Part 1 (2019), Macbeth, Hamlet, and As You Like It (2018), The Complete Walks (2016), As You Like It (2015), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2013), and Love’s Labour’s Lost (2007). Other theatre includes Love’s Labour’s Lost, Much Ado About Nothing, The Winter’s Tale, Pericles, The Crucible (RSC); Henry V (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Privacy, The Man Who Had All The Luck (The Donmar); Cleansed, 50 Years of The National Theatre, The Comedy of Errors, London Assurance, All’s Well That Ends Well, England People Very Nice (National Theatre); Before the Party (Almeida); In the Republic of Happiness, Tribes (The Royal Court); Light Shining in Buckinghamshire (Arcola Theatre); War on Terror, Two Cigarettes, 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover (Bush Theatre); The Promise (New Wimbledon Theatre); Beautiful Thing (Sound Theatre); Burial at Thebes (Nottingham Playhouse); As You Like It (New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-Under-Lyme) and Blithe Spirit (The Peter Hall Company UK Tour / Savoy Theatre). Screen credits include Marcella Series 2 (ITV); The Café Series 1 and 2 (Writer and Performer: SKY) and Extras (BBC/HBO).
Isobel Thom will play Helena. Isobel trained at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, graduating in 2022. They return to Shakespeare’s Globe after playing Joan in I, Joan last year. Work whilst training includes Moon Licks, Dream and After Miss Julie at RWCMD; King Lear at LAMDA; Adelante for The Play List at the Royal Court; Nell Gwynn and Romeo & Juliet at the Michael Frayn Theatre.
Tanika Yearwood will play Snout / Mustardseed. Tanika trained at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. She is a Globe Associate Artist and an Associate Artist at Complicité. Previous work for Shakespeare’s Globe includes Hamlet and As You Like It. Other theatre includes Emilia (The Vaudeville Theatre); Anansi and The Grand Prize (Bristol Old Vic); Love Reign (The Young Vic); Cinderella (The Lyric Theatre Hammersmith); Anansi The Spider (The Unicorn Theatre); and Tomorrow I’ll Be Twenty (Complicité).
A Midsummer Night’s Dream was cast by Becky Paris, Head of Casting at Shakespeare’s Globe.
Creative team:
Associate Director – Indiana Lown-Collins
Composer – James Maloney
Costume Supervisor – Sabia Smith
Designer (Set) – Wills
Designer (Costume) – takis
Director – Elle While
Globe Associate – Movement – Glynn Macdonald
Head of Voice – Tess Dignan
Movement Director – Annie-Lunnette Deakin-Foster