JANETTE MANRARA, RUPERT YOUNG, JULIET COWAN, AND WALLIS CURRIE-WOOD JOIN NOAH SCHNAPP
IN THE CAST OF AFFLUENZA, WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY ANDY SANDBERG
THE FIRST PLAY IN THE MAINSTAGE SEASON 26/27 AT RIVERSIDE STUDIOS
The Strictly Come Dancing, Bridgerton, Broken Glass, and Madam Secretary stars join Stranger Things’ Noah Schnapp in the first of five new plays largely set in contemporary America, and exploring globally relevant themes.
The creative team for Affluenza, announced today, includes Set Designer Charlie Corcoran, Costume Designer Hannah Schmidt, Lighting Designer Jack Weir, and Sound Designer Emily Drohan. The Casting Director is Nicholas Hockaday, and the Associate Director is Cecilie Fray.
Affluenza, written and directed by Andy Sandberg, runs 26 September to 21 November 2026
Further casting has now been revealed to join the previously announced Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp in Affluenza, the first play in the Mainstage Season 26/27 at Riverside Studios.
Strictly Come Dancing favourite Janette Manrara will appear in the world premiere of the play, which runs 26 September to 21 November (press night 5 October) alongside Juliet Cowan (Broken Glass, Young Vic), Wallis Currie-Wood (CBS TV’s Madam Secretary, Elektra on West End), and Olivier Award nominee Rupert Young (Bridgerton, Dear Evan Hansen).
The creative team, led by writer/director Andy Sandberg, includes Set Designer Charlie Corcoran and Costume Designer Hannah Schmidt. Lighting Design is by Jack Weir and Sound Design is by Emily Drohan. The Casting Director is Nicholas Hockaday, and the Associate Director is Cecilie Fray.
Mainstage Season 26/27, a major season of five new plays directed by Andy Sandberg, will be performed at Riverside Studios from this September, beginning with three world premieres. Affluenza is followed by Sacrilegious, by Tom Schulman, the Oscar-winning writer of the films Dead Poets Society and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, which runs from 5 December 2026 to 23 January 2026 (press night 15 December). Expecting, by Scott Elmegreen & Drew Fornarola, runs from 30 January to 27 March 2027 (press night 9 February). Further productions and casting will be announced soon. Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director of the Hermitage Artist Retreat in the U.S., serves as the Season Artistic Director for the Mainstage and will direct each production.
Playwright and Director Andy Sandberg said, “This cast is absolutely extraordinary, and I’m beyond grateful to be working with such a gifted company. To see how each of these brilliant actors has responded to the ‘Affluenza’ script and story is inspiring, and I could not be more excited that they are joining our exceptional creative team to debut this play at Riverside Studios.”
Noah Schnapp is recognised for his versatile talent and wide-ranging work on screen and beyond. He most recently starred as Will Byers in Netflix’s global phenomenon Stranger Things, opposite Winona Ryder and Millie Bobby Brown. Since its debut in 2016, the series has become a cultural landmark, earning over 50 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, a Peabody Award, multiple MTV Movie & TV Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Ensemble. The fifth and final season broke major streaming records for Netflix, becoming its biggest English-language debut ever with 59.6 million views in its first five days and reaching 105.7 million total views to become the #9 most-watched English series of all-time within weeks of its finale. For his work, Schnapp has received a 2022 People’s Choice Award for ‘Male TV Star,’ as well as the ‘Most Frightened Performance’ award at the 2018 MTV Movie & TV Awards and ‘Choice Summer TV Star: Male’ at the 2019 Teen Choice Awards. He is also an honoree of Variety’s Youth Impact Award and was recognised as one of their 2023 Power of Young Hollywood recipients. Outside of Stranger Things, Schnapp previously starred in The Tutor alongside Garrett Hedlund and Victoria Justice. His additional film credits include Waiting for Anya with Anjelica Huston, the indie drama Abe which premiered at Sundance, Adam Sandler’s Netflix comedy Hubie Halloween, Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning Bridge of Spies, and the animated feature The Peanuts Movie, in which he voiced the iconic Charlie Brown. Schnapp recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where he pursued cinema and media studies.
Janette Manrara was born to a Cuban family in Miami, Florida. She is best known to audiences in the UK and around the world for Strictly Come Dancing and So You Think You Can Dance? Following extensive training in theatre and dance throughout her youth and notable appearances on Univision TV, Janette auditioned for the fifth season of Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance?, where she was selected as one of the Top 20 dancers and toured with the show across the USA. Janette moved from Miami to Los Angeles, where she performed with Jennifer Lopez, danced at the Academy Awards, and was cast as a principal dancer on Glee. She then returned to Season 8 of So You Think You Can Dance? as an “All Star,” and shortly after was featured in Dancing with the Stars Live in Las Vegas! Janette subsequently joined the Broadway, West End, and international touring show, Burn the Floor, where she performed across the globe for four years. Following this performance, she was cast as a professional dancer on Season 11 of the BBC 1 hit TV series Strictly Come Dancing, where she first partnered with fashion designer Julien Macdonald. Since then, Janette has been partnered with Jake Wood, Peter Andre, Melvin Odoom, Aston Merrygold, Dr Ranj, Will Bailey MBE, and, most recently, HRVY, reaching the final. Janette has won the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special twice. In 2021, Janette took on a new challenge as one of the hosts of It Takes Two. She continued to co-host It Takes Two until 2025, alongside co-hosting the Strictly Live tour across the UK. Janette made her musical theatre debut last year as Roxie Hart in Chicago, touring over 20 venues across the UK and Ireland. In 2024, Janette released her debut book, Tiny Dancer, Big World. Other television credits include: co-hosting on BBC Morning Live, appearances on Mary Berry’s Fantastic Feasts (BBC), Celebrity Mastermind (BBC), Jeremy Vine (Channel 5), Big Week at the Zoo (Channel 5), Inside The Ritz (ITV), CelebAbility (ITV2), Blue Peter (BBC) and Glee. Other theatre credits include: Let’s Face The Music and Dance, A Night To Remember, Dancing in a Winter Wonderland, A Christmas to Remember, Remembering Fred, Remembering the Movies, and a streamed version of Remembering the Oscars.
Juliet Cowan’s theatre appearances include: Broken Glass (Young Vic); Sons of the Prophet (Hampstead); The Memory of Water (Nottingham Playhouse); and The Play About My Dad (Jermyn Street). On television she has appeared in Am I Being Unreasonable?; Dirty Business; Big Boys; Brassic; Culprits; Flatshare; I Hate Suzie; Back to Life; Cuckoo; Kiss Me First; Killed by My Debt; The End of the F**ing World; The Trials; Marley’s Ghosts; Hank Zipzer; Utopia; Fresh Meat; Drifters; Pramface; Misfits; EastEnders; Silent Witness; Skins; Pulling and Shameless. Juliet’s film appearances include Lady; Jay Kelly; Members Club; Falling Into Place; Brakes; Magicians; Lady; and Back to Black.
Wallis Currie-Wood is an actor and musician who was born in Texas and now lives in London. Her stage credits include: Our American Queen (The American Vicarious/Bridewell Theatre) and Elektra (West End). Screen credits include: Clayface (DC Studios), series regular Stevie McCord on Madam Secretary (CBS), The Intern (Warner Bros), and Une Saison a la Juilliard School (ARTE). She attended the Juilliard School in New York.
Rupert Young’s theatre appearances include: Flyby (Southwark Playhouse); Dear Evan Hansen (Noel Coward Theatre, Olivier Award nomination); Twelfth Night (Young Vic); While The Sun Shines (Theatre Royal, Bath); High Society (Old Vic); Company (Southwark Playhouse); Much Ado About Nothing (The Globe) and Afterlife (National Theatre). On television, Rupert has appeared in Buried; Bridgerton; The New Look; The Bisexual; Will; People Just Do Nothing; The White Queen; Shameless; Merlin; Foyles War and Doc Martin. His film appearances include By The Throat; The Secret Garden; Writers Retreat and Dirty Filthy Love.
Andy Sandberg (Playwright / Director / Mainstage Season Artistic Director)is a New York-based director, writer, and Tony Award-winning producer. He is currently Artistic Director and CEO of the Hermitage Artist Retreat, a leading national arts incubator in the United States. Sandberg’s theatrical work has been represented in New York, London, and throughout the U.S. He directed the UK premieres of Alan Brody’s Operation Epsilon and Jeannette Bayardelle’s Shida, earning multiple Off-West End Award nominations, including Best Director and Best Musical. Additional world premieres as director in New York include Straight (NY Times Critics’ Pick); Application Pending (also co-author; BroadwayWorld Award: Best Off-Broadway Play, Drama Desk nom: Outstanding Solo Show, Winner: Book Pipeline Prize); Shida (Ars Nova and A.R.T., four AUDELCO noms., including Best Director, Best Musical), Craving for Travel (also co-author); and the Off-Broadway musicals The Last Smoker in America and Neurosis, among others. In New York, London, and at the Hermitage, he has directed dozens of workshops and readings of new plays and musicals, including works by Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award, Olivier Award, and Academy Award winners and nominees. He has also written the feature-length screenplays for the films Five More Minutes and Haul Out the Holly, two of Hallmark’s most highly rated Christmas movies. In 2009, at the age of 25, Sandberg became the youngest producer to win a Tony Award. Broadway and West End producing credits include the hit revival of Hair (2009 Tony Award, also West End); the Broadway revival of Gore Vidal’s The Best Man, starring James Earl Jones and Angela Lansbury (2012 Tony nom.); and Will Eno’s The Realistic Joneses, starring Toni Collette, Michael C. Hall, Tracy Letts, and Marisa Tomei. In his role as Artistic Director and CEO of the Hermitage, Sandberg has established the organisation as one of the preeminent new works incubators in the United States, celebrating and elevating the voices of diverse and accomplished artists spanning theatre, music, visual art, dance, film, literature, and more. He recently directed a workshop of Chris Bush’s Hermitage-commissioned play Orlando (FL) at London’s National Theatre. Sandberg is a graduate of Yale University, where he managed and performed with the Whiffenpoofs, the Dramat, and the Yale Alley Cats. He is a member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society (SDC), Actors Equity Association (AEA), and the Writers Guild of America (WGA).
The Mainstage Season at Riverside Studios is presented by ABS Productions, Whitney Edwards, Flora Major, Judith Manocherian, Sondra Biller, Drew & Dane & Whitney, and Berman-Cohen Productions.
World Premiere
Affluenza
Written and Directed by Andy Sandberg
Set Designer – Charlie Corcoran
Costume Designer & Associate Set Designer – Hannah Schmidt
Lighting Designer – Jack Weir
Sound Designer – Emily Drohan
Casting Director – Nicholas Hockaday
General Manager – DEM Productions
Production Manager – Jack Boissieux / Dan Steward for JBPM
Additional Material – Scott Elmegreen
Associate Director – Cecilie Fray
Assistant Director – Florence Carr-Jones
Cast includes –
Juliet Cowan, Wallis Currie-Wood, Janette Manrara, Noah Schnapp, Rupert Young
26 September – 21 November 2026
Monday – Saturday at 7.30 pm
Thursday and Saturday matinees at 2.30 pm
(No performance 1 October at 7.30 pm or 7 November at 2.30 pm. Extra performances 4 October at 7.30 pm and 3 November at 2.30 pm)
Captioned performance – 14 Nov at 2.30 pm
Privilege is inherited. So are the consequences.
When a teen’s drunken car ride ends in devastation, the verdict comes down to one question – is it possible to be too affluent to know the difference between right and wrong? Inspired by true events surrounding a shocking legal defence, Affluenza explores the ripple effects of power and privilege.
Set against the ultra-wealthy social haven of the Hamptons, Affluenza raises thought-provoking questions about moral accountability, family legacy, and the American justice system. Do any of us truly understand the cost and generational impact of privilege and opulence?
The world premiere of Affluenza is the first of five plays launching the Mainstage 26/27 season at Riverside Studios, each for a limited eight-week run. This biting and darkly funny new play is written and directed by Andy Sandberg.
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BOX OFFICE INFORMATION
Box Office:
MainstageSeason.com
Tickets:
Priced from £25
Concessions available.
All seats £25 at the first preview of each production.
Tickets for Affluenza are now on sale.