Offies Finalists Announced as Awards Mark 15 Years with Ceremony Revamp, Landmark Venue, and New Partnership
The finalists for the OffWestEnd Awards (Offies) have been announced today, as the UK’s foremost awards for independent theatre mark their 15th anniversary. This year’s nominees include a diverse mix of emerging grassroots talent and stars of stage and screen who continually choose to perform in Off-West End’s incredible world-class venues.
Following the unveiling of the new awards process last month, this year’s ceremony will introduce the new category-less model designed to create a more dynamic, inclusive, and transparent way of recognising the exceptional and innovative theatre as it emerges. The organisers promise an “entertainment-focused” event that will showcase the variety and creativity of theatre at all levels and sizes that takes place all over London and beyond.
To celebrate 15 years at the forefront of celebrating British theatre, this year’s Offies will take place at a new partner venue: Central Hall Westminster (right opposite the Abbey). Central Hall has a rich history of hosting important live events, and with a capacity of up to 2000 people it brings opportunities to expand the profile of the Offies.
This year’s Offies will be produced by ex-Olivier Awards Executive Producer Julian Bird OBE, through his production company Green Room Ents Ltd which announces a three-year partnership with the Offies starting this year. Executive Producers for the show will be Julian Bird OBE and Denholm Spurr. More details of the evening, including host, performers and presenters will be announced shortly.
The Offies have a history of spotlighting groundbreaking theatre before it reaches mainstream acclaim, with past winners including Baby Reindeer, Fleabag, and Operation Mincemeat – proving that Off-West End is a crucial launchpad for new talent Off-West End is the affordable (and sustainable) alternative to the West End where you can see exceptional talent live and grow.
But Off-West End is also a unique destination in its own right, and this year’s finalists reflect the sector’s remarkable draw including West End star Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, Doctor Who’s Tosin Cole, Tony Award-winning original Éponine in Les Misérables Frances Ruffelle, and a world premiere by celebrated playwright Roy Williams. Productions include a revival of what became the hit TV show Kim’s Convenience, a Pet Shop Boys musical, and the debut run of Shifters – which has already made a rapid West End transfer following its debut run.
With the revamped Offies ceremony set for Monday 17th March, this year’s event places the awards firmly at the centre of awards season. Tickets are now on sale.
As previously announced, the awards will abolish the current category model, introducing a streamlined system around eight broad Areas of Exceptional Contribution. These will enable the Offies to recognise exciting forms and creatives as they emerge.
The new Offies will better herald the grassroots talent that defines the industry. Denholm Spurr, Executive Producer of the Offies, commented, Over the past 15 years, the Offies have played a pivotal role in establishing Off-West End as the most vibrant, dynamic, and accessible place for creating and experiencing extraordinary theatre. The newly revamped ceremony is a testament to that growth, and I’m thrilled to collaborate with Julian Bird as we modernise and evolve. Together, we aim to create an event that not only celebrates the winners but also serves as a flagship moment for the entire sector—showcasing the innovation, talent, and passion that make it truly exceptional.
Julian Bird, CEO of Green Room Ents, commented, Our team at Green Room Ents are delighted to come on board to produce the awards for the next 3 years as we look to celebrate theatre in all its guises, and shine a light on the extraordinary talent working in our industry.
Throughout the year, Offies assessors reviewed thousands of potential nominees across nearly 600 productions at over 100 venues. With our three-tier assessment process—the most rigorous in the industry—narrowing the field to just over 100 nominees is a monumental achievement. Simply making the final list is an accolade in itself. Our new approach, organised into eight Areas of Production, Staging, Performance, Design, Sound & Music, Creation, Industry & Inclusion, and Innovation, ensures all genres of theatre are celebrated equally, with no specific categories and no fixed number of winners.
Below, you’ll find the full list of winners and finalists who have set the standard for exceptional theatre:
PRODUCTION
A Letter To Lyndon B. Johnson Or God: Whoever Reads This First / Natasha & Xhloe (Kings Head Theatre)
Blood Show / Battersea Arts Centre, Chapter Arts Centre, Colchester Arts Centre (Battersea Arts Centre)
Follow The Signs / Fuse Theatre (Soho Theatre)
Goldie Frocks and the Bear Mitzvah / JW3 (JW3 London)
In Clay / Design & Canvas Co (Gatehouse Theatre)
Journey of a Refugee / Theatre Rites (Stanley Arts Centre)
Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five (or the children’s crusade) / So It Goes Theatre (Brockley Jack Theatre)
L’Addition / Forced Entertainment (Battersea Arts Centre)
Monica Salvi: Spirits In My Closet / Crazy Cat Dive Productions (Stage Door Theatre)
Napoleon: Un Petit Pantomime / Charles Court Opera (Jermyn Street Theatre)
Ollie Maddigan / The Olive Boy (New Wimbledon Theatre)
Danielle Bird, Nathan Johnston, Robert Penny, Rhiannon Skerritt / The Princess and the Pea (Unicorn Theatre)
Jo Fong, George Orange / The Rest of Our Lives (Battersea Arts Centre)
Skye Hallam / The Voice Of The Turtle (Jermyn Street Theatre)
Thomas Oxley / [Title of Show] (Southwark Playhouse)
Heather Agyepong, Tosin Cole / Shifters (Bush Theatre)
The Cast / Sleeping With Beauty (The Union Theatre)
Phoebe Ladenburg / Surrender (Arcola Theatre)
Joshua Malina, Caroline Catz, Dorothea Myer-Bennett, Simon Yadoo, Gabriel Howell / What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank (Marylebone Theatre)
Ciaran O’Breen / Wonder Boy (Theatre Royal Stratford East)
Victoria Yeates / Wormholes (Omnibus Theatre)
DESIGN
Sam Wilde / Boxville (Little Angel Theatre)
Sarah Mercade / Bronco Billy The Musical (Charing Cross Theatre)
Amanda Ramasawmy / by their fruits (Theatre503)
Cameron Gleave / Club Life (Omnibus Theatre)
Shay Barclay, Yvonne Gilbert, Cleo Pettitt / Dick Whittington and his Cat (Hackney Empire)
Rachael Ryan / In Clay (Gatehouse Theatre)
Simon Daw, Mark Doubleday / Journey of a Refugee (Stanley Arts Centre)
Mona Camille / Kim’s Convenience (Park Theatre)
Douglas Baker / Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five (or the children’s crusade) (Jack Studio Theatre)
Lambdog1066 / Metamorphoses (Cockpit Theatre)
Ryan Day / Now I See (Theatre Royal Stratford East)
Stewart J Charlesworth / Pinocchio (Theatre Royal Stratford East)
Jack Weir / Remembrance Monday (Tristan Bates Theatre)
Laura Mcewen, Keith Fredrick, Oliver Hymans, Aaron Dootson / Rosie Robin and the Christmas Post (Little Angel Theatre)
Luke Adamson / That Girl vs The World (Battersea Arts Centre)
Jasmine Swan / The Big Life (Theatre Royal Stratford East)
Richard Evans, Rochelle Parry Clifford / The Pantomime Adventures of Peter Pan (Harrow Arts Centre)
Alex Marker / The Silver Cord (Finborough Theatre)
Helen Skiera / Toto Kerblammo! (Unicorn Theatre)
Casey Jay Andrews, Simon Wilkinson, Gareth Fry / Viola’s Room (One Cartridge Place)
SOUND & MUSIC
Matt Herbert / In Clay (Gatehouse Theatre)
Xana / King Troll(The Fawn), Shifters, Guards at the Taj (New Diorama/Bush Theatre/Orange Tree)
Beats And Elements / Romeo & Juliet (Polka Theatre)
Liam Holmes / Songs for a New World (Gatehouse Theatre)
Aaron Clingham / Stephen Sondheim’s Marry Me a Little (Stage Door Theatre)
Ian Oakley / The Big Life (Theatre Royal Stratford East)
Barra Collins, Joseph Hardy / The Littlest Yak (Polka Theatre)
Naomi Hammerton, Nina Segal / The Odyssey (Unicorn Theatre)
CREATION
Emily Woof / Blizzard (Soho Theatre)
Che Walker / Burnt Up Love (Finborough Theatre)
Maddie Dai / Captain Sandy and the Sea Monster (Puppet Theatre Barge)
Rob Drummond / Don’t. Make. Tea. (Soho Theatre)
Rebecca Simmonds, Jack Miles / In Clay (Gatehouse Theatre)
Ruairi Conaghan / Lies Where it Falls (Finborough Theatre)
Cal-i Jonel / No More Mr Nice Guy (Broadway Theatre, Catford)
Khalil Abdalla / Nowhere / Fuel (Battersea Arts Centre)
Manjeet Mann / Run, Rebel (Theatre Peckham)
Benedict Lombe / Shifters (Bush Theatre)
Roy Williams / The Lonely Londoners (Jermyn Street Theatre)
Ollie Maddigan / The Olive Boy (New Wimbledon Theatre)
Neil Bartram, Brian Hill / The Story of My Life (Stage Door Theatre)
Tim Crouch / Toto Kerblammo! (Unicorn Theatre)
INNOVATION
Soho Theatre, Impatient Productions / Julia Masli: Ha Ha Ha (Soho Theatre)
Soho Theatre / Natalie Palamides: WEER (Soho Theatre)
Contra, Le Carré Magique, Cambridge Junction / Spectacle of Herself (Battersea Arts Centre)
INDUSTRY & INCLUSION
Justin Hopper / Bedbug (Drayton Arms Theatre)
Birds Of Paradise Theatre Co / Don’t. Make. Tea. (Soho Theatre)
Fuse Theatre / Follow The Signs (Soho Theatre)
Kadiesha Belgrave / Grud (Hampstead Theatre)
Luke Madaj / How Did I Get Here (Bread and Roses Theatre)
Julia Thurston / Paved with Gold and Ashes (Barons Court Theatre)
Rhianna Ilube / Samuel Takes A Break… (The Yard Theatre)
Hannah Saxby / Some Demon (Arcola Theatre)
Asylum / Surfacing (Omnibus Theatre)
Hugo Pilcher / The Tailor-Made Man (Stage Door Theatre)
Alex Hill / Why I Stuck a Flare Up My Arse for England (Southwark Playhouse)
From star-studded West End shoe-ins and groundbreaking, immersive productions to community-driven inclusive work, these nominees reflect the evolving landscape of theatre and celebrate a sector that is affordable, sustainable, accessible and incredible… Let’s show off!
It has to be recognised that one must be very brave to perform solo to an audience for an hour, throw in flirting with the audience, ‘porn dancing’, and cavorting with a blow-up doll, and the effort is almost heroic. Aided only by a few simple props, this is exactly what Eleanor May Blackburn quite selflessly does in her one woman show, Does My F***y Look Big In This?, whilst also provoking more than a few laughs and revealing some personal trauma.
The sexual trauma element here isn’t so much harrowing as widely relatable, focused on how the absence of a ‘no’ does not equate to an enthusiastic ‘yes’. This is the subliminal story line, interspersed and alleviated by the enactment of a sex education class for 30 school kids, where any and all questions are answered purely matter-of-factly by ‘Miss Blackburn’, with occasional hilarious embellishment. Who knows? You might even pick up some new sexual vocabulary yourself!
Within the dual story line, a broad array of familiar sexual topics arise: sex education, basic anatomy, sexual anxiety, masturbation, misogyny, personal hygiene, sexuality, consent, and pubic styling. The overarching theme being explored is that we all go through the same uncertainties and self-conscious fumblings at the beginning of our sex lives, so why aren’t we discussing our very real sexual anxieties more openly? By breaking down the two themes of sex education and sexual trauma, Eleanor demonstrates how tight-lipped attitudes continue to lead to wide-scale unwanted and unpleasant sexual encounters. We are left asking ourselves, how far have we really come if generation after generation people are still having to deal with so much confusion and trauma because of the very thing that led to each of us existing at all? Also, are we already condemning the young to turn to online pornography to answer the questions we fail to confront? If so, how is this being reflected in their real life sexual development?
The naked honesty of Eleanor’s performance makes her instantly warm, open, and approachable. The themes are so recognisable that the audience can easily identify their own experience in this piece, enabling them to feel they are safe and among friends. With the addition of a frank and open discussion following the performance, this breaking down of barriers comes in useful when the audience has the opportunity to play the part of the school kids by bringing up any and all comments, questions, and thoughts they might have about sex. You may not necessarily get an answer, but that is much less important here than gaining permission to freely and openly express the questions we might normally be too afraid to ask.
Since bringing this performance to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2023, Eleanor has further developed the narrative and continues to appear around the UK. Watch out for her in a theatre near you.
DONMAR WAREHOUSE ANNOUNCES MAJOR REVIVAL OF PATRICK MARBER’S DEALER’S CHOICE
TO COMPLETE TIM SHEADER’S INAUGURAL SEASON AS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
With the critically acclaimed Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 currently playing at the theatre, and the world premiere of Anna Mackmin’s Backstroke in rehearsals, Artistic Director Tim Sheader and Executive Director Henny Finch today announce a major revival of Patrick Marber’s Dealer’s Choice, completing Sheader’s inaugural season as Artistic Director.
Matthew Dunster directs this 30th-anniversary production starring Alfie Allen, Hammed Animashaun, Theo Barklem-Biggs, Brendan Coyle, Kasper Hilton-Hille and Daniel Lapaine.
Dealer’s Choice opens on 28 April, with previews from 18 April, and runs until 7 June. Tickets are on sale to the public on 7 February with priority booking available for Donmar members from 30 January.
DONMAR WAREHOUSE PRESENTS DEALER’S CHOICE Written by Patrick Marber
Cast: Alfie Allen, Hammed Animashaun, Theo Barklem-Biggs, Brendan Coyle, Kasper Hilton-Hille and Daniel Lapaine
Director: Matthew Dunster
Design by Moi Tran Lighting design by Sally Ferguson Sound Design by Holly Khan Associate Director Robyn Grant
Casting Director: Lotte Hines CDG
18 April 2025 – 7 June 2025
“Play the man, not the cards”
Sunday night. Stephen hosts a weekly poker game in the basement of his failing London restaurant. All the usual suspects are there; the chef, the waiters, the errant son…but tonight a stranger has come to play.
As the stakes get higher, the game turns savage…now no one’s safe when everything’s on the line.
Patrick Marber‘s acclaimed 1995 debut won The Evening Standard Award (Best Comedy) and the Writer’s Guild of Great Britain Award (Best West End Play). It has since been performed in more than 50 cities across the world.
Matthew Dunster directs this 30th anniversary production starring Alfie Allen, Hammed Animashaun, Theo Barklem-Biggs, Brendan Coyle, Kasper Hilton-Hille and Daniel Lapaine.
We are hugely grateful to Charles Holloway OBE, Season Supporter.
We would also like to thank our Production Supporter, Charles J Burdick.
Alfie Allen plays Frankie. His theatre credits include Hangmen (Golden Theatre, Broadway), Equus (UK tour) and The Spoils (Trafalgar Studios). For television, his work includes Safe Harbour, Atomic, Transformers: Earth Park, SAS: Rogue Heroes, The Murders at White House Farm, Harlots, Game of Thrones, Close to The Enemy, Moving On, Accused, Freefall, Coming Up, Casualty 1907, Joe’s Palace, The Golden Hour and Jericho; and for film, Visitation, Night Teeth, Jo Jo Rabbit, How To Build A Girl, Predator, Plastic, John Wick, Confine, The Body, Powder, Soulboy, Freestyle, The Other Boleyn Girl, Atonement, Stoned and Agent Cody Banks 2.
Hammed Animashaun plays Mugsy. His theatre credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bridge Theatre- winner of 2020 WhatsOnStage Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Play, winner of 2019 Ian Charleson Award, winner of 2019 Critics’ Circle Award for Best Shakespearean Performance), ‘Master Harold,’ … and the Boys – winner of 2019 Clarence Derwent Award for Best Male in a Supporting Role, Barber Shop Chronicles (National Theatre), A Monster Calls (The Old Vic), The Producers (Royal Exchange Theatre ), Kiss Me Kate (Barbican) and Wolves on Road (Bush Theatre). His television credits include Black Ops – BAFTA-nominated for Best Male Comedy Performance and winner of RTS Programme Award for Male Comedy Performance, Ludwig, Breeders, The Wheel of Time, Time Bandits, Black Mirror, Pls Like and Gods of Game; and for film, The Festival, The Loneliest Boy in the World, Surge, How to Build a Girl and The Ellington Kid.
Theo Barklem-Biggs plays Sweeney. His previous work for the Donmar includes Europe and Les Liaisons Dangereuses. His other theatre credits include Don Juan in Soho (Wyndham’s Theatre) and Chapel Street (Bush Theatre). For television, his work includes SAS: Rogue Heroes, Sliced, The First Team, Carnival Row, Timewasters, Clean Break, Drunk History, White Gold, Ballot Monkeys, Cradle to the Grave, Tatau, Alt, Crims, Kerry, Our World War, Silk, The Interceptor, Black Out, Count Arthur Strong, Family V2, Homeboys, The Guilty, A Touch Of Cloth, The Fades, Coming Up, Holby City, Law & Order, Miranda, How Not To live Your Life, Micromen, New Tricks, Some Dogs Bite, Survivors, Missing and Moses Jones; and for film, Cherry, The Forgotten Battle, The Power, Farming, Make Up, Den Nedste Mand, Hunter Killer, Journey’s End, The Festival, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Borrowed Time, Hammer Of The Gods, Keith Lemon – The Movie, The Inbetweeners Movie, The Man Inside, 7 Lives and Age of Heroes.
Brendan Coyle plays Ash. His previous work for the Donmar includes: Saint Nicholas by Conor McPherson. Other theatre includes The Weir (Abbey Theatre Dublin); Shining City (Theatre Royal Stratford East); The Price (Theatre Royal Bath/Wyndhams); Mojo (Harold Pinter Theatre); The Late Henry Moss; The Silver Tassie (Almeida Theatre); Buried Child Battle Royal (National Theatre); The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (Crucible Theatre,Sheffield); The Bear (The Gate Theatre, Dublin); The Weir – Winner: Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Supporting Actor, New York Critics Award; Outstanding Broadway Debut (Royal Court/ West End/ Broadway); Pygmies In The Ruins (Royal Court/ Lyric Belfast); The Changing Room (Duke of York’s); The Plough & The Stars (Gaiety,Dublin/Opera House Belfast); September Tide; Elegies To Angels, Punks & Raging Queens (King’s Head); A Love Song For Ulster (Kiln); Philadelphia Here I Come (Kings Head/Wyndham’s Theatre); Playboy of the Western World; All Souls Night (Lyric Theatre,Belfast) and Judgement Day (Old Red Lion). Films include: Mary Queen Of Scots: Downton Abbey; Me Before You; Unless; The Mark of Cain; Offside; Allegiance; The Jacket; The General; Perrier’s Bounty; The Raven; Mapmaker; I Could Read The Sky; Conspiracy; Soft Sand Blue Sea; Tomorrow Never Dies; The Last Bus Home and Aisla. Television includes: Toxic Town; Finders Keepers; Riches; Requiem; 12 Monkeys; Spotless; Lark Rise to Candleford; The Starlings; Downton Abbey ( Nominated for Best Supporting Actor for BAFTA, EMMY, IFTA and 3 SAG Awards for Best Ensemble); Blue Murder; Damage; The Good Samaritan; True Dare Kiss; Wedding Belles; Perfect Parents; Prime Suspect; Commander; Ghost Squad; Jericho; Shameless; Soundproof; North and South; Omagh; Amnesia; Single; Waking The Dead; Rockface; Bombmaker; Great Deliverance; Paths to Freedom; Rebel Heart; Thief Takers; George Gently; McCready and Daughter; Silent Witness and The Glass Virgin.
Kasper Hilton-Hille plays Carl. His theatre credits include That Face (Orange Tree Theatre- Best Newcomer at the 2024 Off-West End Awards and nominated for Best Performer in a Play at The Stage Debut Awards 2024), The Glass Menagerie (Rose Theatre, Alexandra Palace Theatre, Belgrade Theatre) and Flicker (Edinburgh Festival Fringe). His television credits include Baptiste; and for film, The Immortal Man and The Woman in Cabin 10.
Daniel Lapaine plays Stephen. His previous work for the Donmar includes The Dance of Death (Donmar at Trafalgar). His other theatre credits include Between Riverside & Crazy (Hampstead Theatre), Retrograde, Holy Sh*t,The Invisible Hand (Kiln Theatre), The Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare’s Globe), Other Desert Cities, Hedda Gabler (The Old Vic), The Winter’s Tale (Sheffield Theatres), All My Sons (Apollo Theatre), Scenes from the Back of Beyond, F**cking Games (Royal Court Theatre), Les Parents Terribles, King Lear (Sydney Theatre Co.), Island (Belvoir Street Theatre), and Romeo and Juliet, Richard III and Hamlet (Bell Shakespeare Co.). His television credits include The Marlow Murder Club, Safe Harbour, Moonflower Murders, McDonald and Dodds, The Queen Of Oz, Upright, Van Der Valk, Who Is My Husband?, Black Mirror: Black Museum, Black Mirror, The Durrells, Catastrophe, Critical, Vexed, Identity, Moonshot, Hotel Babylon, Sex, The City And Me, Jane Hall, The Good Housekeeping Guide, Golden Hour, Jericho, Death On The Nile, Red Cap, Helen Of Troy, I Saw You and Tenth Kingdom; and for film, Dead In Tombstone, Zero Dark Thirty, Jack The Giant Killer, Last Chance Harvey, Shanghai and Muriel’s Wedding.
Patrick Marber is a playwright, screenwriter and director.
PLAYS: Dealer’s Choice, Closer, Howard Katz, The Red Lion, Three Days in the Country (all National Theatre) After Miss Julie, Don Juan in Soho, (Donmar Warehouse) The Musicians, The School Film (both for National Theatre Connections), Hoop Lane (BBC Radio 3). Stage adaptations include versions of Hedda Gabler, The Beaux’ Stratagem, Exit The King (all for National Theatre) and Trelawny of the ‘Wells’ (Donmar Warehouse)
SCREENPLAYS: Closer, Notes on a Scandal (Academy Award nomination, British Independent Film Award Best Screenplay), Old Street, Love You More, The Critic. TV: co-writing credits include the comedy shows The Day Today and Knowing Me, KnowingYou With Alan Partridge (both BBC) His plays have won Evening Standard, Olivier, Time Out, New York and London Critics’ Circle and Writers’ Guild Awards. His TV work has received BAFTA, British Comedy and Royal Television Society Awards.
DIRECTOR: productions of his own plays and adaptations: Dealer’s Choice (National Theatre and Vaudeville) Closer (National Theatre, Lyric, Music Box NY), Howard Katz (National Theatre), Three Days in the Country (National Theatre), Don Juan in Soho (Wyndham’s) Exit The King (National Theatre). Other productions include The Room, Victoria Station and Family Voices (Pinter Season 2018/2019), Venus In Fur (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Travesties (Menier, Apollo and Roundabout NY – Tony Award nomination for Best Director), The Caretaker (Comedy Theatre) Blue Remembered Hills (National Theatre), ‘1953’ (Almeida) The Old Neighborhood (Royal Court). Recent work: Leopoldstadt (Wyndhams/Longacre – Broadway, Tony Award for Best Director of a play). The Producers, Habeas Corpus (Menier) Pandemonium (Soho Theatre) Nachtland (Young Vic) What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank (Marylebone Theatre).
Matthew Dunster is a theatre and film director and writer. He was born and raised in Oldham and now lives in South East London. Previously an actor, he has directed or written over sixty theatre shows, often with major national companies (including RSC, NT, Royal Court, Young Vic, Royal Exchange, Shakespeare’s Globe, The Bridge), as well as directing on the West End, Broadway and internationally. He has been the Associate Director of The Young Vic and Shakespeare’s Globe.
His most recent productions include: 2:22 A Ghost Story, which ran in the West End for 694 performances; Shirley Valentine and The Pillowman, both at The Duke Of Yorks; The Homecoming at the Young Vic. Matthew has been nominated for four Olivier Awards and his Broadway production of Hangmen was nominated for five Tony’s.
In Autumn 2025, he will direct Conor McPherson’s stage adaptation of The Hunger Games.
Preview discounts apply to the first four performances only
Standing £15 to be released at a later date
Donmar Members Priority Booking
30 January – Donmar Patrons can book via the membership team 3 February 12pm – Best Friends 5 February 12pm – Friends 6 February 12pm – Access and 35 and under tickets 7 February 12pm – Public on sale
35 AND UNDER TICKETS AT £20 Aged 16-35? Sign up to our exclusive email list to book tickets for £20, located throughout the theatre including the front row. Plus receive insights to shows, invites to socials, and exclusive offers at the bar and more. Book early to secure these prices. www.donmarwarehouse.com/35under
Maximum two tickets per person – both need to be aged 35 or under at time of the performance. Subject to availability. ID will need to be shown at Box Office to collect tickets.
DONMAR DAILY
New tickets on sale every day at the Donmar. Allocations of tickets will be made available every day for performances 7 days later. Tickets will be available across the auditorium at every price band.
ACCESS
The Donmar Warehouse is fully wheelchair accessible. Guide dogs and hearing dogs are welcome in the auditorium. There is a Loop system and a Radio Frequency system fitted in the main auditorium and there are also hearing loops at all the front of house counters.
ASSISTED PERFORMANCES If you require a companion to attend the Donmar, their ticket will be free. To book call 020 3282 3808 or email [email protected].
For all other access enquiries or bookings call 020 3282 3808.
SEASON AT A GLANCE
NATASHA, PIERRE AND THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 Until 8 February 2025 Audio described: Saturday 1 February 2.30pm
BACKSTROKE 14 February 2025 – 12 April 2025 Captioned: Monday 31 March at 7.30pm Audio described: Saturday 5 April at 2.30pm
DEALER’S CHOICE
18 April 2025 – 7 June 2025
Captioned: Monday 19 May at 7.30pm
Audio Described: Saturday 31 May at 2.30pm
INTIMATE APPAREL 20 June 2025 – 9 August 2025 Captioned: Monday 28 July at 7.30pm Audio described: Saturday 2 August at 2.30pm
MACBETH – IN CINEMAS 5 February
DONMAR WAREHOUSE
The Donmar offers a uniquely intimate theatre experience where no audience member is ever more than four rows from the action. In our converted warehouse in the heart of the West End, we bring together exceptional artists to tell powerful, popular and inclusive stories. For over 30 years we’ve been making celebrated productions of classic plays, new work and intimate musicals that illuminate the human experience and thrill theatre-goers at our home base and further afield through transfers and on screen. We enable talented emerging artists to find new routes into the industry, and create opportunities for local young people to experience the artform as both audience members and makers. Through our productions and participation programmes we inspire audiences and artists of all backgrounds to embrace the experience of live theatre as a catalyst for inquiry, compassion, connection and joy.
The producers of the multi award-winning, critically acclaimed West End production of CABARET at the KIT KAT CLUB are delighted to announce that joining the show’s Prologue Company from 3 February 2025 will be James Hastings, Dak Mashava, Nethra Menon, Oluwatosin Omotosho and Kristin Wei Wong.
They join existing company members Rachel Benson, Ami Benton, Joseph Hardy, Andrew Linnie, Jack William Parry and Jazmyn Raikes, who are continuing within the Prologue Company.
The cast is completed by Emmy, Tony and Grammy award winner Billy Porter as The Emcee and double Olivier award nominee Marisha Wallace as Sally Bowles (both joining Tuesday 28 January), with Daniel Bowerbank as Clifford Bradshaw, Vivien Parry as Fraulein Schneider, Fenton Gray as Herr Schultz, Fred Haig as Ernst Ludwig and Jessica Kirton as Fraulein Kost/Fritzie, Xenoa Campbell-Ledgister, Sam Darius, Damon Gould Adrian Grove, El Haq Latief, Justin-Lee Jones, Ela Lisondra, Hícaro Nicolai, Andy Rees Alexandra Regan, Marina Tavolieri,Ben Simon Wilson, Anne-Marie Wojna, Patrick Wilden and Lucy Young. Anne-Marie Wojna plays the role of Sally Bowles once a week.
CABARET recently celebrated the milestone of 1000 performances at the KIT KAT CLUB and is currently booking until Saturday 4 October 2025. kitkat.club
The Tony award winning Broadway production of CABARET opened in April last year at the KIT KAT CLUB at the August Wilson Theatre where it continues to play and currently stars Adam Lambert and Auli’i Cravalho.
Transforming one of London’s most famous theatres with an in-the-round auditorium and reimagined spaces, before the show guests are invited to enjoy and explore the Kit Kat Club with pre-show entertainment, drinks and dining all on offer. When booking, guests receive a ‘club entry time’ to allow enough time to take in the world of the Kit Kat Club before the show starts. But of course, the show really starts when you first join us in the club…
One of the most successful musicals of all time CABARET features the songs Wilkommen, Don’t Tell Mama, Mein Herr, Maybe This Time, Money and the title number. It has music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, book by Joe Masteroff. Based on the play by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood.
CABARET is directed by Rebecca Frecknall, set and costume design is by Tom Scutt with choreography by Julia Cheng. Musical supervision is by Jennifer Whyte and musical direction is by Ben van Tienen with lighting design by Isabella Byrd, sound design by Nick Lidster, Wigs and Hair design by Sam Cox and Make-Up design by Guy Common. The casting director is Stuart Burt and the original associate director and prologue director is Jordan Fein. The prologue composer and musical director is Angus MacRae.
CABARET at the KIT KAT CLUB is produced by ATG Productions and Underbelly.
The producers of Hadestown have announced today that the acclaimed West End production will be filmed live at the Lyric Theatre across three performances, Friday 28 February and both matinee and evening performances on Saturday 1 March.
There will be 2,000 tickets in total available to purchase for the filmed performances, with tickets on sale tomorrow (Friday 31 January 2025) at 12pm noon at uk.hadestown.com.
Casting for performances between 11 February and 9 March, including the filmed performances, will feature the previously announced original cast members from the National Theatre and the Tony® and Grammy® Award-winning Broadway productions. Reprising their roles will be Reeve Carney as Orpheus, André De Shields as Hermes, Amber Gray as Persephone, Eva Noblezada as Eurydice and Patrick Page as Hades.
Completing the cast will be Bella Brown, Madeline Charlemagne and Allie Daniel as Fates, Lauren Azania, Tiago Dhondt Bamberger, Waylon Jacobs and Christopher Short as Workers, and Lucinda Buckley, Francessca Daniella-Baker, Winny Herbert, Ryesha Higgs and Miriam Nyarko as Swings.
To prepare for the filming, performances from 25 – 27 February have been removed from the performance schedule. The producers have noted that there are currently no set plans or dates for the release of the film version.
Hadestownopened to huge critical acclaim at the Lyric Theatre, London in February last year, five years after a sold-out engagement at the National Theatre in 2018 and is now booking in the West End until 28 September 2025.
Blending American songwriting traditions, from indie folk, to pop, blues, and New Orleans-inspired jazz, Hadestown has music, lyrics, and book by acclaimed Tony® and Grammy®-winning singer-songwriter and BBC Radio 2 Folk Award-winner Anaïs Mitchell whooriginated Hadestownas anindie theatre project and acclaimed album, before transforming the show into a genre-defying new musical alongside artistic collaborator and Tony® Award-winning director Rachel Chavkin.
Hadestowntakes you on an unforgettable journey to the underworld and back, intertwining two mythic love stories – that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone. A deeply resonant and defiantly hopeful theatrical experience, Hadestown invites you to imagine how the world could be.
The Hadestown creative team includes David Neumann (Choreography), Rachel Hauck (Scenic Design), Michael Krass (Costume Design), Bradley King (Lighting Design), Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz (Sound Design), Liam Robinson (Music supervision and Vocal Arrangements), Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose (Arrangements and Orchestrations), Ken Cerniglia (Dramaturgy), Maria Crocker (UK Associate Director), and Tarek Merchant (Musical Director & Associate Music Supervisor). Casting for the London production is by Jacob Sparrow. Original Broadway Casting by Benton Whitley CSA and Duncan Stewart CSA.
Hadestownis produced in London by Mara Isaacs, Dale Franzen, Hunter Arnold, Tom Kirdahy and the National Theatre in association with JAS Theatricals.
Reeve Carney, André De Shields, Amber Gray, Eva Noblezada and Patrick Page are appearing with the support of Equity UK, incorporating the Variety Artistes’ Federation, pursuant to an exchange program between American Equity and Equity UK.
The Roald Dahl Story Company today announces the return of their wickedly funny family musical based on Roald Dahl’s THE ENORMOUS CROCODILE. Following hit seasons at Leeds Playhouse in 2023 and Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2024, THE ENORMOUS CROCODILE THE MUSICAL will open at Windsor Theatre Royal on 8 August 2025 before returning to Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre from 15 August – 7 September 2025.
Director Emily Lim said today, “We can’t wait to bring our greedy Croc back to Regent’s Park and to Windsor this summer! It’s been so special seeing how the story and songs have landed with our audiences to date and we’re so glad we get to do it all again.”
Co-Director and Puppetry Designer Toby Olié said, “The Enormous Crocodile has been one of the most enjoyable and lively shows to create. So to continue sharing its mischievous glee and playful puppets with audiences in 2025 is an absolute thrill.”
‘For my lunch today I would like… a nice juicy little child!’
The Enormous Crocodile is weaving his way through the jungle in search of delicious little fingers and squidgy podgy knees… Only the other jungle creatures can foil his secret plans and clever tricks, but they’re going to have to find a large amount of courage to stop this greedy brute.
This mischievous musical based on Roald Dahl’s snappy book has toe-tapping tunes by Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab, a rib-tickling book and lyrics by Suhayla El-Bushra, and additional music and lyrics by Tom Brady. Developed and directed by Emily Lim, it features a menagerie of puppets by co-director and puppetry designer Toby Olié, with set and costume design by Fly Davis and puppetry co-designed and supervised by Daisy Beattie.
The Enormous Crocodile musical was developed by Emily Lim, Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab, Suhayla El-Bushra, Tom Brady and The Roald Dahl Story Company, and originally co-produced with Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and Leeds Playhouse.
Multi-award winning family-friendly comedy musical makers Gigglemug Theatre are bringing back their two latest sell-out smash hit shows for Summer 2025: Scouts! The Musical, which was nominated for a WhatsOnStage Award, and A Jaffa Cake Musical, which accumulated over thirty 4 & 5 star reviews at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe.
Scouts! The Musical will embark on a UK tour throughout June to The Crescent Theatre in Birmingham, The Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester, Upstairs at the Gatehouse in London & The Egg Theatre in Bath. While A Jaffa Cake Musical will return to the Edinburgh Fringe in August with previews in Bath (venues TBA).
The Gigglemug Summer Season will also be the nal runs of Scouts! The Musical and A Jaffa Cake Musical, therefore this will be the last chance for people to see both productions. Scouts! The Musical, created in partnership with the Scouts, centres around the fictional Scout Games, whereas A Jaffa Cake Musical is inspired by the 1991 tribunal which determined the true identity of a Jaffa Cake!
As ‘Gigglemug’ means someone who is always smiling, Gigglemug Theatre want to give their audiences a chance to do just that. Their debut show was the Fringe hit Timpson: The Musical (sponsored by everyone’s favourite high street shop, Timpson) which won The Stage Edinburgh Award. Their follow up show was the critically-acclaimed RuneSical, an interactive musical based on the BAFTA-winning online game RuneScape and supported by the game makers themselves. Both productions are available to watch for free on YouTube and have gained tens of thousands of views!
Praise for Scouts! The Musical & A Jaa Cake Musical: ★★★★★ ‘An utter masterpiece’ BOX OFFICE RADIO ★★★★★ THREEWEEKS ★★★★★ ‘A comedic triumph’ WEST END EVENINGS ★★★★★ NORTH WEST END ★★★★★ THEATRE WEEKLY ★★★★★ INDEPENDENT ★★★★★ THEATRE & TONIC ★★★★ ‘A force to be reckoned with on the musical comedy scene’ THE STAGE
Savoy Theatre, Savoy Court, The Strand, London, WC2R 0ET
Acclaimed composer Drew Gasparini is offering aspiring performers the opportunity to make their West End debut in his new musical WE AREN’T KIDS ANYMORE. This unique competition is open to anyone aged 18 and over with no professional adult credits and promises to discover untapped talent. Opening this opportunity up to more aspiring performers, there will be a new matinee performance of WE AREN’T KIDS ANYMORE joining the evening show,giving two winners the chance to step into the spotlight on the iconic Savoy Theatre stage on Monday 28th April 2025
The new matinee performance not only doubles the opportunity for unseen talent to debut but also welcomes submissions from those working in the industry across the UK. In a bid to highlight and recognise the amazing theatre performers who are currently staffing ATG theatres, the matinee winner will be chosen from applicants who work at an ATG venue anywhere in the UK
With further star-studded cast and special guests still to be announced, the winners will share the limelight with the incredible Dylan Mulvaney (FAGHAG; Days of Girlhood), Sam Tutty (Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York); Dear Evan Hansen), and Aimie Atkinson (SIX The Musical), ensuring they take their place among a line-up of exceptional talent. The competition winners will be invited onstage to join Drew and friends for Act 2 which presents highlights from Gasparini’s celebrated musical career.
This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is open to all. Like the musical itself- which explores the many of life’s defining moments through diverse perspectives – the competition seeks to celebrate the breadth of human experience, offering fresh voices the chance to shine. To enter, artists aged 18 and over with no professional adult credits are able to submit a self-tape of themselves singing one of Gasparini’s songs captured in a full, single take. Submissions close at 11pm on 23rd February 2025, and Gasparini will personally select the winners
Drew Gasparini, whose credits include Smash and Broadway productions such as The Karate Kid and It’s Kind of a Funny Story, is passionate about breaking the mould of traditional musical theatre and uncovering fresh talent. This is a unique opportunity for new musical theatre voices to perform on one of London’s most prestigious stages and take their place alongside an exceptional cast and narrative.
Drew Gasparini comments, There is so much untapped talent who think they won’t be given a chance, or be seen, or heard. All any of us need is one opportunity, big or small, for their life’s path to change. I’m so thrilled our team with WAKA are able to give this opportunity to my fellow artists out there.
WE AREN’T KIDS ANYMORE is an authentic and inspiring musical exploring the dreams we chase and the infinite choices we make to reach them, resulting in the perfect setting to help bring a West End dream to stage. The addition of a new talent underscores the spirit of discovery and opportunity at the heart of this uplifting new musical.
Whether have been waiting for their big break or chasing a dream of performing, WE AREN’T KIDS ANYMORE is a chance to take that leap. The stage is set for someone to take the chance and step onto it
UK PREMIERE OF BROADWAY HIT SHUCKED, BOOK BY ROBERT HORN, MUSIC & LYRICS BY BRANDY CLARK AND SHANE McANALLY, AND DIRECTED BY JACK O’BRIEN
MALORIE BLACKMAN’S NOUGHTS & CROSSES,ADAPTED BY DOMINIC COOKE AND DIRECTED BY TINUKE CRAIG
DREW McONIE DIRECTS LERNER & LOEWE’S BRIGADOON, IN A NEW ADAPTATION BY RONA MUNRO
RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN’S DREAM BALLETS: A TRIPLE BILL, CHOREOGRAPHED BY JULIA CHENG, SHELLEY MAXWELL AND KATE PRINCE
RETURN OF FAMILY MUSICAL, ROALD DAHL’S THE ENORMOUS CROCODILE
FOUR OPEN AIR THEATRE FESTIVALS THROUGHOUT THE SEASON ACROSS FAMILY, DANCE, COMEDY AND MUSIC
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre today announce Drew McOnie’s inaugural season, opening with the much-anticipated UK premiere of musical comedy Shucked (10 May – 14 June 2025), following its acclaimed run on Broadway and a US tour. Ben Joyce (Back to the Future the Musical)plays Beau, Sophie McShera (Downton Abbey) plays Maizy, and Georgina Onuorah (Hamilton) plays Lulu.
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Dream Ballets: A Triple Bill (19 – 22 June 2025) will see award-winning musical theatre choreographers Julia Cheng, Shelley Maxwell and Kate Prince re-imagine the dream ballets from Allegro, Oklahoma! and Carousel, with new arrangements by Simon Hale and live accompaniment by Sinfonia Smith Square.
This is followed by the stage adaptation of Malorie Blackman’smuch-loved novel,Noughts & Crosses (28 June – 26 July 2025), adapted by Dominic Cooke, and directed by Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s Associate Artistic Director, Tinuke Craig.
The season continues with Lerner & Loewe’sBrigadoon(2 August – 20 September 2025) with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. In a new adaptation by acclaimed Scottish playwright Rona Munro and directed and choreographed by Drew McOnie, the captivating Scottish Highlands come to the magical outdoor setting of Regent’s Park in this major London revival for the first time in over 35 years. Danielle Fiamanya (Mandela) plays Fiona, and Louis Gaunt (Bridgerton) plays Tommy.
Playing during the daytime for those aged 3+ and their families is the wickedly funny musical based on Roald Dahl’s, The Enormous Crocodile (15 August – 7 September 2025), with book & lyrics by Suhayla El-Bushra, music by Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab and additional music and lyrics from Tom Brady. Developed and directed by Emily Lim, with co-direction and puppetry design by Toby Olié, the production returns to Regent’s Park following its successful 2024 run.
The 2025 summer season also features four Open Air Theatre Festivals, including family, dance and comedy takeover days, and a week-long music takeover that will close the season, presented in partnership with Communion ONE. Further details will be announced in the spring.
Also launching this year is The Theatre Dance Lab, a new artist development programme that will offer early-career musical theatre choreographers a paid residency at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, culminating in a showcase performance of their in-development work on our main stage. Further details and application information will be announced later this spring.
Beyond Regent’s Park, the Open Air Theatre’s production of Fiddler on the Roofwill, following its sold-out run in 2024, transfer to the Barbican Centre for a strictly limited 8-week season (24 May – 19 July 2025) ahead of a 20-week tour of the UK & Ireland.
This summer, the re-imagined version of the 2022 Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre musical production of Dodie Smith’s classic book 101 Dalmatianswill play a limited 6-week engagement (18 July – 30 August 2025) at London’s Eventim Apollo; and Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar continues its tour of Australia through to the end of July 2025.
Drew McOnie, Artistic Director said today, “After what has without doubt been one of the most thrilling incubation periods of my creative career, I am so proud of the season we are now able to announce. Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre offers its own unique opportunity to engage with stories under a shared sky and my ambition is to honour that legacy as we move into this new artistic chapter. Every member of the Regent’s Park team and the many artists that are coming together to share their imaginations with us, will put our audiences, both new and returning, at the centre of their process and it’s an honour to work alongside them in delivering my debut season for this much-loved venue.”
James Pidgeon, Executive Director said today, “Following the huge success of our 2024 season, which saw record-breaking audience figures of over 180,000 people, we are delighted to now be launching our 2025 season of exhilarating live performance. I am particularly thrilled that we have been able to continue our commitment to £15 tickets (36,000 of which will be available throughout the season), and that our productions continue to reach audiences across the world as we tour more of our work than ever before. Heartfelt thanks, as ever, to our staff, stakeholders, producing partners and funders for their valuable support.”
Full creative teams and casting for all productions to be announced.
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre Memberships are now on sale, and Members’ priority booking for the 2025 summer season opens at 12pm today, with public booking opening at 11am on Thursday 6 February 2025.
Creatives include Lucy Adams (Associate Lighting Designer); Myles Brown (Associate Choreographer); Nathanael Campbell (Associate Director); Ben Davies (Associate Set Designer); Aundrea Fudge (Voice & Dialect Coach); Jill Green CDG (Casting Director); Tilly Grimes (Costume Designer); Carol Hancock (UK Wigs, Hair & Makeup Designer & Supervisor); Jason Howland (Music Supervisor, Orchestrations & Arrangements); Olivia Laydon (Casting Associate); Ingrid Mackinnon (Intimacy Support); Caity Mulkearn (Associate Costume Designer); Mia M Neal (Original US Hair & Wig Designer); Jack O’Brien (Director); Sarah O’Gleby (Choreographer); Scott Pask (Set Designer); Michael J Passaro (US Production Supervisor); Greg Pink (Associate Sound Designer); Katy Richardson (Musical Director); Tom Shiels (Casting Associate); John Shivers (Sound Designer); Japhy Weideman (Lighting Designer).
Saturday 10 May – Saturday 14 June 2025
‘Corn, yes, we said corn,
Just as sure as the day that you were born.’
Tony Award-winning musical comedy Shucked makes its much-anticipated UK premiere, landing at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre for 5 weeks only, following an acclaimed run on Broadway and a US tour.
Featuring a book by Tony Award winner Robert Horn (Tootsie), a score by the Grammy Award-winning songwriting team of Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, and directed by Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien (Hairspray), this corn-fed, corn-bred American musical is sure to satisfy your appetite!
Maizy and Beau are getting hitched, when the corn that protects their small community starts to die. The town needs answers. But who will dare to venture beyond the borders of Cob County?
Including the knockout songs ‘Woman of the World’, ‘Somebody Will’ and ‘Independently Owned’, this Broadway hit about an unlikely hero, an unscrupulous con artist, and a battle for the heart and soil of a small town, is not to be missed.
Presented in association with Mike Bosner, Jason Owen, AEG Presents/Jay Marciano, and Michael Harrison.
Cast includes Monique Ashe-Palmer (Storyteller 1); Ben Joyce (Beau); Sophie McShera (Maizy); Georgina Onuorah (Lulu); Keith Ramsay (Peanut); Matthew Seadon-Young (Gordy); Steven Webb (Storyteller 2).
Robert Horn | Book
Theatre includes: Shucked, Tootsie, Disney’s Hercules, 13 the musical, Moonshine The Musical, Lone Star Love, Dame Edna: Back With A Vengeance (Broadway).
TV includes: Designing Women; Living Single, High Society (CBS); Football Book Club; The Jenni Rivera Show; Partners; Bette Midler’s Divine Intervention tour; RuPaul Christmas Special (BBC).
Film include: 13 The Musical (Netflix); Teen Beach Movie, Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure, Wildlife (Disney); Good Advice (Emmett/Furla Films).
Robert is a two-time Tony nominee, two-time Drama Desk nominee, two-time Outer Critics nominee, winner of the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards.
Brandy Clark | Music & Lyrics
Theatre includes: Shucked (Broadway).
Music includes: Dear Insecurity, A Beautiful Noise (performed by Brandi Carlile and Alicia Keys); Follow Your Arrow (performed by Kacey Musgraves).
Brandy won Best Americana Performance at the 66th Grammy Awards and Song of the Year at the 2024 Americana Honors & Awards with her acclaimed song, Dear Insecurity, featuring 11x Grammy-winner Brandi Carlile. Brandy also won Outstanding Music at the 67th Drama Desk Awards and was nominated for Best Original Score at the 76th Tony Awards, where Shucked received nine nominations overall.
Shane McAnally | Music & Lyrics
Theatre includes: Shucked (Broadway).
Music includes: Fancy Like (performed by Walker Hayes).
TV & Press includes: Songland;NYTimes; Billboard; Rolling Stone; The LA Times; The Kelly Clarkson Show; NPR Tiny Desk.
Shane McAnally has received three Grammy Award wins (with 11 total nominations), been nominated for more CMA Awards than any other songwriter in history, and been named ACM’s Songwriter of the Year twice. He received Billboard’s Trailblazer Award for his work both in country music and in championing voices in the LGBTQ community. In 2012 McAnally founded SMACKSongs and is co-president of Monument Records, a joint venture with Sony Music.
Jack O’Brien | Director
Lincoln Center Theater includes:Ghosts, Tom Stoppard’s The Hard Problem, The Coast of Utopia (Tony Award), The Invention of Love (Drama Desk Award; Tony nom.), Hapgood (Lucille Lortel Award), Macbeth The Nance, Henry IV (Tony Award), Pride’s Crossing, The Little Foxes, Two Shakespearean Actors (Tony nom.).
Broadway includes:The Roommate; Shucked (Tony nom.); Hairspray (Tony Award); Carousel; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; The Front Page; It’s Only a Play; Dead Accounts; Catch Me If You Can; Impressionism; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Tony nom.); The Full Monty (Tony nom.); How the Grinch Stole Christmas; Porgy and Bess (Tony nom.); Imaginary Friends; Getting Away With Murder; Damn Yankees.
National and Global tours include:The Sound of Music; Hairspray; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Opera includes:Il Trittico (Metropolitan Opera); Porgy and Bess.
Other NY theater includes:Guys and Dolls (Carnegie Hall); Much Ado About Nothing (The Public).
UK theatre includes:Hairspray; The Full Monty; His Girl Friday (National Theatre); Love Never Dies.
TV includes:Becoming Mike Nichols (HBO, Emmy nom.); American Playhouse Great Performances.
Memoirs include:Jack Be Nimble, Jack in the Box (Farrar, Straus & Giroux).
Jack is a Theater Hall of Fame inductee, Artists Director of The Old Globe Theatre (1981–2007) and received the 2024 Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Monique Ashe-Palmer | Storyteller 1
Training: Bird College.
Theatre includes:Standing at the Sky’s Edge (Gillian Lynne Theatre); £1 Thursday’s (Finborough Theatre); SIX (Vaudeville Theatre); Waitress (U.K. Tour); Waitress (The Adelphi Theatre); Associate Choreographer on Madagascar the Musical (U.K Tour); Madagascar the musical (U.K./International Tour); Pinocchio (Bradford Alhambra); Sleeping Beauty (Camberley Theatre).
Training: Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts (First Class BA (Hons), 2021).
Theatre includes:Back to the Future (Adelphi Theatre); Jersey Boys (Trafalgar Theatre).
Workshops include:Catch Me If You Can; The Little Big Things.
TV includes:The Power (Sister Pictures/Amazon Prime).
Ben was nominated for Best Takeover at the 2023 WhatsOnStage Awards for Back to the Future and Best Performer in a Musical and Best West End Debut at the 2022 The Stage Debut Award for Jersey Boys.
Sophie McShera | Maizy
Theatre includes: The Entertainer (The Garrick, London); Jerusalem (The Apollo Theatre); Annie (West End); The Goodbye Girl (No 1 Tour); A Month In The Country (Salisbury Playhouse); Cinderella (West Yorkshire Playhouse).
TV includes: The Gallows Pole (ITV Studios Limited for BBC One); The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix); London Kills (Acorn TV); Porters 2 (Dancing Ledge for Dave); Timewasters (ITV2/Big Talk); Murdered for Being Different (BBC); Drunk History (Comedy Central); A Job Lot (Series 1-3, Big Talk Productions); Inside No.9 (BBC); Survivors (BBC); Galavant (Series 1-2, ABC); Downtown Abbey (Series 1-5, Carnival for ITV); Harry and Paul (BBC One); Waterloo Road (Shed Productions/BBC); Doctors (BBC); Emmerdale (Yorkshire TV).
Film includes: Downton Abbey: A New Era (Universal Pictures, Carnival Film & Television); Downtown Abbey (Castle Pictures Limited); David Copperfield (GEM Entertainment, FilmNation Entertainment); Cinderella (Walt Disney); Highway to Dhampus (Fifty Films).
Georgina Onuorah | Lulu
Training: ArtsEd where she was awarded the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Scholarship.
Theatre includes:Little Shop Of Horrors (Sheffield Crucible); Kiss Me, Kate (Barbican); Hamilton (Victoria Palace Theatre); Oklahoma! (Wyndham’s Theatre); Dick Whittington (National Theatre); Bad Cinderella (Gillian Lynne Theatre); MILLENNIALS (The Other Palace); The Wizard of Oz (London Palladium).
Workshops include:The Children’s Inquiry (National Theatre Studio); The Enormous Crocodile (Roald Dahl Story Company); Mandela (The Young Vic).
Film includes:Wicked: Part 2 (Universal Pictures).
Keith Ramsay | Peanut
Training: Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.
Theatre includes:The Play That Goes Wrong (Duchess Theatre); Eve: All About Her (Soho Theatre); Young Frankenstein (English Theatre Frankfurt); Preludes (Southwark Playhouse); Amour (Charing Cross Theatre); The Cereal Cafe (The Other Palace); Portia Coughlan (Old Red Lion); Julius Caesar (Shakespeare’s Globe); Doctor Scroggy’s War (Shakespeare’s Globe); Lost In Yonkers (Watford Palace Theatre); Billy (Union Theatre); Peter Pan (Qdos).
TV includes:Shetland; Dylan Moran’s “The Awkward Age”; Pistol; New Tricks; Doctors; Casualty.
Keith won The Stage Edinburgh Award for Acting Excellence & David Johnson Award for Emerging Talent for Eve: All About Her.
Matthew Seadon-Young |Gordy
Theatre includes: The Baker’s Wife (Menier Chocolate Factory); Rockets and Blue Lights (National Theatre, Royal Exchange Theatre); Death of a Salesman (Young Vic / Piccadilly Theatre, West End); Company (Gielgud Theatre, West End); Assassins (Gate Theatre, Dublin); Big Fish (The Other Palace); Beautiful (Aldwych Theatre, West End); Billy Elliot (Victoria Palace, West End); Sweeney Todd (London Coliseum); Urinetown (Apollo Theatre, West End); The School for Scandal (Theatre Royal Bath); She Stoops to Conquer (National Theatre); The Architects (SHUNT); Les Miserables (Queens Theatre, West End); The Laramie Project (Wild Oats Productions).
Film includes: Pride; Les Misérables.
Other credits include: BBC Proms 67 (2015); John Wilson Orchestra (Royal Albert Hall); Vocalist for the Les Misérables Ensemble at the 85th Academy Awards ‘Oscars’ (Dolby).
Steven Webb | Storyteller 2
Theatre includes:Here You Come Again (UK Tour, Riverside Studios); Book of Mormon (Prince of Wales Theatre); I Want My Hat Back (National Theatre); As Is, Betwixt, Sh*t-Mix (Trafalgar Studios); Secret Theatre, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Aladdin (The Lyric Hammersmith); After the Turn (Courtyard Theatre); The Lakeboat (The Arcola); Dick Whittington (The Lyric Theatre); Sons of York (Finborough Theatre); The Long Road (Soho Theatre); The History Boys (Royal National Theatre, West End); Chatroom/Citizenship (Royal National Theatre); On the Shore of the Wide World (Exchange Manchester/Royal National Theatre); Kes (Exchange Manchester); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Sheffield Theatre); The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek (Southwark Playhouse); Dark of the Moon (Kings Head Theatre); Oliver! (London Palladium).
TV includes:Beautality; The Inbetweeners; Miranda.
Podcast incudes:Brain Rot: An 80s Horror podcast.
A Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s
DREAM BALLETS: A TRIPLE BILL
Choreography by Julia Cheng (Allegro), Shelley Maxwell (Oklahoma!)& Kate Prince (Carousel)
Creatives include Simon Hale (Orchestrations & Arrangements); Joshie Harriette (Lighting Designer); Nick Lidster for Autograph (Sound Designer); Yann Seabra (Costume Designer); Sinfonia Smith Square (Orchestra).
Thursday 19 June – Sunday 22 June 2025
‘Then out of my dreams I’ll go Into a dream with you.’
A timeless celebration of dance and music from three of the UK’s leading musical theatre choreographers, accompanied live on stage by the 26-piece orchestra of the Sinfonia Smith Square, and set to the magical scores of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s dream ballets.
In this enchanting triple bill, the dream ballets are re-imagined for the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre stage by award-winning musical theatre dance makers Julia Cheng (Fiddler on the Roof) who choreographs the rarely performed Allegro, Shelley Maxwell (Get Up Stand Up!) who choreographs Oklahoma!’s dream ballet and Kate Prince (Message in a Bottle, Zoo Nation) who choreographs the dream ballet from Carousel, all with extended new musical arrangements by Tony Award winner Simon Hale (Girl from the North Country).
A unique opportunity to experience Rodgers & Hammerstein’s music brought to life through dance like never before.
Generously supported by The Thistle Trust.
Presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals.
Julia Cheng | Choreographer
Training: Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies (University of Surrey); Dance & Drama (Université Lumière Lyon 2, France).
For Regent’s Park:Fiddler on the Roof (2024).
Theatre/opera/dance work includes:The Legend of 1900 (Shanghai Grand Theatre, China); Cabaret (The Kit Kat Club, West End and Broadway); These Violent Delights (Scottish Ballet); Macbeth (RSC); Untold (Theater Rotterdam, Belgium and Holland); Warrior Queens (for House of Absolute, Sadler’s Wells); The Seven Deadly Sins/Mahagonny Songspiel (Royal Opera House); The Importance of Music to Girls (Kings Place).
Shelley Maxwell | Choreographer
As Choreographer:Starter for Ten (Bristol Old Vic); The Time Traveller’s Wife: The Musical (Apollo Theatre); The Secret Life of Bees (Almeida); The Ballet Boyz “England on Fire” (Sadler’s Wells); Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical (Lyric Theatre); Equus (Stratford East/Trafalgar Studios); ‘Master Harold’ …and the boys (National Theatre); Cinderella (Lyric Hammersmith).
As Movement Director:After Life, Hansard, Antony & Cleopatra, Twelfth Night (National Theatre); Nine Night (National Theatre/Trafalgar Studios); Love’s Labour’s Lost and Tartuffe (RSC); Macbeth (Donmar Warehouse/Harold Pinter); Barcelona (Duke of York Theatre); Mlima’s Tale (Kiln); Beneatha’s Place, Untitled F*ck m*ss S**gon Play (Royal Exchange Manchester & Young Vic ); Winter, Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere and Cuttin’ It (Young Vic); Best of Enemies (Young Vic/Noel Coward Theatre); Shifters (Bush/Duke of York Theatre); Alma Mater (Almeida); August in England (Bush); J’Ouvert (Harold Pinter); Macbeth (Shakespeare’s Globe); King Hedley II (Stratford East); Cougar and Dealing with Clair (Orange Tree); Faustus (Headlong at Lyric & Birmingham Repertory Theatre); A Streetcar Named Desire (Nuffield, Southampton); Apologia (English Theatre Frankfurt); Grey (Oval House); Rules for Living (Royal & Derngate/ The Rose, Kingston).
TV & Film includes:Anansi Boys (Amazon); Joan (ITV); The Marvels (Disney); Romeo and Juliet (Sky Arts/PBS/National Theatre); ear for eye (BBC/Fruit Tree Media).
Shelley Maxwell won the award for Best Choreographer at the inaugural Black British Theatre Awards in 2019 for her work on Equus.
Kate Prince | Choreographer
Theatre includes (with ZooNation):Sylvia (Old Vic); Into the Hoods (Novello, West End); Some Like it Hip Hop (Sadler’s Wells Peacock & UK tour); Message in a Bottle (Sadler’s Wells & Universal Music, World Tour); The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party (Royal Opera House Linbury Studio & The Roundhouse); Groove on Down the Road (SouthBank Centre).
TV includes:Imagine: Kate Prince – Every Move She Makes (BBC); Strictly Come Dancing; So You Think You Can Dance; The Royal Variety Show; Top of the Pops; CD:UK.
Film includes:Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (Warp, Film 4, New Regency & Amazon); Message in a Bottle (PBS America); StreetDance 3D (BBC Films & Vertigo); The Holloway Laundrette (writer & co-directed, BAFTA/Channel 4).
Other theatre includes:Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (Sheffield Crucible & West End); Ballyturk (National Theatre); Shoes (Sadler’s Wells); I Can’t Sing: the X-Factor Musical (Palladium); A Mad World My Masters (RSC).
Kate is a writer, director and choreographer and the Artistic Director of ZooNation: The Kate Prince Company which she founded in 2002. She is an Associate Artist at both The Old Vic and Sadler’s Wells, where ZooNation is also a Resident Company.
Kate’s work has been nominated for five Olivier Awards, a South Bank Sky Arts Award, a WhatsOnStage Award and three Critic’s Circle National Dance Awards – winning the latter in 2024 for best Mid Scale Dance Company. She has an MA from the University of Edinburgh, an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Winchester and an MBE for services to dance.
A Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production
NOUGHTS & CROSSES
Based on the novel by Malorie Blackman
Adapted by Dominic Cooke
Creatives include RC Annie (Fight Directors); Phillippe Cato (Associate Director); Tinuke Craig (Director); Hazel Holder (Voice Coach); Ingrid Mackinnon (Movement & Intimacy Director); Max Pappenheim (Sound Designer); Joshua Pharo (Lighting Designer); Colin Richmond (Set & Costume Designer); Jacob Sparrow (Casting Director); DJ Walde (Composer).
Saturday 28 June – Saturday 26 July 2025
‘All our lives criss-crossing but never really touching.
A world full of strangers living with all that fear.’
Widely considered to be one of the 21st century’s greatest novels, Malorie Blackman’s best-selling Noughts & Crosses, a bittersweet love story with echoes of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, is revived for the London stage in this brand new production.
By a secluded beach Callum and Sephy meet in secret; life-long friends living on separate sides of a divided world. When Callum, from a Nought family, is accepted to Sephy’s prestigious Cross school, will it bring them closer, or will the hate and fear that surrounds them drive them apart?
Dominic Cooke’s ‘excellent adaptation’ (The Independent) of this epic story set against the political backdrop of a deeply divided society, is directed by Associate Artistic Director Tinuke Craig (A Raisin in the Sun) in her Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre debut.
Malorie Blackman | Novel
Malorie is one of the UK’s most popular authors and has written over 70 books for children and young adults, including the Noughts & Crosses series, Thief! and her science fiction thriller Chasing the Stars. The sixth novel in her Noughts & Crosses sequence, Endgame, was published by Penguin Random House Children’s in 2021. In 2023, Noughts & Crosses was named one of The 100 Greatest Children’s Books of All Time in a BBC Culture Poll.
Malorie wrote for the eleventh series of Doctor Who starring Jodie Whittaker, co-writing the episode Rosa with Chris Chibnall which was honoured at the inaugural Visionary Honours Awards for making ‘a positive social impact’. Her work has also been adapted for TV with the six-part adaptation of Pig-Heart Boy winning a BAFTA and a major production of Noughts + Crosses launched by the BBC in 2020. Noughts & Crosses has been adapted for the stage by Dominic Cooke for the RSC and, most recently, by Sabrina Mahfouz for Pilot Theatre. In 2005, Malorie was honoured with the Eleanor Farjeon Award in recognition of her distinguished contribution to the world of children’s books. In 2008 she received an OBE for her services to children’s literature and, between 2013 and 2015, she was the Children’s Laureate.
Malorie’s autobiography Just Sayin’ – My Life in Words was published by Merky Books in October 2022. Full of life lessons, this is a deeply personal and vividly compelling look at an incredible life which defied expectations and inspired a generation. In November 2023, The British Library opened a free exhibition, Malorie Blackman: The Power of Stories, exploring Malorie’s inspirations and the impact she has had on her readers, and on inclusivity and representation in publishing.
Dominic Cooke | Adaptation
Theatre incudes: Hello, Dolly! (The London Palladium), Medea (@sohoplace); Good,The Corn is Green, The Normal Heart, Follies, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Here We Go, Comedy Of Errors (National Theatre); The Low Road, In The Republic of Happiness, Choir Boy, In Basildon, Chicken Soup With Barley, Clybourne Park, Now Or Later, Aunt Dan And Lemon, The Fever, Wig Out!, Rhinoceros, Plasticine (Royal Court Theatre); A Winter’s Tale, Pericles, The Crucible, As You Like It (RSC).
Stage adaptations include:Noughts And Crosses (RSC); Arabian Nights (Young Vic).
TV & Film includes:The Courier; On Chesil Beach; The Hollow Crown – The Wars Of The Roses.
Dominic is Associate of the National Theatre, Artistic Associate of the RSC and was Associate Director then Artistic Director and CEO of the Royal Court Theatre. In 2014 he was made CBE for services to drama.
Tinuke Craig | Director
Training: LAMDA, National Theatre Studio.
As Director includes: A Raisin in the Sun (Headlong Tour); The School for Scandal (Royal Shakespeare Company); The Big Life (Theatre Royal Stratford East); Blue (ENO, London Coliseum); Trouble in Butetown (Donmar Warehouse); Jitney (Leeds Playhouse 2021 and The Old Vic 2022); Last Easter (Orange Tree Theatre); Crave (Chichester Festival Theatre); Hamlet For Young Audiences (Dorfman and National Theatre Tour 2020 and 2022); Cinderella (Lyric Hammersmith); Vassa (Almeida Theatre); The Color Purple (Leicester Curve/Birmingham Hippodrome and UK Tour); random/generations (Chichester Festival Theatre); I Call My Brothers (Gate Theatre); dirty butterfly (Young Vic).
In 2014, Tinuke won the Genesis Future Director Award. She was the Gate’s Associate Director 2015-2016. From 2021-2023 She was Baylis Director at the Old Vic. Tinuke works extensively with Young People and with emerging artists.
A Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production
Lerner & Loewe’s
BRIGADOON
Book & Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
Music by Frederick Loewe
In a new adaptation by Rona Munro
Original dances created by Agnes De Mille
Creatives include Laura Bangay (Musical Director); Basia Bińkowska (Set Designer); Will Burton (Casting Director); Sami Fendall (Costume Designer); Carol Hancock (Associate Wigs, Hair & Makeup Designer & Supervisor) Cory Hippolyte (Associate Director); Hazel Holder (Voice Coach); Jessica Hung Han Yun (Lighting Designer); Nick Lidster for Autograph (Sound Designer); Ingrid Mackinnon (Intimacy Director); Drew McOnie (Director & Choreographer); Ebony Molina (Associate Choreographer); Morag Stark (Dialect Coach); Sarah Travis (Music Supervisor & Orchestrator).
Saturday 2 August – Saturday 20 September 2025
‘Brigadoon, Brigadoon, There my heart forever lies’
From the writers of My Fair Lady, Camelot and Gigi, let the magical outdoor setting of Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre transport you to the captivating Scottish Highlands for this major new production of Lerner & Loewe’s musical classic, Brigadoon.
Crash landed in the Highlands of Scotland, WW2 fighter pilots Tommy and Jeff are searching for a way home, whilst just beyond the hills, sisters Fiona and Jean are preparing for a wedding. Over the course of one chance day in the dreamlike village of Brigadoon, their stories entwine. But can love endure in this enchanting place where everything is not quite as it seems?
Not seen in London for over 35 years, Brigadoon features soaring songs including ‘Almost Like Being in Love’, ‘Waitin’ for My Dearie’ and ‘TheHeather on the Hill’. In a new adaptation by leading Scottish playwright Rona Munro (The James Plays (Evening Standard Award), Frankenstein), this revival of a theatrical classic is directed and choreographed by Olivier Award winner Drew McOnie (Jesus Christ Superstar) in his first production as Artistic Director of Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.
Presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International.
Cast includes Danielle Fiamanya (Fiona); Louis Gaunt (Tommy).
Alan Jay Lerner |Book and Lyricistand Frederick Loewe | Composer
Lerner and Loewe wrote some of the American theatre’s most memorable musicals, including My Fair Lady, Camelot, Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, and Gigi. Lerner was born in New York City in 1918 and attended Choate and Harvard. Loewe was born in Berlin in 1901 to Viennese parents, made his piano debut with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra at the age of 13 and came to the United States in 1924. The two met in 1942 at the Lambs Club in New York City when Loewe approached Lerner about collaborating on a show. In 1947, they had their first Broadway hit, Brigadoon, followed in 1951 by a second success with Paint Your Wagon. In 1956, My Fair Lady, with Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews, opened on Broadway. Often called the “perfect musical,” the show ran for 2,717 performances and the cast album sold more than five million copies. Their 1958 film musical, Gigi, won nine Academy awards and, in 1960, came the last great success of their partnership, Camelot, starring Richard Burton and Julie Andrews. In 1974, Lerner lured Loewe out of retirement to work on their last venture together: a film version of Antoine de St Exupéry’s The Little Prince. Lerner went on to collaborate with other composers including Burton Lane, Leonard Bernstein, and Andre Previn. He died in 1986 at the age of 67. Loewe died two years later at the age of 86.
Rona Munro | Adaptation
Theatre includes:My Name Is Lucy Barton (Bridge Theatre London and Manhattan Theatre Company on Broadway, New York.); The James Plays trilogy (National Theatre of Scotland, The National Theatre of Great Britain and the Edinburgh International Festival); The Queen of the Fight- James IV (Raw Material and Capital theatres); Mary (Hampstead Theatre); Katherine (Raw Material and Capital theatres); Little Eagles, The Indian Boy (RSC); The Last Witch (Edinburgh International Festival and Traverse Theatre).
TV & Film includes:Oranges and Sunshine (directed by Jim Loach); Ladybird, Ladybird (directed by Ken Loach); Rehab (Antonia Bird); Dr Who (BBC).
Drew McOnie | Director & Choreographer
For Regent’s Park as Director/Choreographer:On The Town (Oliver Award Nominee, Best Musical Revival; What’s On Stage Award Nominee, Best Theatre Choreography).
For Regent’s Park as Choreographer:Jesus Christ Superstar (Evening Standard Award Winner, Best Musical; Olivier Award Winner, Best Musical Revival; Oliver Award Nominee, Best Theatre Choreography), Carousel (What’s On Stage Awards Nominee, Best Theatre Choreography).
For McOnie Company:The Artist (Theatre Royal Plymouth – UK Theatre Award Winner, Best Direction; What’s On Stage Award Nominee, Best Direction, Best Theatre Choreography, Best Regional Production); Nutcracker (Southbank Centre – National Dance Award Winner, Best Independent Company; National Dance Award Nominee, Best Contemporary Choreography); Jekyll and Hyde (Old Vic Theatre – Broadway World Award Winner, Outstanding Achievement in Dance); DRUNK (Bridewell Theatre); Making Midnight (Jermyn Street Theatre and Latitude Festival).
Additional Theatre as Director/Choreographer Includes:King Kong (Broadway Theatre – Broadway); Strictly Ballroom (Piccadilly Theatre – West End – What’s On Stage Award Nominee, Best Theatre Choreography); The Wild Party (The Other Palace); Torch Song Trilogy (Turbine Theatre).
Additional Theatre as Choreographer Includes:In the Heights (Southwark Playhouse and Kings Cross Theatre – Olivier Award Winner, Best Theatre Choreography; Offie Award Winner, Best Theatre Choreography); Hairspray (Broadway World Award Winner, Best Theatre Choreography); Oklahoma (UK National Tour); Bugsy Malone (Lyric Hammersmith and UK National Tour); The Lorax (Old Vic Theatre); Sound of Music (Curve Leicester); Chicago (Curve Leicester).
Choreography for Film Includes:Greatest Days – The Official Take That Movie.
Ballets Include:Merlin (Northern Ballet – National Tour); XYZ (Classical Creative Project); Little Red (NYB- Hackney Empire); Old Man of Lochnagar (NYB- Sadlers Wells).
Drew McOnie became the Artistic Director and Joint Chief Executive of Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in January 2024. He is also the Artistic Director of The McOnie Company.
Danielle Fiamanya |Fiona MacLaren
Training: The Guildford School of Acting.
Theatre includes:Otherland (Almeida Theatre); Macbeth (Wessex Grove); The Secret Life of Bees (Almeida Theatre); Mandela (Young Vic); Frozen, & Juliet (West End); The Color Purple (Curve Theatre, Leicester/ Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre, The Stage Debut Award for Best Actress in a Musical).
TV & Film includes:The Crown (Netflix); Halo (Paramount); Lucid.
Louis Gaunt | Tommy Albright
Training: Laines.
Theatre includes: Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz, Jack and the Beanstalk (London Palladium); Mary Poppins (Prince Edward Theatre); Piaf (Nottingham Playhouse); Gypsy (Royal Exchange Theatre); Grease (National Tour); The Happy Prince (The Place); Standing at the Sky’s Edge (Sheffield Crucible); Sweet Charity (Nottingham Playhouse); Oklahoma! (Grange Park Opera).
TV includes: Bridgerton (Netflix); The Larkins (ITV).
Originally co-produced by Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Roald Dahl Story Company and Leeds Playhouse The family musical based on Roald Dahl’s THE ENORMOUS CROCODILE Book and Lyrics by Suhayla El-Bushra
Music by Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab
Additional music and lyrics from Tom Brady
Creatives include Phij Adams (Music Technology & Ambleton Programmer); Daisy Beattie (Associate Puppet Designer & Puppet Supervisor); Tom Brady (Orchestrations, Arrangements & Music Supervisor); Fly Davis (Set & Costume Designer); Johnny Edwards (Associate Sound Designer); Aundrea Fudge (Voice Director); Tom Gibbons (Sound Designer); Tash Holway (Associate Director); Jessica Hung Han Yun (Lighting Designer); Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu (Choreographer); Bryony Jarvis Taylor CDG (Casting Director); Emily Lim (Director); Toby Olié (Co-Director & Puppetry Designer); Màth Roberts (Music Director).
Friday 15 August – Sunday 7 September 2025
‘For my lunch today I would like… a nice juicy little child!’
The Enormous Crocodile is weaving his way back through the jungle to Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre after a hit summer season in 2024 in search of delicious little fingers and squidgy podgy knees… Only the other jungle creatures can foil his secret plans and clever tricks, but they’re going to have to find a large amount of courage to stop this greedy brute.
This mischievous musical based on Roald Dahl’s snappy book has toe-tapping tunes by Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab, a rib-tickling book and lyrics by Suhayla El-Bushra, and additional music and lyrics by Tom Brady. Developed and directed by Emily Lim, it features a menagerie of puppets by co-director and puppetry designer Toby Olié, with set and costume design by Fly Davis and puppetry co-designed and supervised by Daisy Beattie.
Snap up your tickets today for this wickedly funny musical adventure, perfect for the whole family!
The Enormous Crocodile musical was developed by Emily Lim, Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab, Suhayla El-Bushra, Tom Brady and Roald Dahl Story Company.
Suhayla El-Bushra | Book & Lyrics
Theatre includes:The Suicide (National Theatre); Cuckoo (Unicorn Theatre); Arabian Nights (Lyceum, Edinburgh); The Long Song (Chichester Festival Theatre).
Screen work includes:Ackley Bridge (C4); Becoming Elizabeth (Starz); Bush (Film4).
Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab | Music
Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab is a Sudanese-American composer, producer, singer, songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York. He performs under the moniker Sinkane and has just released his latest album, We Belong, on City Slang Records. Food is his other passion and he loves to freak people out by putting hot sauce on everything… Yes, even ice cream.
Tom Brady | Additional Music & Lyrics
Tom studied at Oxford University and the Royal Academy of Music, where he is recipient of the ARAM award.
Credits as Music Director or Supervisor include:Guys & Dolls (The Bridge); Pinocchio (National Theatre); Show Boat, Caroline or Change (West End); Oklahoma! (Young Vic); Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (Sheffield Crucible); Flowers for Mrs Harris, Fiddler on the Roof, Forty Years On (Chichester Festival Theatre); The Magician’s Elephant (RSC); The Empress (RSC & Kneehigh); Romantics Anonymous (Wise Children & Bristol Old Vic/US Tour); Anything Goes (Sheffield Crucible & UK Tour); Floyd Collins (Wilton’s Music Hall); Evita (Festival Ljubljana, Slovenia); Have A Nice Life (Edinburgh, NYC Fringe and Philadelphia).
Tom has also conducted concerts with the Orchestre Nationale d’Lille.
Credits as arranger or additional arranger include:Guys & Dolls (The Bridge); The Empress (RSC & Kneehigh); The Magicians’ Elephant (RSC); Forty Years On (Chichester Festival Theatre); The History Boys (Sheffield Crucible).
Credits as composer include:The Butterfly Lion (Chichester Festival Theatre); Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty (CFYT).
Tom teaches on the Musical Theatre postgraduate course at the Royal Academy of Music.
Emily Lim | Director
Emily’s work explores theatre making as a form of community building and radical joy.
She is Director of Public Acts at the National Theatre and an Associate Artist at the National Theatre and Company Three. She was the recipient of the inaugural Peter Hall Bursary at the National Theatre from 2016-2018.
Theatre includes: The Odyssey, Pericles, A Declaration From The People (National Theatre); Yoko Ono’s Bells for Peace (Manchester International Festival); We’re Here Because We’re Here (1418 Now, National Theatre & Birmingham Rep); Brainstorm (Company Three, National Theatre & Park Theatre); Everything, The Best Day Ever! A Play About the End of the World (Company Three); Grown Up (Gameshow, Camden People’s Theatre); Wuthering Heights (National Youth Theatre); Things Will Never Be The Same Again (And Other Stories), The Kilburn Passion, The Wardrobe (Tricycle Theatre); Another Fine Mess (Bristol Old Vic); Henry V (Southwark Playhouse).
Toby Olié | Co-Director & Puppet Designer
Toby is a director, designer and puppeteer.
For Regent’s Park:101 Dalmatians (2022); Running Wild (2016, also UK Tour).
As Director, theatre includes: Neil Gaiman’s The Wolves in the Walls (Little Angel); The Four Seasons: A Reimagining (Gyre & Gimble/Shakespeare’s Globe); The Elephantom (National Theatre/Gillian Lynne); The Hartlepool Monkey (Gyre & Gimble/UK Tour) and associate puppetry director of War Horse (National Theatre/Gillian Lynne). As Puppetry Designer/Director, theatre includes:Spirited Away (Imperial Theatre, Tokyo & Coliseum, London); Animal Farm (Birmingham Rep/UK Tour); Pinocchio,Peter Pan, The Light Princess (National Theatre); Don Quixote (RSC/Garrick); Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Royal Opera House); Disney’s new staging of The Little Mermaid (Holland/Moscow/Tokyo); A Robot in the Garden, The Boy and the Beast (Shiki Theatre Company, Japan); The Grinning Man (Bristol Old Vic/Trafalgar Studios); A Christmas Carol, Running Wild, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Firework-Maker’s Daughter, Peter Pan (Chichester Festival); Little Shop of Horrors (Royal Exchange, Manchester); Goodnight Mister Tom (Duke of York’s/UK Tour). As Puppeteer, theatre includes: Hind of Joey in the original production of War Horse (National Theatre) before moving to Joey’s head for the subsequent West End transfer; Venus and Adonis (RSC); National Theatre: 50 Years on Stage (BBC One); The Homeless Polar Bear (Greenpeace short film); Angelo (Little Angel).
BOX OFFICE INFORMATION
Box Office 0333 400 3562* | openairtheatre.com
Inner Circle, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4NU
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David Ian for Crossroads Live and Work Light Productions present
The Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production of
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
Australia Tour until July 2025
Trafalgar Theatre Productions, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and AF Creative Media
in association with the Barbican present
The Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production of
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
Saturday 24 May – Saturday 19 July 2025
Barbican Centre, London
Followed by a UK & Ireland Tour until December 2025
Runaway Entertainment present
101 DALMATIANS
Reimagined from the 2022 Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production
Friday 18 July – Saturday 30 August 2025
Eventim Apollo, London
ABOUT REGENT’S PARK OPEN AIR THEATRE
Established in 1932, the multi-award-winning Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is one of the largest theatres in London (at a capacity of 1,304). Passionate about producing popular, enriching and unexpected theatre that provides a lens into the here and now, the scale and ambition of our productions together with our magical outdoor setting, makes us unique in the capital’s cultural landscape. In 2024 we welcomed over 180,000 people to our 27-week summer season.
Drew McOnie assumed the role of Artistic Director in January 2024, and James Pidgeon was appointed Executive Director in 2021.
Over the last fifteen years, our productions have won seven Olivier Awards, ten WhatsOnStage Awards, and four Evening Standard Awards. We were named London Theatre of the Year in 2017 by The Stage, and received the Highly Commended Award for London Theatre of the Year in 2021. Our productions have toured the UK, and have transferred to both the West End and the United States. Our 2016 revival of Jesus Christ Superstar has just finished tours of both the UK and North America and is currently touring Australia. Our 2024 revival of Fiddler on the Roof will transfer to the Barbican Centre this summer, followed by a UK & Ireland tour.
As a registered charity that receives no regular public subsidy, we rely entirely on earned income and charitable contributions. Nevertheless, we have maintained 36,000 tickets at £15 across the whole of 2025’s summer season, our BREEZE scheme enables those aged 18-25 to buy tickets for £10, and we regularly work with local charities. Each year, on average, we subsidise tickets for 6,000 school pupils.
Food and drink plays a significant role in the Open Air Theatre experience, with our in-house bars and restaurants including Covered Dining (certified as a Sustainably Run Restaurant), The Grill and The Pizza Oven. We also have our own picnic lawn and the West End’s longest bar!
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre has become one of the most independently sustainable and financially successful producing theatres in the country, and we’re proud to embark on the next stage of our vision with ever-increasing artistic ambition and entrepreneurial spirit.
Waterside Theatre, Aykesbury – until Saturday 22nd February 2025
Reviewed by Rachel Clark
5*****
Phenomenal – you could hear a pin drop!
This musical has now been showing more than 40 years and it is totally amazing. This is the 3rd time I have seen these and the performance was in my view the best so far. The story is about twin brothers soon separated after birth that creates them to lead two totally different lives. Their lives are at opposite ends of the social scale, one living with wealthy parents and the other in poverty. Occasionally their lives cross and they become friends and make a blood brother pact when they find they are born on the same day. In their teens the story tells their life growing up and then they both fall in love with the same girl and tragedy strikes.
This show is totalling Captivating, it starts with the final scene at the beginning and goes on to tell the story, which is narrated by Sean Keany who has a very clear voice with Irish accent and his story telling grips you straight away. The whole theatre is silent and through the first half you could hear a pin drop. Vivienne Carlyle plays Mrs Johnstone the twin’s mother and her voice is powerful and emotional – I can understand how she is a voice over artist and has plenty of Theatre credits to her name and TV. Mrs Lyons was played by Sarah Jane Buckley again a good voice but not as strong as Vivienne’s.
The set is mainly in the street of the Johnstone’s home, with the Lyons on the other side, a great set that gives you the feel of the dividing class of the families.
The boys grown up and Mickey (played by Sean Jones who is brilliant and a very good at playing Mickey as a child and teenager) is a character and in the second half the antics cause laughter in the theatre. The second half in the beginning is a lot more relaxed with the laughter often caused by not only Mickey but his upper-class brother Eddie, trying to swear which creates humour to the show. Linda who is the girl that comes between the boys is played by Gemma Brodick and transitions well from a girl to a woman and had no intention to come between the brothers. This show got a total standing ovation, and I wasn’t not surprised – totally superb.
This is a show not to be missed with lots of talented actors and not forgetting the creative team, that did a great role on the costumes and sets, and the band that played faultlessly. Resident director was Tim Churchill who is also Mr Lyons (Eddie’s father).
