JOHN PARTRIDGE AND CHARLIE STEMP
LEAD AN ALL-STAR CAST IN
TOM STOPPARD’S
HIGH-CLASS HIGH-SEAS COMEDY
ROUGH CROSSING
WITH MUSIC BY ANDRÉ PREVIN AND LYRICS BY TOM STOPPARD
DIRECTED BY RACHEL KAVANAUGH
Bill Kenwright presents the long-awaited return of Rough Crossing written by Academy, Tony and Olivier award-winning writer Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Real Thing, Arcadia) and directed by acclaimed director Rachel Kavanaugh (The Wind in the Willows, Half a Sixpence).
The star cast is led by John Partridge, winner of this year’s Celebrity Masterchef. John is best known to TV audiences as the suave and charismatic Christian Clarke in EastEnders. He is one of musical theatre’s most prolific leading men, having played in major West End musical hits such as Chorus Line, Chicago, and in Bill Kenwright’s recent La Cage Aux Folles.
Joining John fresh from Snow White at the London Palladium is one of musical theatre’s brightest upcoming stars, Olivier-award nominee Charlie Stemp, who has triumphed on Broadway starring opposite Bette Midler in Hello, Dolly! and in London in Half a Sixpence. He will play Bert in the 2019 revival of Mary Poppins. They will be joined by West-End star Issy van Randwyck (Fascinating Aïda), comedy TV favourite Matthew Cottle (Game On, The Windsors), Holby City’sRob Ostlere and Simon Dutton who portrayed Simon Templar in The Saint.
Rough Crossing opens at the Theatre Royal Windsor on 29 January 2019 followed by a nationwide tour visiting: Chichester, Manchester, Bath, Malvern, Guildford, Plymouth, Norwich, Leeds and Cambridge.
Two famous but desperate playwrights are stuck in an ocean liner headed for New York, feverishly trying to rehearse their latest show before reaching land, and opening night. But they are constantly distracted by their delicate composer’s attempts to end it all, having overheard his lover confess her feelings to the leading man.
Add an absurdly unorthodox waiter, a mistimed lifeboat drill and a vanishing glass of brandy and soon the sharp Atlantic winds turn to world-class gales of laughter as these colourful characters become tangled up in a typically Stoppardian string of absurd events.
The creative team is completed by: Colin Richmond (Set and Costume), Ben Cracknell (Lighting) and Dan Samson (Sound).
Freely adapted from Fernec Monlár’s Játék A Kastélyban.
LISTINGS
ROUGH CROSSING – BY TOM STOPPARD
28 JANUARY – 13 APRIL 2019
UK TOUR
Website: www.kenwright.com
| Windsor Theatre Royal 30 January – 9 February | Theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk01753 853 888 |
| Chichester Festival Theatre 12 – 16 February | Cft.org.uk01243 781312 |
| Lowry Theatre, Salford19 – 23 February | Thelowry.com0843 208 6000 |
| Bath Theatre Royal 26 – 2 March | Theatreroyal.org.uk01225 448844 |
| Malvern Theatre 5 – 9 March | Malvern-theatre.co.uk01684 892277 |
| Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford12 – 16 March | Yvonne-arnaud.co.uk01483 44 00 00 |
| Theatre Royal Plymouth 18 – 23 March | theatreroyal.com 01752 267222 |
| Norwich Theatre Royal 26 – 30 March | Theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk01603 63 00 00 |
| Leeds Grand Theatre 2 – 6 April | Leedsgrandtheatre.co.uk 0844 848 2700 |
| Cambridge Arts Theatre 8 – 13 April | Cambridgeartstheatre.com 01223 503333 |