TOHEEB JIMOH AND RICHARD COYLE

JOIN IAN MCKELLEN IN

ROBERT ICKE’S PRODUCTION OF

PLAYER KINGS

ADAPTED FROM SHAKESPEARE’S HENRY IV, PARTS 1 & 2

Ambassador Theatre Group Productions today announce the full cast for Player Kings, adapted by Robert Icke from William Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2.

Joining the previously announced Ian McKellen as Sir John Falstaff are Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso & Romeo and Juliet) as Hal and Richard Coyle (Ink & Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore) as King Henry IV. Raphael Akuwudike (Prince John/Second Drawer), Sara Beharrell (Hotspur’s Servant/Snare/Davy), Samuel Edward-Cook (Hotspur/Pistol), Geoffrey Freshwater (Bardolph), James Garnon (Worcester/Silence), Alice Hayes (Messenger/Carrier), Henry Jenkinson (Harcourt), Nigel Lister (Northumberland/Francis) Annette McLaughlin (Warwick), Mark Monero (Peto), Hywel Morgan (Sir Walter Blunt), Joseph Mydell (Lord Chief Justice), Clare Perkins (Mistress Quickly), Daniel Rabin (Poins), David Semark (Vernon), David Shelley (Sheriff/Surrey), Robin Soans (Shallow), Tafline Steen (Tearsheet/Lady Percy) and Perry Williams (Page/Douglas/Thomas) complete the cast.

The production, directed by Icke, runs at the Noël Coward Theatre, 1 April – 22 June 2024, with previews at New Wimbledon Theatre, 1 March – 9 March 2024, and Manchester Opera House, 14 – 23 March 2024.

Ambassador Theatre Group Productions, Gavin Kalin Productions, No Guarantees and David & Hannah Mirvish present

PLAYER KINGS

Based on William Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2

Adapted and Directed by Robert Icke

Set and Costume Designer: Hildegard Bechtler; Lighting Designer: Lee Curran; Sound Designer: Gareth Fry; Casting Director: Julia Horan CDG; Fight Director: Kev McCurdy; Associate Costume Designer; Johanna Coe; Hair and Make-up Designer: Susanna Peretz; Associate Directors: Jack Bradfield and Lizzie Manwaring

Ian McKellen – ‘one of the world’s greatest actors’ (Times) – plays Falstaff in a new version of Shakespeare’s Henry IV, adapted by the award-winning writer and director Robert Icke. 

A divided country, leadership crumbling, corruption in the air. Welcome to England. 

Hal wasn’t born to be king. Only now, it seems, he will be. His father longs for him to leave behind his friends in the taverns of Eastcheap, most notably the infamous John Falstaff. War is on the horizon. But will Hal ever come good?

Bringing together Shakespeare’s two great history plays (Henry IV, parts 1 and 2), Player Kings will reign over London’s West End for twelve weeks only, playing at the Noël Coward Theatre from April 2024, with previews in Wimbledon and Manchester from 1 March.

Raphael Akuwudike plays Prince John/Second Drawer

THEATRE CREDITS INCLUDE: Beautiful Thing (Theatre Royal Stratford East); Romeo & Juliet  (Almeida); Sons of the Prophet (Hampstead); First Touch (Nottingham Playhouse); The Seagull, Rage, Enron, The Last Ones, Twelfth Night and Yerma (Drama Centre London); The Jumper Factory (Young Vic).

TELEVISION CREDITS INCLUDE: Doctors.

TRAINING: Drama Centre London

Sara Beharrell playsHotspur’s Servant/Snare/Davy

THEATRE CREDITS INCLUDE: Ladies Unleashed (Hull Truck); Honeymoon Suite (Royal Court); The Crucible (Birmingham Rep/UK Tour); Hay Fever (Theatre Clwyd); Goodnight Mr Tom, Little Women, Frost Hollow Hall (all for East Riding).

TELEVISION CREDITS INCLUDE: Better; He Knew He Was Right (BBC); London’s Burning (ITV).

TRAINING: Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Richard Coyle plays King Henry IV.

THEATRE CREDITS INCLUDE: To Kill A Mockingbird (Gielgud); Ink (Almeida/Duke of York’s); Macbeth (Park Avenue Armory NYC); The Lover & The Collection (Harold Pinter); Don Carlos (Sheffield Theatres/Gielgud); After Miss Julie, Proof, Polar Bears (Donmar Warehouse); Look Back in Anger (Theatre Royal Bath); The York Realist (Royal Court/Novello).

FILM CREDITS INCLUDE: Heads of State; Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore; The Food Guide to Love; Pusher; Grabbers; W.E; 5 Days of War; Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time; Franklyn; A Good Year; The Libertine; Happy Now; Topsy Turvy; Human Traffic. 

TELEVISION CREDITS INCLUDE: The Gathering; Then You Run; Six Four; Chilling Adventures of Sabrina; Hard Sun; Born To Kill; The Fall; The Collection; A.D. The Bible Continues; Crossbones; Life of Crime; Covert Affairs; Going Postal; Whistleblowers; The History of Mr. Polly; Cracker; The Best Man; Gunpowder Treason and Plot; Strange; Coupling; Othello; Sword of Honour; Lorna Doone; Up Rising; Wives and Daughters; Macbeth.

Samuel Edward-Cook plays Hotspur/Pistol

THEATRE CREDITS INCLUDE: Queen Margaret, Persuasion (Manchester Royal Exchange); Antigone (Barbican/International Tour); Pitcairn (Chichester Festival/ Shakespeare’s Globe); Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare’s Globe); Our Big Land (Ovalhouse/UK Tour); King Lear (Theatre Royal Bath); Glory Dazed (Soho/Edinburgh Fringe/Adelaide Fringe); Boys (High Tide/Headlong/Soho).

FILM CREDITS INCLUDE: William Tell (Dir Nick Hamm); Between the Lights (Dir Michael Groom); Switch (Dir Aneil Karia).

TELEVISION CREDITS INCLUDE: The Listeners, The Gallows Pole, Silent Witness, Casualty, Better, Land Girls (all for BBC); Pure, Full Moon (Channel 4); Emmerdale, Innocent, Beowulf (ITV); Brief Encounters (ITV/CPL); Peaky Blinders (BBC/Tiger Aspects).

TRAINING: RADA

Geoffrey Freshwater plays Bardolph

THEATRE CREDITS INCLUDE: Albion, Filumena (Almeida); Paradise (Hampstead); The Importance of Being Earnest (Classic Spring/Vaudeville); Ink (Almeida/Duke of York’s); Love’s Sacrifice, Volpone, Jew of Malta, The Witch of Edmonton, Arden of Faversham, The Roaring Girl, As You Like It, American Trade, Antony and Cleopatra, King Lear, The Grain Store, As You Like It, Henry IV Part II, Henry IV Part I, Henry V, Henry VI Part II, Henry VI Part I, Richard III, A New Way to Please You, Sejanus: His Fall, Speaking Like Magpies, Thomas More, Eastward Ho!, The Malcontent, Jubilee, King John, The Slight Witch, The Winter’s Tale, The Real Inspector Hound, Cyrano de Bergerac, and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (all for the RSC); Noises Off (Old Vic UK Tour); Old Money (Hampstead); The Tempest (Theatre Royal Bath); Crackers (Belgrave Coventry); Alchemy in the UK (Nuffield Southampton); The Taming of the Shrew (Plymouth Theatre Royal/Thelma Holt); The Alchemist (National Theatre); Toad of Toad Hall (Birmingham Repertory).

TELEVISION CREDITS INCLUDE: EastEnders; Will; Doctors; Law & Order; The Bill; The Government Inspector; David Kelly; Foyle’s War II and III; Midsomer Murders; The Commander; Trial and Retribution VII; Poirot.

FILM CREDITS INCLUDE: The Program; Invisible Woman; Sabotage; The Leading Man; A Bridge Too Far.

RADIO CREDITS INCLUDE: Ambridge Extra; The Archers; Top Story; Friends of Oscar and Patricia’s Progress.

James Garnon plays Worcester/Silence

WEST END CREDITS INCLUDE: Queen Anne (RSC); Twelfth Night and Richard III (Shakespeare’s Globe).

OTHER THEATRE CREDITS INCLUDE: The 47th, The American Clock, Much Ado About Nothing (Old Vic); As You Like It, Hamlet, The Winter’s Tale, Pericles, ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore, Dr Scroggy’s War, The Duchess of Malfi, The Tempest, Gabriel, All’s Well That Ends Well, Anne Boleyn, Macbeth, A New World: The Life of Tom Paine, The Storm, Romeo and Juliet, Dido Queen of Carthage (Shakespeare’s Globe); The Tragedy of Thomas Hobbes, Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale, Pericles (RSC); Richard III (Almeida); The White Feather, Dmitry (Marylebone); King Lear (West Yorkshire Playhouse); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Royal Festival Hall/USA); Hamlet, The Barber of Seville (Bristol Old Vic).

FILM AND TELEVISION CREDITS INCLUDE: Lethal White; Les Misérables; The Crown; Genius: Picasso; The Real American; Anonymous; Foyle’s War.

TRAINING: RADA; Edinburgh University

James is an Associate Artist at Shakespeare’s Globe and a member of their Higher Education faculty. He also teaches opera singers as a Masterclass Leader for Samling Institute for Young Artists and the Verbier Festival Academy.

Alice Hayes plays Messenger/Carrier

THEATRE CREDITS INCLUDE: The Pop Star (The Lowry).
CREDITS WHILST TRAINING: Twelfth Night (also Musical Director); Godspell; Once In A Lifetime; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

WORKSHOPS INCLUDE: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
TRAINING: Guildford School of Acting

Alice is absolutely thrilled to be making her West End debut in Player Kings.

Henry Jenkinson playsHarcourt

THEATRE CREDITS INCLUDE: Into the Woods (Theatre Royal Bath); Last Days (Royal Opera House); Measure for Measure, Native Son (Duke on 42nd Street); Bad News (Skirball).

TRAINING: Juilliard

Toheeb Jimoh plays Hal

THEATRE CREDITS INCLUDE: Romeo and Juliet, Nine Lessons and Carols (Almeida); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Sheffield Crucible). 

TELEVISION CREDITS INCLUDE: Ted Lasso; The Power; Anthony; The Feed; London Kills. 

FILM CREDITS INCLUDE: The French Dispatch.

TRAINING: Guildhall School of Music & Drama 

Nigel Lister plays Northumberland/Francis

THEATRE CREDITS INCLUDE: To Kill A Mockingbird (Gielgud); Our Man in Havana (The Watermill); The Wizard of Oz (Pitlochry Festival); Partners in Crime (Queen’s, Hornchurch); Footloose the Musical (UK Tour); Dick Whittington (Theatre Royal, Bury St. Edmunds); The Secret Adversary (The Watermill); Much Ado About Nothing (Hague International Shakespeare Festival); The Comedy of Errors (Stafford Shakespeare Festival); Sex and Docks and Rock ‘n’ Roll (Red Ladder); The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Importance of Being Earnest (all Oxford Shakespeare Company).

TELEVISION CREDITS INCLUDE: Coronation Street; It’s A Sin; The Crown; EastEnders; WPC 56; Doctors; The Bill; Steel River Blues; Murder Investigation Team; Dream Team; Footballers Wives.

FILM CREDITS INCLUDE: The King’s Man.

TRAINING: Bristol Old Vic Theatre School

Ian McKellen plays SirJohn Falstaff

He first acted at Bolton School (as Prince Hal) and with amateur groups in the north of England, where he was born and brought up. He studied English at Cambridge University, playing Justice Shallow in John Barton’s undergraduate production of Henry 4^th part 2 (1961).

For over 60 years, he has worked non-stop in the British theatre. He has been leading man and produced plays, modern and classic, for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre of Great Britain and in the West End of London, winning six Olivier Awards, amongst 60 other international accolades.

He was in the first production of Martin Sherman’s sensational Bent (1979) and in world premières by Alexei Arbuzov, John Arden, Alan Ayckbourn, Michael Frayn,  Sean Mathias, Iris Murdoch, Mark Ravenhill, James Saunders, Peter Shaffer, Tom Stoppard, Peter Ustinov, Arnold Wesker and recently Ben Wetherill (Frank and Percy). Of late, he has also starred in Waiting for Godot and No Man’s Land (with Patrick Stewart) and as Mother Goose in Jonathan Harvey’s pantomime in London and throughout the UK. As Salieri in Amadeus (1981), he won every available award on Broadway.

In Shakespeare he has triumphed  as Richard II, Romeo (with Francesca Annis), Macbeth (with Judi Dench), Toby Belch, Coriolanus, Iago, Prospero, Richard III (also on film) and most recently as King Lear (twice) and as an 80-year old Hamlet in Sean Mathias’ 2024 film. For over a decade, he toured his one-man show, Acting Shakespeare, at home and abroad, still available on video.

McKellen is recognised worldwide as Magneto in the X-Men movies and as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. He received his first Academy Award® nomination, for Best Actor, in 1998, as the gay film director James Whale, in Bill Condon’s classic Gods and Monsters. He has also starred in The Keep, Priest of Love, Apt Pupil, And the Band Played On, Jack and Sarah, Six Degrees of Separation, The Da Vinci Code, Mr Holmes, Beauty and the Beast, All is True, The Good Liar and this year, in Patrick Marber’s The Critic.

McKellen’s varied television work stretches from Scarlet Pimpernel to The Simpsons; from Rasputin (Golden Globe Award)  to Coronation Street; from Edward 11 to Saturday  Night Live; from Extras with Ricky Gervais to Vicious with Derek Jacobi and The Dresser with Anthony Hopkins. On the first-ever Film On Four, he was Stephen Frears’ Walter (Royal Television Society Award).

In 2019 McKellen became the first actor to top The Stage 100 list of most influential people in British theatre, following his triumphant solo UK Tour and West End run of Ian McKellen on Stage which raised over £5 million to support over 80 regional theatres.

Sir Ian was knighted in 1991. He was a co-founder of Stonewall UK, which lobbies for legal and social equality for gay people. In 2008,  he was appointed Companion of Honour, “for services to drama and to equality’.

Annette McLaughlin plays Warwick

THEATRE CREDITS INCLUDE: The Box of Delights, Volpone, Love’s Sacrifice, The Jew of Malta, Measure for Measure, Written on the Heart, Heresy of Love, Matilda (all for RSC); 42nd Street (Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris); Scandaltown (Lyric Hammersmith); Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Palace); Pinocchio, Love’s Labour’s Lost (National); Twelfth Night (Shakespeare’s Globe); Billy Elliot (UK Tour); Our Town, The Odyssey, Lysistrata (Almeida); Apocalypse Meow: Crisis is Born (Southbank Centre); Dick Whittington (Hackney Empire); Brief Encounter (UK, US and Australian Tour/St Ann’s Warehouse Brooklyn/Studio 54 on Broadway); She Loves Me, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, 5/11 (Chichester Festival); Chicago The Musical (Adelphi/Cambridge); Anything Goes (National/Drury Lane); Noises Off (Birmingham Rep); Lenny (Queens); Damn Yankees (Adelphi); Beauty and the Beast (Dominion); Crazy for You (Prince Edward); Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry IV Part 1, High Society (Regent’s Park Open Air); Singin’ in the Rain (National/West Yorkshire Playhouse); The Women (Old Vic); The Vagina Monologues (UK Tour); Tomorrow Morning (New End, Hampstead ); Imagine This (Theatre Royal Plymouth); Into the Woods (Derby Playhouse); Handmaidens of Death, What the Women Did (Southwark Playhouse); Dreams From a Summerhouse (Newbury Watermill Theatre); Horse and Carriage, and Stepping Out (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Godspell (Haymarket Theatre Basingstoke); BBC Proms – Sondheim at 80, Trevor Nunn – A Celebration (Royal Albert Hall), and the Opening of the Welsh Millenium Centre in Cardiff.
TELEVISION CREDITS INCLUDE: Silent Witness; Holby City; Grantchester; Heartbeat; The Frank Skinner Show; Law & Order UK.

TRAINING: London Studio Centre and Meisner Technique with Scott Williams at Impulse Theatre Company

Mark Monero plays Peto

THEATRE CREDITS INCLUDE: Is God Is (Royal Court); The Healing (Omnibus); Antigone (Pilot/Theatre Royal, Stratford East); Idomeneus (Gate); One Man, Two Guvnors (National); The Wheel (NTS); Angelhouse (Eclipse/UK Tour); Measure for Measure (Almeida); Pure Gold, Animal (UK Tour), The Christ of Cold Harbour Lane (Soho); Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads (Pilot/UK Tour); The Country Wife (Watford Palace); A Taste of Honey (Liverpool Playhouse); Abyssinia (Southwark Playhouse); Adrenalin Heart (Bush); Local Boy (Hampstead); Talking About Men (Green Room, Manchester/Ovalhouse); Pepper Soup (Lyric, Hammersmith); Cinderella (Oxford Playhouse).

FILM CREDITS INCLUDE: Good Boy (short); Members Club; Pretty Red Dress; In the Earth; Villain; Happy New Year; Colin Burstead; Free Fire; Wild Bill; Somers Town; Sid & Nancy.

TELEVISION CREDITS INCLUDE: Generation Z; The Tower; Better; King Gary; Coronation Street; Suspects; Coming Up; Dark Matters; Casualty; Doctor Who; The Bill; Skins; Trial & Retribution; Doctors; Murphy’s Law; Waking the Dead; Gimme, Gimme, Gimme; The Bill; EastEnders; The Firm; Young; Gifted & Broke; King & Castle.

Hywel Morgan plays Sir Walter Blunt

THEATRE CREDITS INCLUDE: Home, I’m Darling (National); Imperium, Queen Anne, The Alchemist, Love For Love (RSC); This May Hurt a Bit (Out of Joint); A Walk on Part: The Fall of New Labour (Live Theatre); War & Peace, Mill on the Floss (Shared Experience); The Importance Of Being Earnest, To Reach the Clouds, Feelgood, Because It’s There, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Nottingham Playhouse).

TELEVISION CREDITS INCLUDE: 3 Body Problem; Somewhere Boy; Wolf; Gentleman Jack; Meet The Richardsons; Slow Horses; Pennyworth; Hinterland; Skins; The End of The F*cking World.

FILM CREDITS INCLUDE: Borderland; Page Eight; W.E.; Making a Killing.

Joseph Mydell plays Lord Chief Justice

THEATRE CREDITS INCLUDE: The Visit, Evening At The Talkhouse, The Comedy Of Errors, Edmond, Alice’s Adventures Underground, Lyrics Of The Hearthside, Angels In America – Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor (all for the National); Death of a Salesman (Piccadilly/Young Vic); The Tragedy of King Richard the Second, Richard III (Almeida), Hamlet, Pericles, The Winter’s Tale, Twelfth Night/Prisoner’s Dilemma, Everyman, The Mysteries, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, The Two Noble Kinsman, Flight, Worlds Apart, Macbeth (all for RSC); Mother Christmas, Anna In The Tropics, Tobacco Land (Hampstead); The Tempest (RSC/Barbican); The Crucible (West Yorkshire Playhouse); A Season In The Congo and Elektra (Young Vic); Julius Caesar (RSC-Stratford/Noël Coward, BAM-New York/Moscow); Hamlet, As You Like It, The Seagull, The Government Inspector (Sheffield Crucible); Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (Novello); The Tempest (Regents Park); The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui (Lyric Hammersmith); King Lear (Shakespeare’s Globe); Breakfast With Mugabe (RSC/Duchess); The Last Confession (Chichester Festival/Haymarket); The Treatment and Four (Royal Court).
TELEVISION CREDITS INCLUDE: Varsity; The Castaways; Dinner With Parents; The Reckoning; Brassic; Jack Ryan; Alex Rider; Mrs Wilson; Midsomer Murders; Homeland; The Missing; Julius Caesar; Death In Paradise; Born With Two Mothers; Trial And Retribution; The Care Of Time; Miss Marple; Bergerac; Scarlett; Space Precinct; Chancer; The Gravy Train; A Quiet Conspiracy; Boon.
FILM CREDITS INCLUDE: Conclave; The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry; The Son; The Eternal Daughter; Seven And Me; Woman In Gold; Tonight You’re Mine; You Instead; Mammoth; Maderlay; The March On Europe; Columbite Tantalite; Perfect.
TRAINING: New York University, School of the Arts (MFA)

Clare Perkins plays Mistress Quickly

THEATRE CREDITS INCLUDE: The Wife Of Wilsden (Kiln/BAM); Sweat (Donmar Warehouse); Emilia (Shakespeare’s Globe/Vaudeville); Mrs Dalloway (Arcola); The Immigrant (Hoxton Hall), Genesis Inc (Hampstead); Daisy Pulls It Off (Park); Three Mothers (Waterloo East); Mules, Primetime (Royal Court); Little Revolution; The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time (National/UK Tour); The House That Will Not Stand (Tricycle); Welcome To Thebes (National).

FILM CREDITS INCLUDE: Embers; Love Without Walls; Medusa Deluxe; Censor; Kaleidoscope; Deadmeat; Bullet Boy; The Football Factory; Secrets and Lies; Ladybird, Ladybird.

TELEVISION CREDITS INCLUDE: Bodies; Silo; The Outlaws (1,2 & 3); The Wheel Of Time; The Crown; Young Wallwender; Flack; Professor T; Damned; Run; EastEnders.

RADIO CREDITS INCLUDE: Currently plays Denise in The Archers; Small Island; The Unwelcome; Tommies; Carnival; Westway; The Zone.
TRAINING: Rose Bruford College

Daniel Rabin plays Poins

THEATRE CREDITS INCLUDE: The Doctor (Almeida/Duke of York’s/New York/UK Tour); King Lear (Duke of York’s); Mary Stuart (Almeida/Duke of York’s); Hamlet (Almeida); 1984 (Playhouse); Pericles, The Winter’s Tale, King John, Tis Pity She’s a Whore, Anthony and Cleopatra, Holy Warriors (all Shakespeare’s Globe); Oedipus (Nottingham Playhouse/Spoleto Festival); Ignorance (Hampstead); Blue Remembered Hills (Chichester); The Bomb (Tricycle); The Great Game (Tricycle/US Tour/Pentagon performances), Sixty Six Books (Bush); The Fever Chart (Trafalgar Studios/Theatre Royal York); Enemy of the People (Arcola); All Quiet on the Western Front, Chicken Soup with Barley (Nottingham Playhouse); Shoreditch Madonna, Diamond, Jerusalem Syndrome (Soho); The Last Sortie (New End/Hampstead), Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo (Lyric Hammersmith).

FILM CREDITS INCLUDE: Lilac’s Laughter; Mind The Gap; Two’s Company; The Penalty King; Bury It; Susie Gold.

TELEVISION CREDITS INCLUDE: The Royals; Game of Thrones; Doctors; Ambassadors; Our Men; Holby City; Murder On the Homefront; Spooks; Henry – Mind of a Tyrant; The Bill; Casualty; The Roman Mysteries; EastEnders; Money Can’t Buy You Love.

David Semark plays Vernon

THEATRE CREDITS INCLUDE: The Mousetrap (St. Martin’s); An Ideal Husband (Theatre Clwyd); The Real Inspector Hound, Black Comedy (The Northcott, Exeter); Richard III (RSC Tour/Savoy); Bouncers (Hull Truck at the Whitehall); Woyzeck (Gate); Unearthed, The Gift, Larksong, Beowulf (New Victoria); Crossing the Line (Tour for Operating Theatre).

FILM & TELEVISION CREDITS INCLUDE: Hustle; Law and Order UK; Doctors; The War On Drugs; Guiltology; The Bill; Talk (for Winkle Films); Soldier Soldier; Armadillo; EastEnders; Emmerdale; Whatever You Want; London’s Burning; Down To Earth; Casualty; Holby City; The Booze Cruise II: The Treasure Hunt.

TRAINING: RADA

David Shelley plays Sheriff/Shelley

Theatre includes: Witness For The Prosecution (County Hall); Love On The Links (Salisbury Playhouse); Mother Courage (Southwark Playhouse); King John (Rose, Kingston); Noises Off (Mercury, Colchester); Variation On A Theme, Windows (Finborough); Betrayal (Gala, Durham); Happiness (King’s Head); Cider With Rosie (New Vic Staffs/Stephen Joseph, Scarborough); Hobson’s Choice (York Theatre Royal); Three Steps To Heaven (Palace, Watford); As You Like It, Anthony and Cleopatra (English Shakespeare Company); Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar (RSC). 
TV CREDITS INCLUDE:  Before We Die; Code 404; Dark Heart; Arthur and George; The White Queen; The Politicians Husband; EastEnders; Hollyoaks; Doctors; Holby City; Casualty; Ultraviolet; Red Cap; Rough Treatment; Bramwell.
FILM CREDITS INCLUDE: Fast Girls. 

TRAINING: LAMDA

Robin Soans plays Shallow

THEATRE CREDITS INCLUDE: As You Like It (2023), As You Like It (2012), Hamlet (RSC); We Started To Sing, Palace of The End, Pieces of Vincent (Arcola); Uncle Vanya, The Stock Da’wa, The Positive Hour, Volpone (Hampstead); Echo’s End (Salisbury Playhouse); Visitors (Bush/National Tour); Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, The Belle’s Stratagem, The Rivals (Southwark Playhouse); 66 Books – Capernaum, Contingency Plan (Bush); Coriolanus, Under The Black Flag (The Globe); On Ego, Jump Mr Malinoff Jump (Soho); The Holy Terror (Duke of York’s); Anything Goes, Love’s Labour’s Lost, A Prayer for Owen Meany, The Invention of Love, The London Cuckolds (National); Push Up (Royal Court); Another Country (Arts); Ghosts (The Comedy); Hamlet (Theatre Royal Plymouth/Young Vic/Tokyo); Moonshine (Theatre Royal Plymouth/Hampstead); Dead Funny (Watford Palace).

FILM CREDITS INCLUDE: Napoleon; The Princess Switch, The Princess Switch: Switched Again; The Princess Switch 3; Red Joan; Victoria and Abdul; Viceroy’s House; Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman; The Queen; AKA; Sabotage!; Blue Juice; Clockwork Mice; Hidden City; Comrades; Absolution.

TELEVISION CREDITS INCLUDE: Dalgliesh; Victoria (Series 1&2); Doctor Who; Doctors; Endeavour; Silk; Casualty; Midsomer Murders; Miss Marple; Not Only But Always; Dalziell and Pascoe; The Russian Bride; Dangerfield; Kavanagh QC.

Tafline Steen plays Tearsheet/Lady Percy

THEATRE CREDITS INCLUDE: Egyptians (Gulbenkian, Canterbury); Appropriate (Donmar); Pride and Prejudice (Regent’s Park Open Air/UK Tour); King Charles III (Almeida/Wyndham’s/Music Box-Broadway); Play On (Almeida); The Possibilities (Tron); King Lear (Citizens); Men (The Arches); Tartuffe, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Lie Of The Mind, Three Sisters (Whilst Training at RCS).

TV CREDITS INCLUDE: Sandman; Miss Scarlett & The Duke; Father Brown; Casualty; The Athena; Obsession: Dark Desires.

TRAINING: Royal Conservatoire Of Scotland

Perry Williams plays Page/Douglas/Thomas

THEATRE CREDITS INCLUDE: Maud (The Vaults).

FILM CREDITS INCLUDE: Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Sony Pictures).

TRAINING: RADA

Robert Icke is an award-winning writer and director, working in theatre and on screen.

His recent productions include Judas, Children of Nora, and Oedipus at International Theater Amsterdam, where until 2023 he was Ibsen Artist in Residence. His adaptation of Animal Farm played an extensive national tour in 2022 and is slated for a London transfer. His monologue condensation of Enemy of the People starred Ann Dowd at Park Avenue Armory and was one of the first new pieces of theatre to play in New York post the shutdown.

In six years at the Almeida, five of his productions transferred to the West End, and four to New York. These included his adaptations of The Wild Duck, Mary Stuart (also West End and National tour), Uncle Vanya, Oresteia (also West End; Schauspiel Stuttgart; Park Avenue Armory), and 1984 (co-created with Duncan Macmillan, also Broadway; West End; national and international tours). As a director, his productions included Hamlet (also West End; Park Avenue Armory; and broadcast on BBC2); The Fever and Mr Burns. His final production at the Almeida was The Doctor, which played last summer at Park Avenue Armory, in the West End in 2022, and remains in repertoire at both the Burgtheater in Vienna and Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, as well as in numerous new productions across the globe.

His awards include two Evening Standard ‘Best Director’ Awards; the Critics’ Circle Award, the Kurt Hübner Award (for his debut production in Germany); and the Olivier Award for ‘Best Director’, of which he was the youngest ever winner. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

www.playerkingstheplay.co.uk

Facebook | Instagram | X: @playerkingsplay

LISTINGS

PLAYER KINGS

Box Office: www.playerkingstheplay.co.uk

New Wimbledon Theatre

1 March – 9 March 2024

Manchester Opera House

14 – 23 March 2024

Noël Coward Theatre

1 April – 22 June 2024

CAST ANNOUNCED FOR

MTFESTUK 2024

AT THE OTHER PALACE & THE TURBINE THEATRE

FROM 30 JANUARY – 11 FEBRUARY 2024

Following the success of 2023, MTFestUK returns in 2024 to provide a platform for showcasing new and exciting musical theatre from the UK and abroad. This year, the festival will shine the spotlight on eight new musicals from 30 January to 11 February workshopped and presented in ‘sharing’ sessions in both The Other Palace Studio and The Turbine Theatre. The audience is invited to support, explore, engage, and enjoy new musical theatre in its various stages of development.

Following the announcement of shows as part of MTFestUK 2024, casting for the eight new musicals is now complete. This year’s productions encompass a rich tapestry of titles and themes, with contributions from a diverse array of talented writers, composers, and performers.

MTFestUK 2024 is excited to feature Miriam-Teak Lee (& Juliet), Laura Baldwin (Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella, Waitress), Jordan Luke Gage (Bonnie & Clyde, & Juliet), Rebecca Lock (Elf The Musical, Heathers) and Declan Bennett (Jesus Christ Superstar).

MTFestUK 2024 at The Other Palace

A Jaffa Cake Musical

Writer: Sam Cochrane

Arrangements: Rob Gathercole

Director: Ali James

Musical Director: Bianca Fung

Inspired by the 1991 tribunal which determined the true identity of a Jaffa Cake, the multi-award winning Gigglemug Theatre (Timpson: The Musical, RuneSical, Scouts! The Musical) bring you a brand-new family-friendly musical comedy about the nation’s favourite cake

(I mean, biscuit…?)

Cast includes: Sam Cochrane as Kevin, Emily Kitchingham as Katherine, Harry Miller as Jake, Alex Prescot as Judge, and Katie Pritchard as Tax Man.

***

Both

Music and Lyrics: Declan Bennett and Olivia Broadfield

Book: Declan Bennett

Director: Declan Bennett

Musical Director: Livi van Warmelo

When you’ve Both done all you can and something has to give, do you fall for what you know or lose the life you live? When you’re Both up against the wall, do you give up or give it all?

Cast includes: Declan Bennet and Nimah Perry.

***

Tit Swingers

Book, Music and Lyrics: Abey Bradbury and Sam Kearney-Edwardes

Director: Conor Dye

Anne Bonney and Mary Read: polyamorous queer pirates named the Hellcats of the Seven Seas for their various vicious and notorious crimes…who fought with their tits out. The Tit Swingers are here to write their own sea shanties in a new punk gig musical.

Cast includes: Abey Bradbury as Mary Read, Sam Kearney-Edwardes as Anne Bonney, and Max Kinder as Calico Jack.

***

Plastered

Book, Music and Lyrics: Randy Rogel

Developed / Co-created: BT McNicholl

Director: Jerry Zaks

Musical Director: Michael Bradley

Presented in association with La Mirada Theatre of the Performing Arts

Presented with the support of Al Gough, Beth Corets, and Kevin Ryan

Another little shop, another big problem.  At a ‘50s San Francisco coffee house, a struggling beatnik sculptor accidentally creates a new style of art that thrusts him into fame and fortune as trouble mounts…. in this twisted killer comedy musical!

Cast includes: Jacob Fisher as Beatnik, Peter Hannah as Maxwell, Jenna Innes as Beatnik, Miriam-Teak Lee as Carla, Gina Murray as Mrs Swickert, Rory O’Malley as Walter Paisley, Quinn Patrick as Leonard Desantis, and Ian Virgo as Detective. Stage directions read by Pete Gallagher.

MTFestUK 2024 at The Turbine Theatre

ROMY AND MICHELE The Musical

Written by the film’s screenwriter Robin Schiff

Score: Gwendolyn Sanford and Brandon Jay

Director: Kristin Hanggi

Musical Director: Emily Marshall

Based on the Touchstone film Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion and the stage play Ladies’ Room written by Robin Schiff. Produced by special arrangement with Barry Kemp, Peter Schneider, Lawrence Mark, and Stephen Soucy

Pop culture’s most lovable and quotable best friends are back, and this time they’re bringing their misadventures to the stage in the new musical comedy. ROMY AND MICHELE The Musical is an absolute feel-good joyride and the best thing to happen since the invention of Post-Its®.

Cast includes: Femi Akinfolarin as Mike, Laura Baldwin as Romy White, Jarrad Biron Green as Sandy Frink, Millicent Blair as Michelle Weinberger, Jordan Kai Burnett as Heather Mooney, Connor Carson as Billy Christianson, Evangeline Jarvis Jones as Christie Masters, Deena Kapdia as Kelly Possenger, Anna MacLeod as Lisa Luder, and Kingsley Morton as Toby Walters.

***

Bling

Music and Lyrics: Elliot Clay

Book: Tori Allen-Martin

Director: Sarah Henley

It’s 2008, season two of ‘The Kardashians’ is airing, Britney’s made her comeback, and a group of teenagers are about to steal $3 million worth of belongings from Hollywood celebrity’s homes. Inspired by unbelievably true events, this darkly comic pop-opera lampoons noughties culture and asks how and why they did it… O.M.G!!!

Cast includes: Roxanne Couch as Sacha, Rosanna Hyland as Mum/Teacher, Idriss Kargbo as Ryan,  Jessica Lee as Lucy, and Olivia Mitchell as Jenny.

***

REDCLIFFE 

Written by Jordan Luke Gage

Director: Josh Seymour

Musical Director: Ben Tomalin

Based on the true events of William Critchard and Richard Arnold in 1753, Redcliffe is an epic tale of forbidden love in spite during the persecution people faced for hundreds of years.

Cast includes: James Darch as Richard, Jess Douglas Welsh as Abigail, Chris Fung as Landlord, Jordan Luke Gage as William, Emma Lindars as Landlady, and Rebecca Lock as Mother.

Graduate ensemble includes: Elena Bluck, Ellie McAspurn, Rees Parry, and Jonathan Peniket.

***

The Garden

Music, Book, Lyrics: Chisara Agor

Orchestration: Robin G Breeze

Director: Chisara Agor

Musical Director: Robin G Breeze

When a sprawling magical garden grows overnight on Azalea’s estate, Azalea and her friends connect within it to unite the community, healing neighbourly strife and familial bonds. The Garden is an exciting, magical-realist, afro-electric-folk musical which sheds light on the need for social housing, nature and love.

Cast includes: Chisara Agor as Azalea, Elinor Machen-Fortune as Abbi, Jack Matthew as Developer, Resident. Full cast to be announced.

LISTINGS

MTFESTUK 2024

THE OTHER PALACE and THE TURBINE THEATRE 

30 January – 11 February 2024

MTFestUK at The Other Palace

A Jaffa Cake Musical
Tuesday 30 January: 7pm
Wednesday 31 January: 7pm

Thursday 1 February: 4pm and 7pm

Written by Sam Cochrane 

Arrangements by Rob Gathercole

Directed by Ali James

Musical Direction by Bianca Fung

Both
Friday 2 February: 7pm
Saturday 3February: 4pm and 7pm

Sunday 4 February: 7pm

Music and Lyrics by Declan Bennett and Olivia Broadfield

Book by Declan Bennett

Directed by Declan Bennett

Musical Direction by Livi van Warmelo

Tit Swingers
Tuesday 6 February: 7pm
Wednesday 7 February: 7pm

Thursday 8 February: 4pm and 7pm

Book, Music and Lyrics by Abey Bradbury and Sam Kearney-Edwardes

Directed by Conor Dye

Plastered

Friday 9 February: 7pm
Saturday 10 February: 4pm and 7pm

Sunday 11 February: 7pm

Book, Music and Lyrics by Randy Rogel

Developed / Co-created by BT McNicholl

Directed by Jerry Zaks

MT FEST at The Turbine Theatre

ROMY AND MICHELE The Musical

Tuesday 30 January: 7pm
Wednesday 31 January: 7pm

Thursday 1 February: 4pm and 7pm

Written by the film’s screenwriter Robin Schiff

Score by Gwendolyn Sanford and Brandon Jay

Directed by Kristin Hanggi

Musical Direction by Emily Marshall

Bling
Friday 2 February: 7pm
Saturday 3February: 4pm and 7pm

Sunday 4 February: 7pm

Music and Lyrics by Elliot Clay

Book by Tori Allen-Martin

Directed by Sarah Henley

Redcliffe

Monday 6 February: 8pm

Tuesday 7 February: 8pm

Wednesday 8 February: 4pm and 8pm

Written by Jordan Luke Gage

Directed by Josh Seymour

The Garden

Friday 9 February: 7pm
Saturday 10 February: 4pm and 7pm

Sunday 11 February: 7pm

Music, Book, Lyrics by Chisara Agor  

Orchestration by Robin G Breeze

Directed by Chisara Agor

Musical Direction by Robin G Breeze

Venues:           The Other Palace Studio & The Turbine Theatre

Address:          The Other Palace 12 Palace Street, London, SW1E 5JA,

The Turbine Theatre Arches Lane, Circus West, London, SW11 8AB

Website:         www.theotherpalace.co.uk    www.theturbinetheatre.com

Tickets:            £16, any two shows for £25 or all 8 for £96

Twitter:
@Fest_MT

@TurbineTheatre 
@TheOtherPalace

#MTFestUK

#PoweringTheImagination

FULL CAST ANNOUNCED FOR

THE ADDAMS FAMILY

A MUSICAL COMEDY

AT THE LONDON PALLADIUM

Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment and John Stalker Productions are delighted to announce the full cast of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, A Musical Comedy at the London Palladium on 12 & 13 February.

Joining the previously announced Michelle Visage as Morticia Addams, Ramin Karimloo as Gomez Addams and Lesley Joseph as Grandma in the THE ADDAMS FAMILY are Sam Buttery (Jesus Christ Superstar, Barbican/Regent’s Park Open Air) as Uncle Fester, Nicholas Mclean (Annie Get Your Gun, London Palladium) as Pugsley Addams, Dickon Gough (As You Like It, Soho Place) as Lurch, Sean Kingsley (Patriots, Noel Coward Theatre) as Mal, Ryan Kopel (Disney’s Newsies, Troubadour Wembley Park) as Lucas and Kara Lane (Rebecca, Charing Cross Theatre) as Alice. In the ensemble are Leeroy Boone (The Phantom of the Opera, His Majesty’s Theatre), Abigail Brodie (Wind in the Willows, West End & UK Tour), Gavin Eden (Hairspray, UK Tour), Chloe Gentles (Mamma Mia! UK & International Tour), Katie Hutton (Cats, Asia Tour), Matthew Ives (Back to the Future, Adelphi Theatre), Jessica Keable (42^nd Street, Théatre du Châtelet & Theatre Royal Drury Lane) and Castell Parker (Sister Act, Eventim Apollo & UK Tour) and introducing Chumisa Dornford-May (Aspects of Love, Lyric Theatre) as Wednesday Addams. Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and has a shocking secret that only Gomez knows; she’s fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family! Now, Gomez Addams must do something he’s never done before — keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents. All the usual clan are present – Uncle Fester, Lurch, Pugsley et al. THE ADDAMS FAMILY, A Musical Comedy live in concert will be directed by Matthew White, with choreography by Alistair David, production design by Diego Pitarch, musical supervision and orchestrations by Richard Beadle, lighting design by Ben Cracknell, sound design by Richard Brooker and casting by Jane Deitch. Book is by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, and music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa, based on the characters created by Charles Addams. THE ADDAMS FAMILY is produced by Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment and John Stalker Productions, with co-producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Guy James and is presented through special arrangement with Theatrical Rights Worldwide.

Website: theaddamsfamily.co.uk

X: @AddamsFamilyUK

Instagram: @theaddamsfamilyuk

Facebook: @TheAddamsFamilyUK

TikTok: @TheAddamsFamilyUK

LISTINGS INFORMATION

Performances:

Monday 12 February at 7.30pm

Tuesday 13 February at 3pm & 7:30pm

The London Palladium

8 Argyll Street

London

W1F 7TF

lwtheatres.co.uk/the-london-palladium

Box Office: 020 3925 2998

Tickets from: £25

Royal Court Theatre, London – until 10th February 2024

Reviewed by Celia Armand Smith

4****

Cowbois is a colourful, campy celebration of what it is to be yourself set in the traditionally (and hilariously) manly world of the wild west. Debuting last year at the RSC, Charlie Josephine’s latest play isn’t subtle, but it is fun. Taking place in a small town, all the men have gone missing while prospecting for gold, leaving the women (and the drunk sheriff) bored, sexually frustrated, and just about hanging on. Enter a handsome gun slinging outlaw by the name of Jack Cannon (Vinnie Heaven), who has every person in the town swooning. Soon enough, all the townsfolk start to discover life as their true selves and love blooms, with colour returning to the formerly repressed community. That is until the menfolk return. They are however quite swiftly forced to challenge their own heteronormative ideas and misogynistic ways in order to save the town from some pretty bad black clad folx that Cannon has allegedly wronged.

There is so much going for this production directed by Josephine and Sean Holmes. The design by Grace Smart is fantastic, and the movement and visual arrangement of the cast is one of the highlights. The performers travel across the stage with precision, creating tableaus that change and shift with a clever use of lighting and music from Simeon Miller and Jim Fortune. The play is punctuated by great singing from cast members accompanied by an old-timey band, ever present in the corner of the stage.

There are some particularly good comedic performances from Emma Pallant as the god fearing Sally Ann, Lucy McCormick as the increasingly outspoken and wild Jayne, and LJ Parkinson who clearly is no stranger to commanding a crowd. Paul Hunter, Lee Braithwaite, Bridgette Amofah, and Sophie Melville are all brilliant as well in this truly ensemble piece.

I am a big fan of Dolly Parton, Orville Peck, and all things camp and country, and so I had high expectations coming into this, and this colourful, queer joy filled romp with a big heart did not disappoint.

SONIA FRIEDMAN PRODUCTIONS ANNOUNCE

MARK STRONG AND LESLEY MANVILLE IN

OEDIPUS

CREATED BY ROBERT ICKE, AFTER SOPHOCLES

OPENING AT WYNDHAM’S THEATRE IN OCTOBER 2024

Sonia Friedman Productions (SFP) today announce the West End run of Oedipus, a new adaptation created by Robert Icke after Sophocles. Icke directs Mark Strong (OEDIPUS) and Lesley Manville (JOCASTA). The strictly limited run at Wyndham’s Theatre previews from Friday 4 October 2024.

Icke’s production was originally presented in Dutch at Internationaal Theater Amsterdam and at the Edinburgh International Festival.

Further casting and on-sale dates to be announced. Individuals can sign up for priority booking here: Oedipustheplay.com.

Sonia Friedman Productions present

Mark Strong and Lesley Manville in

OEDIPUS

Created by Robert Icke, after Sophocles

Directed by Robert Icke

Wyndham’s Theatre

Behind every great man is a great woman. 

Election night. The polls predict a landslide victory. Everything is about to change.

Starring the internationally renowned, multi award-winning Mark Strong and Lesley Manville, Sophocles’ epic tragedy is transformed into an essential, explosive human thriller.

After his revelatory Oresteia, visionary director Robert Icke (1984, The Doctor) reimagines another Ancient Greek tragedy, bringing the secrets of the past bursting into the present.

Following hit runs at International Theatre Amsterdam and the Edinburgh Festival, Oedipus comes to comes to Wyndham’s Theatre for a strictly limited season from 4 October.

Mark Strong (OEDIPUS)

Multi-award-winning actor Mark Strong returns to the stage. He previously appeared in A View from the Bridge (Young Vic, West End and Broadway – Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play and Tony Award nomination);  The Red Barn, Closer, Death of a Salesman, Murmuring  Judges, Fuente Ovejuna, Napoli Milionaria, King Lear and Richard III (National Theatre); Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya (Donmar Warehouse – Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor); Speed the Plow (New Ambassadors Theatre); The Iceman Cometh (Almeida Theatre); The Thickness of Skin and The Treatment (Royal Court Theatre); Hess is Dead, The Plantagenets and The Man Who Came To Dinner (RSC).

His television credits include Temple (also series Executive Producer); Deep State; Low Winter Sun; The Long Firm (Broadcast Guild Award for Best Actor and BAFTA nomination); Prime Suspect; Fields of Gold; The Jury; Anna Karenina; Our Friends in the North and the forthcoming Dune: Prophecy (HBO Max).

An acclaimed film actor, he recently appeared in The Critic with Ian McKellen; Dead Shot with Felicity Jones; Nocebo with Eva Green; Murder Mystery 2 with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston (Netflix) and will next appear on screen in various projects including The End We Start From with Jodie Comer and Benedict Cumberbatch; Shadow Force opposite Omar Sy and Kerry Washington and Atlas opposite Jennifer Lopez.

His other film credits include Todd Field’s Tar with Cate Blanchett; Sam Mendes’ 1917; Miss Sloane with Jessica Chastain; Cruella alongside Emma Stone; The Imitation Game with Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley; The Kingsman films with Taron Egerton and Colin Firth; Before I Go To Sleep with Nicole Kidman;Thomas Alfredson’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy with Gary Oldman; Peter Weir’s The Way Back; John Michael McDonagh’s The Guard; Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood with Russell Crowe; Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law; Martin Campbell’s Green Lantern; The Young Victoria opposite Emily Blunt; Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty; Danny Boyle’s Sunshine; Stephen Gaghan’s Syriana with George Clooney; Roman Polanski’s Oliver Twist and Thomas Vinterberg’s It’s All About Love.

Lesley Manville (JOCASTA)

Lesley’s notable television credits include Princess Margaret in award-winning drama, The Crown, for Netflix, BBC’s drama Sherwood (for which she received a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the 2023 BAFTAs), which is returning for a second series. Mum (RTS Best Female Comedy Performance and two BAFTA nominations for Best Female Performance in a Comedy), Magpie Murders for BBC and PBS, similarly set to return for a second series titled Moonflower Murders. Lesley can currently be seen in Citadel for Prime Video alongside Richard Madden and Stanley Tucci. Upcoming roles include Alfonso Cuaron’s thriller series, Disclaimer. Lesley’s further TV credits include I Am Maria for BBC, River (BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress), Save Me Too, Talking Heads, World On Fire and Harlots.

Her roles in film include Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread (Academy Award nomination for Best Performance by An Actress in a Supporting Role, BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress, Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress), the titular role as Mrs Harris in Mrs Harris Goes To Paris for Focus Features (which earnt Lesley a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress) Let Him Go, Ordinary Love, Misbehaviour. In addition, Lesley is also known for her collaboration with Mike Leigh in projects such as, Another Year (NBR Best Actress Award, Critics’ Circle Best Actress Award and BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress), and All Or Nothing (Critics’ Circle Best Actress Award), Topsy-Turvy, High Hopes and Grown Ups, to name a few. Upcoming projects include Sam Taylor-Johnson’s upcoming Amy Winehouse biopic, Back To Black, Kasia Adamik’s upcoming Cold War feature, Winter Of The Crow, Cold Storage starring opposite Liam Neeson- a thriller about a spiralling virus and Luca Guadagnino’s feature film, Queer opposite Daniel Craig.

On stage, Lesley’s theatre credits include Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress), Ghosts (Olivier Award for Best Actress and Critics Circle Best Actress Award), Grief (Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress), Top Girls and The Visit. Further credits include Six Degrees Of Separation and All About My Mother at the Old Vic Theatre and Some Girls and The Cherry Orchard in the West End.

For her contributions to Drama and Charity, Lesley was honoured with a CBE in 2021.

Robert Icke is an award-winning writer and director, working in theatre and on screen.

His recent productions include Judas, Children of Nora, and Oedipus at International Theater Amsterdam, where until 2023 he was Ibsen Artist in Residence. His adaptation of Animal Farm played an extensive national tour in 2022 and is slated for a London transfer. His monologue condensation of Enemy of the People starred Ann Dowd at Park Avenue Armory and was one of the first new pieces of theatre to play in New York post the shutdown. He is directing Ian McKellen in Player Kings at the Noël Coward Theatre, 1 April – 22 June 2024, previewing in Wimbledon and Manchester from March.

In six years at the Almeida, five of his productions transferred to the West End, and four to New York. These included his adaptations of The Wild Duck, Mary Stuart (also West End and National tour), Uncle Vanya, Oresteia (also West End; Schauspiel Stuttgart; Park Avenue Armory), and 1984 (co-created with Duncan Macmillan, also Broadway; West End; national and international tours). As a director, his productions included Hamlet (also West End; Park Avenue Armory; and broadcast on BBC2); The Fever and Mr Burns. His final production at the Almeida was The Doctor, which played last summer at Park Avenue Armory, in the West End in 2022, and remains in repertoire at both the Burgtheater in Vienna and Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, as well as in numerous new productions across the globe.

His awards include two Evening Standard ‘Best Director’ Awards; the Critics’ Circle Award, the Kurt Hübner Award (for his debut production in Germany); and the Olivier Award for ‘Best Director’, of which he was the youngest ever winner. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Oedipustheplay.com

INSTAGRAM:       @OedipusWestEnd

TWITTER:            @OedipusWestEnd

FACEBOOK:         Oedipus West End

LISTINGS

OEDIPUS

Wyndham’s Theatre

From Friday 4 October 2024

Box Office: Oedipustheplay.com

Cambridge Arts Theatre, Cambridge – until Saturday 20th January 2024

Reviewed by Steph Lott

4****

A Joyous Ode to Empowerment: 9 to 5 The Musical at the Cambridge Arts Theatre.

The Cambridge Operatic Society’s recent production of 9 to 5: The Musical, based on the book by Patricia Resnick, with songs and lyrics by Dolly Parton, is a delightful and empowering theatrical experience at the Cambridge Arts Theatre.

The audience are transported into the vibrant world of the late ’70s, a time when office dynamics were shifting, and women were beginning to demand their rightful place in the corporate landscape. The show cleverly balances humour, heart, and a powerful message of female empowerment, capturing the essence of the original 1980 film that inspired it.

One of the standout elements of the production was the stellar casting by the Cambridge Operatic Society. The three leading ladies, Violet (played by Emma Vieceli), Judy (played by Ellie Baldwin), and Doralee (played by Vikki Jones), delivered performances that were both hilarious and heart-warming. Their chemistry was palpable, creating a dynamic trio that effortlessly carried the show from start to finish.

It was interesting to witness the audience’s reaction to Rodger Lloyd’s portrayal of the dastardly Franklin, which was creepily superb with excellent comic timing. However, instead of applause, I almost felt he was going to get booed, such was the level of revulsion he stirred up!

The ensemble cast, composed of the talented members of the Cambridge Operatic Society, showcased impressive vocal prowess and energetic dance numbers that brought the infectious spirit of Dolly Parton’s music to life. The choreography, executed with precision and flair, added a visual feast to the already engaging narrative.

Dolly Parton’s music is, without a doubt, the soul of the production. The score, was flawlessly performed by the live orchestra, enhancing the overall theatrical experience. The titular song, “9 to 5,” had the audience tapping their feet and humming along, a testament to the timeless appeal of Parton’s compositions.

While 9 to 5 The Musical provides ample opportunities for laughter and entertainment, it doesn’t shy away from addressing serious issues such as workplace inequality and sexism. The script’s witty dialogue, coupled with the charismatic delivery of the cast, struck a perfect balance between humour and social commentary.

In conclusion, the Cambridge Operatic Society’s rendition of 9 to 5 The Musical at the Cambridge Arts Theatre was a resounding success. The stellar performances, vibrant production design, and the timeless appeal of Dolly Parton’s music combined to create a theatrical experience that was both uplifting and thoroughly enjoyable. The production not only pays homage to the source material but also adds a contemporary flair, making it a must-see for audiences of all ages. The audience gave the Cambridge Operatic Society a very warm welcome at Cambridge Arts and tonight’s performance had many members of the audience on their feet giving them a very well-deserved standing ovation.

3 HEARTS CANVAS AND PATCH OF BLUE

ANNOUNCE CASSIE AND THE LIGHTS

AT SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE BOROUGH

3 Hearts Canvas and Patch of Blue in association with Southwark Playhouse and Verse Unbound today announce that Cassie and the Lights comes to Southwark Playhouse Borough this spring. Following critically acclaimed runs in New York and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, this enchanting play created and directed by Alex Howarth features live music and is based on real-life events and interviews with children in care. Full casting is to be announced.

Cassie and the Lights opens at Southwark Playhouse Borough, in the Little Auditorium, on 5 April, with previews from 3 April and runs until 20 April 2024.

3 Hearts Canvas and Patch of Blue

in association with Southwark Playhouse and Verse Unbound present

CASSIE AND THE LIGHTS

BY ALEX HOWARTH

DIRECTED BY ALEX HOWARTH

Cast: tbc

Original Scenic Design: Alex Howarth; Set and Costume Design: Ruth Badila; Composers: Imogen Mason and Ellie Mason

3 – 20 April

Can kids be parents?

When Cassie’s mother disappears, the teenager wants to care for her sisters on her own. Is she the right person to be a parent now, or should she let foster parents adopt her sisters and create a new family?

Based on real-life events and interviews with children in care and featuring live music, this play celebrates the resilience of teenagers. Cassie and the Lights is a tender and playful examination of what makes a family and what holds it together.

Alex Howarth is a writer, director and designer. He was named one of ‘Ten Stage Sensations to Watch Out For in 2023’ by The Guardian.  With a background of working in care, Alex is passionate about amplifying under-represented and northern voices. His play Cassie and the Lights is based on a true story and interviews with children in the care system. Nominated for the BBC Writer’s Room Popcorn Award and the SitUp Award for social change, it ran at 59E59 Theaters, Off Broadway New York in 2023. A former drama therapist for the charity Sense, he has worked extensively with disabled artists, and recently co-created one man show Strictly Lawrie with disabled artist Lawrie Morris. His play about a girl with autism, We Live By the Sea, received Critic’s Pick and Top Theatre of the Year in The New York Times, won the Best Theatre Award and the Critic’s Choice Award at Adelaide Festival, the Grahame F. Smith Peace Foundation Award for promoting human rights through theatre, and was nominated for a Fringe First and the Off West End Awards for Best Production and Best Ensemble. He was the assistant director on La Traviata at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and regularly directs at drama schools including Italia Conti, Central School of Speech and Drama, Mountview Theatre School, and Chichester Conservatoire. He adapted and directed the world stage premiere of What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, alongside the film’s writer and director, Oscar nominee Peter Hedges. He is the Artistic Director of multi-award winning Patch of Blue, who create original theatre pieces with live music for festivals and touring.

Ruth Badila is a set and costume designer. She has worked as an associate assistant designer at the Kiln Theatre, and recently completed a year’s residency as Assistant Designer at the National Theatre. Ruth is a previous recipient of the Linbury Prize 2021.

Imogen Mason and Ellie Mason are musicians, producers, and composers. They have worked extensively with Patch of Blue and have scored many plays for them including We Live By The Sea (59E59 Theaters, Arts Theatre West End, and tour), Back To Blackbrick (Arts Theatre West End and tour), and The Tortoise and the Hare (UK tour). Imogen and Ellie are two members of the band Voka Gentle.

CASSIE AND THE LIGHTS

Listings

Southwark Playhouse Borough

77 – 85 Newington Causeway, London, SE1 6BD

3 – 20 April 2024

Performances

Mon – Sat: 8pm

Thu & Sat: 3.30pm

Running time: 70 minutes

Ticket Prices: £10 Pioneer Preview/£16 previews / £21 standard / £17 concessions

 www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/cassie-and-the-lights

BRIDGERTON’S CHARITHRA CHANDRAN

TO STAR IN ONE-WOMAN SHOW

INSTRUCTIONS FOR A TEENAGE ARMAGEDDON

Katy Galloway Productions today announces a limited run at the Garrick Theatre of one-woman show Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon with Charithra Chandran,the break-out star of the Netflix drama Bridgerton. Written by actor/director Rosie Day, Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon received multiple 5-star reviews when she presented it at Southwark Playhouse in 2023.

With two performances on Sundays, the production will open on 17 March and will run for six weeks until 28 April 2024. Public booking opens tomorrow, 19 January – tickets are from £25.

Katy Galloway Productions presents

INSTRUCTIONS FOR A TEENAGE ARMAGEDDON

Written by Rosie Day

Cast: Charithra Chandran

Director Georgie Staight; Set and Costume Designer Jasmine Swan; Lighting Designer Rory Beaton; Video Designer Dan Light; Associate Director Hanna Khogali

17 March – 28 April 2024

She was a 17 year-old girl, the only God she believed in was Taylor Swift.

After her sister’s untimely death by a Yorkshire Pudding, a funny teenage misfit begrudgingly joins a flailing scout group to help her navigate the kicks and punches of adolescence with varying degrees of success.

Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon is a rollercoaster ride through youth. Whether you are a young person, know a young person, or simply were a young person once – it’s time to rip up the rule book and reconnect with your younger self.

Charithra Chandran is an actor, producer and activist. Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon will be her West End stage debut. Charithra came to international prominence as Edwina Sharma in season 2 of Netflix’s Regency-era drama Bridgerton. Other television credits include Alex Rider, and she will next be seen in Alex Sanjiv Pillai’s romantic comedy How to Date Billy Walsh. Charithra is also a global ambassador for Room to Read, a charity committed to providing books and literacy and practical skills programmes to children across the world. 

Rosie Day is a writer, author, film maker and actor. As a screenwriter, Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon is currently in development for television. Her debut book of the same title was published by Hachette in 2021, and her non-fiction I think I Like Girls is to be published by Piatkus/Little Brown later this year. As a director, Rosie is currently directing feature film The Shallow End for Playhouse Studios and Simon Curtis, and is set to direct the feature adaptation of 152 Days by Giles Paley Phillips.  As an actor, theatre credits include The Fellowship (Hampstead Theatre), The Girl Who Fell (Trafalgar Studios), Again (Trafalgar Studios), and Spur of the Moment (Royal Court). Television and film credits include Outlander, Living the Dream, Down a Dark Hall, All Roads Lead to Rome, and Good Omens.

Georgie Staight is a freelance theatre director and has worked on large scale productions in the West End and at venues across the UK. Georgie is an Associate Director at The Watermill and Theatre Directing Associate at Mountview.  Previously, Georgie was joint Artistic Director of new writing company Flux Theatre for six years. Staight’s credits as Director include The Wizard of Oz, Camp Albion, and A Christmas Carol (Watermill Theatre), Instructions for A Teenage Armageddon, (Southwark Playhouse, nominated for four OffWestEnd Awards),  Queen Mab (Iris Theatre, nominated for an OffCom Award),  Eigengrau (Waterloo East Theatre), D-Day 75 (Watermill Theatre, 101 Outdoor Arts & Greenham Trust), CHUTNEY (Bunker Theatre, nominated for four Off-West End Awards), Into The Numbers (Finborough Theatre), Section 2 (Bunker Theatre), Dubailand (Finborough Theatre, nominated for an Off-West End award), Dreamless Sleep (Arts Theatre & Pint Sized Finalist at Bunker Theatre), and Flood (Tristan Bates Theatre). As Associate Director, credits include Operation Mincemeat (Fortune Theatre, West End), Dawn French Is A Huge T**t (U.K. tour), Sweet Charity (Watermill Theatre), Our Town (Watermill Theatre), Legally Blonde: The Musical (Bernie Grant Arts Centre). Staight has led youth and outreach programmes at The Watermill, Chichester Festival Theatre and Newbury Corn Exchange, and worked as a guest director at drama schools including Mountview Theatre School, The Royal Academy of Music and the Oxford School of Drama.

Instructions For A Teenage Armageddon

Listings

Garrick Theatre

2 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0HH

Box Office: 0330 333 4810

Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon – Nimax Theatres

Ticket Prices

£25-60

Sunday 17 and 24 March, 7, 14, 21, 28 April 2024

2:30pm and 6pm 

Running time: 75 minutes

Age: 12+, themes of eating disorders, death and sexual assault

@teen_armageddon

THE LOWRY, SALFORD – UNTIL SATURDAY 20TH JANUARY 2024

REVIEWED BY MIA BOWEN

4****

Calendar Girls is a touching tale that is inspired by true events and revolves around a close-knit group of ordinary women from a small Yorkshire Woman’s Institute. After the untimely loss of one of their husbands due to cancer, they are encouraged to undertake something remarkable and decide to create a nude calendar as a fundraising initiative for charity. The story highlights the personal challenges each of them faces and emphasises the immense support they provide for one another.

Calendar Girls the Musical is a production that stays true to the original storyline of the film (2003) and play (2009), but it adds a new dimension by incorporating music written by Gary Barlow and Tim Firth. The songs are not the easiest to listen to or sing due to the use of cross-singing/talking and unconventional rhythms and melodies. Whether you enjoy these songs or not is a matter of personal taste. While they are quite different from the more background music in the film composed by Patrick Doyle, they add a quirky element that complements the show without taking away from its essence.

Witnessing the performance was a delightful experience, as I observed the audience members around me becoming captivated by the narrative and responding with both laughter and tears. The superb performances by the seven female leads showcased their exceptional character portrayals, and I relished the opportunity to form a connection with each individual character as the show progressed.

The theme of death evokes strong emotions, but this production cleverly weaves in humour and conveys an uplifting message. Before taking part in posing nude, the women must overcome personal challenges, inhibitions, doubts, and inner struggles. They courageously embrace their vulnerability, leading to triumphant moments. Every member of the cast radiates positive energy, sparking a ripple effect of positivity among the audience.

I particularly enjoyed Lyn Paul’s performance as Jessie, singing ‘What Age Expects’ and Maureen Nolan as Ruth singing ‘My Russian Friend And I’. This production is very relevant and can easily resonate with people facing similar situations.

This musical is simple good, honest humour. It captures the essence of friendship, community, and the strength of women. From beginning to end, it is both inspiring and beautiful.

WESSEX GROVE, GAVIN KALIN PRODUCTIONS AND PLAYFUL PRODUCTIONS

FULL CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR

THE WORLD PREMIERE OF THE NEW MUSICAL

OPENING NIGHT

BENJAMIN WALKER TO PLAY ‘MAURICE’,

REBECCA THORNHILL ‘KELLY’, CILLA SILVIA ‘CARLA’,

IAN McLARNON ‘LEO’ and JOS SLOVICK ‘GUS’

OPPOSITE THE PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED

SHERIDAN SMITH AS ‘MYRTLE’

HADLEY FRASER AS ‘MANNY’, SHIRA HAAS AS ‘NANCY’,

NICOLA HUGHES AS ‘SARAH’, AMY LENNOX AS ‘DOROTHY’
AND JOHN MARQUEZ AS ‘DAVID’

BOOK BY IVO VAN HOVE

MUSIC AND LYRICS BY RUFUS WAINWRIGHT

DIRECTED AND CONCEIVED BY IVO VAN HOVE

AT THE GIELGUD THEATRE IN LONDON’S WEST END

FOR A STRICTLY LIMITED SEASON
FROM
6 MARCH TO 27 JULY 2024

Wessex Grove, Gavin Kalin Productions and Playful Productions are delighted to announce full casting for the World Premiere of John Cassavetes’ OPENING NIGHT, a new musical with book by Ivo van Hove and music and lyrics by Rufus Wainwright.

Joining the previously announced Sheridan Smith as Myrtle, Hadley Fraser as Manny, Shira Haas as Nancy, Nicola Hughes as Sarah, Amy Lennox as Dorothy and John Marquez as David will be Benjamin Walker as Maurice, Rebecca Thornhill as Kelly, Cilla Silvia as Carla, Ian McLarnon as Leo and Jos Slovick as Gus. The cast is completed by Robert Finlayson, Daniel Forrester, Jennifer Hepburn, Issy Khogali and Chrissie Perkins.

Directed and conceived by Ivo van Hove, OPENING NIGHT will play a strictly limited season at the Gielgud Theatre in London’s West End from 6 March to 27 July 2024. OpeningNightMusical.com

On Broadway, Benjamin Walker has appeared in many productions, most notably as Patrick Bateman in the musical adaptation of American Psycho, Andrew Jackson in the musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Bertram Cates in Inherit the Wind, Le Chevalier D’Anceny in Les Liaison Dangereuses, Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Chris Keller in All My Sons, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award.His film credits includes The Ice Road, Love Is Blind, Shimmer Lake, The Choice, In the Heart of the Sea, Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, The War Boys, Flags of our Fathers, Unconscious, The Notorious Bettie Page. His TV includes: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Underground Railroad for Amazon, Jessica Jones for Netflix, Traitors for Channel 4 and 3 Ibs for CBS.

Rebecca Thornhill’s many West End credits include Mrs Wormwood in Matilda, Karen Holmes in From Here to Eternity, Mrs Banks in Mary Poppins, Roxie in Chicago, Evelyn Nesbit in Ragtime, Vicky Nichols in The Full Monty, Sukie Rougemont in The Witches of Eastwick, Fantine in Les Miserables, Gertie Cummins in Oklahoma!, Julie in Show Boat, Babette in Beauty and the Beast, Demeter in Cats and Lina Lamont in Singin’ in the Rain, for which she was nominated for an Olivier Award. Rebecca most recently starred as Rose in Gypsy at the Mill at Sonning for which she was nominated for a UK Theatre Award for Best Performance in a musical.

Cilla Silvia theatre credits include Pretty Woman The Musical at the Savoy Theatre in the West End and The Boy in The Dress for The Royal Shakespeare Theatre Company. In Stockholm, she has appeared in many productions including Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Park Theatre of Stockholm, The Last Five Years at Theatre Studio Leiderman, West Side Story, Sweeney Todd and Hair, all at Stockholm City Theatre.

Ian McLarnon’s many West End credits include Passion at the Queen’s theatre, Sunday in the Park with George at the Wyndham’s Theatre, Les Miserables at the Palace, Pacific Overtures at the Donmar Warehouse and Hand to God at the Vaudeville. At the National Theatre he has appeared in The Relapse, Luther, South Pacific and Follies. He has also appeared in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Troilus and Cressida and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, all at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. Ian also supported Maria Friedman in her show Legacy at the Menier Chocolate Factory.

Jos Slovick’s theatre credits include the UK tour of Beautiful, Emma Rice’s Brief Encounter in the West End, Fiddler on the Roof and Love Story at Chichester Festival Theatre, Bad Jews and Once, both in the West End, The Human Comedy at the Young Vic and Spring Awakening at the Lyric Hammersmith and West End.

Sheridan Smith is an award-winning stage and screen actress, whose acclaimed West End credits include most recently playing the title role in Shirley Valentine at the Duke of York’s Theatre. Her performance as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde at the Savoy Theatre and as Doris in Flare Path at Theatre Royal Haymarket, both garnered her Olivier Awards, and the latter the Evening Standard Award as Best Actress. She received further Olivier nominations for her performance as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors at the Menier Chocolate Factory and Duke of York’s Theatre, and Fanny Brice in Funny Girl at the Savoy Theatre. Other notable performances include Hedda Gabler at The Old Vic, Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Noël Coward Theatre, the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the London Palladium, and her stage debut as Little Red Riding Hood in Into the Woods at the Donmar Warehouse. Amongst her prolific screen roles, Sheridan was Emmy-nominated and won a BAFTA as Mrs Biggs, and further BAFTA-nominated for The C Word and her titular role in Cilla, for which she was also Emmy-nominated. Big screen credits include Dustin Hoffman’s Quartet and most recently The Railway Children Return.  She has released two albums, titled Sheridan and A Northern Soul, resulting in two Classic BRIT Award nominations.

Hadley Fraser’s many West End credits include most recently The Lehman Trilogy at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, City of Angels at the Garrick and Donmar Theatres, Young Frankenstein, also at the Garrick Theatre and Javert in Les Misérables at the Queen’s Theatre. Hadley starred at Raoul in the 25^th Anniversary of The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall and Grantaire in the 25^th Anniversary of Les Misérables at the O2. On Broadway he created the role of Tiernan in The Pirate Queen.

Shira Haas garnered international critical acclaim for her role in the Netflix series Unorthodox, for which she won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Performance in a New Scripted Series and was nominated for both a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award, becoming the first Israeli to be nominated for an acting Primetime Emmy Award. Shira won the Tribeca Film Festival Award for Best International Actress for her performance in the film Asia. Additional credits include this year’s Netflix series Bodies, the international hit series Shtisel, and Niki Caro’s film The Zookeeper’s Wife. Shira will next star in Marvel’s fourth Captain America film, Captain America: New World Order. Opening Night will mark Shira’s West End debut.

Nicola Hughes is a double Olivier Award nominee for Best Actress in a Musical for her starring roles in Fosse at the Prince of Wales Theatre and Porgy and Bess at the Savoy Theatre. Her other West End credits include Velma Kelly in Chicago and Lola in Damn Yankees, both at the Adelphi Theatre and The Acid Queen in the original London company of Tommy at the Shaftesbury Theatre. Other theatre credits include Simply Heavenly at the Young Vic and Trafalgar Studios, Allelujah! at The Bridge Theatre, Caroline or Change at Chichester Festival Theatre and Shug Avery in the original London company of The Color Purple at the Menier Chocolate Factory. Nicola most recently appeared at The Witch in Into the Woods at the Theatre Royal Bath, for which she was nominated for Best Supporting Performance at this year’s UK Theatre Awards.

Amy Lennox recently starred as Sally Bowles in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club. She received an Olivier nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical for her portrayal of Lauren in the West End production of Kinky Boots. Her other credits include Ellie in the London premiere of the David Bowie and Enda Walsh musical Lazarus. She was in the original West End cast of the musical Legally Blonde and created the role of Doralee in the original UK production of 9 to 5 The Musical.

John Marquez recently played Alfred Doolittle in Pygmalion at the Old Vic. He has also appeared at the Old Vic in The American Clock and Flea in her Ear. His many other theatre credits include Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the Savoy Theatre, Privates on Parade at the Noël Coward Theatre, Ragtime at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, The Taming of the Shrew for the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Anniversary at the Garrick Theatre and The Emperor Jones, Market Boy and Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads, all at the National Theatre. John is best known to TV audiences as PC Joseph Penhale in the hit ITV series Doc Martin.

Based on John Cassavetes’ legendary film, OPENING NIGHT follows a theatre company’s preparations to stage a major new play on Broadway. But drama ignites behind the scenes when their leading lady is rocked by tragedy, and her personal turmoil forces everybody to deliver the performance of their lives. 

OPENING NIGHT has a Book by Ivo van Hove with Music and Lyrics by Rufus Wainwright. It is Directed and conceived by Ivo van Hove, has Set, Lighting and Video Design by Jan Versweyveld, Costume Design by An D’Huys and Sound Design by Tom Gibbons and Alex Twiselton. Orchestrations are by Rufus Wainwright, with Musical Supervision and Musical Direction by Nigel Lilley. Movement and Choreography is by Polly Bennett, Casting by Julia Horan CDG and the Associate Director is Daniel Raggett.