Hull New Theatre – until 22nd October 2022

Reviewed by Catherine McWilliams

3***

In the early 1970s it felt like The Osmonds were everywhere, a family of incredibly talented young musicians from Utah. They were phenomenally successful whether as a group or as soloists, selling over one hundred million records. The Osmonds is a new musical, with the story by Jay Osmond and tells the family’s story and what a story it is.

The Osmonds is narrated throughout by Jay Osmond (Alex Lodge) who tells us that he was the drummer, the one always at the back, the one who saw everything that was happening. It takes us back to the very beginning when Alan, Merrill, Wayne and Jay were young children singing barber shop style to raise some money for better hearing aids for their older brothers. They then appeared on The Andy Williams Show and quickly became regulars, with Donny eventually appearing with them too. They then got picked up by a record label and their rise to meteoric stardom started. Of course, the story is interspersed with the music that The Osmonds sang, but it has some interesting choices of music, with some of the songs being not so well known.

The music is superb throughout with the Band led by Will Joy (somewhere off stage) providing excellent backing for The Osmonds. The harmonies in all the songs were excellent and I feel that this was a particular strength of the show. Special mention should go to the young cast who played the young Osmonds, such superb singing at such a young age, they stole the show each time they appeared on stage. Georgia Lennon as Marie Osmond has an excellent country voice and I particularly enjoyed Ryan Anderson’s (Merrill) rendition of The Proud One.

Ryan Anderson (Merrill), Jamie Chatterton (Alan), Alex Lodge (Jay), Danny Nattrass (Wayne) and Joseph Peacock (Donny) gelled together wonderfully as The Osmonds and Bill Deamer’s chorography gave their musical performances a totally authentic 1970’s feel. Lucy Osborne’s set and costumes added to that 1970’s feel.

At times this is a difficult watch, these are after all young children and George Osmond (Charlie Allen) their father ran the family like a military unit. Some of the interactions he has with his children are heart-breaking as they struggle to learn something or even don’t want to perform anymore. Charlie Allen plays George Osmond superbly, never shifting from his stance that family is everything and everything has to be for the family, constantly maintaining an icy stance.

This is a long performance and I do wonder if perhaps some of Jay’s speeches could be cut back a little. Having said that this is a story well worth the telling and I strongly suspect it only touched the tip of the ice berg, surely someone will pick it up for a tv mini-series.

The audience were on their feet at the end of the performance to give this talented cast a standing ovation and to sing along to some of the hits. They were buzzing as they went out.

Full of fabulous music and vibrant performances this is a show that will stay with you, it has a story that should be told. Ultimately The Osmonds was far more thought provoking than I expected.

Runaway Entertainment presents

2:22 – A GHOST STORY

The hit play by Danny Robins

Directed by Matthew Dunster

• SMASH HIT 2.22 – A GHOST STORY WILL TRANSFER TO THE LYRIC THEATRE FOR A STRICTLY LIMITED FIFTH SEASON OF 13 WEEKS FROM 21 JANUARY 2023
   
• FOLLOWING ITS PREMIERE AT THE NOEL COWARD THEATRE IN SUMMER 2021, THE PRODUCTION MOVED TO THE GIELGUD THEATRE BEFORE TRANSFERRING FOR TWO SEASONS AT THE CRITERION 
   
• THE PRODUCTION IS DIRECTED BY MATTHEW DUNSTER AND WRITTEN BY AWARD-WINNING WRITER DANNY ROBINS
   
• CAST FOR THE LYRIC THEATRE WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON
   
• TICKETS FOR THE LYRIC THEATRE ARE ON SALE FROM 10AM ON 21 OCTOBER FROM WWW.222AGHOSTSTORY.COM

Producer Runaway Entertainment is delighted to announce that the critically acclaimed, smash hit, supernatural thriller 2:22 – A Ghost Story will transfer theatres for a fourth time  – and its fifth season – to The Lyric Theatre where it will play a 13 week season opening on 21 January 2023. Going from strength to strength, the Lyric will be the biggest house the production has played in to date.

The production began its life last summer 2021 at the Noel Coward Theatre starring Lily Allen, Julia Chan, Hadley Fraser and Jake Wood. It then transferred to the Gielgud Theatre for 10 weeks from 4 December 2021. The production there starring Stephanie Beatriz, James Buckley, Elliot Cowan and Giovanna Fletcher completed its run on 12 February 2022. For the first season at the Criterion (May – September 2022) the cast was Tom Felton, Mandip GIll, Sam Swainsbury and Beatriz Romilly. In Late September Laura Whitmore, Matt Willis, Felix Scott and Tamsin Carroll took over and will continue until the Criterion run ends on 8 January. Cast for the transfer to the Lyric Theatre will be announced soon. 

“A great spine-tingling night out!” Evening Standard

The West End theatre event of 2021 and 2022 will return in 2023 by popular demand.

“It’s happening again…”

2:22 is written by award-winning writer Danny Robins, creator of the hit BBC podcast The Battersea Poltergeist, and is directed by Matthew Dunster. Look out for the clues to unlock the mystery in this brilliantly funny and intriguing play; it’s an adrenaline-filled night where secrets emerge and ghosts may or may not appear…

Danny Robins said: ‘I can’t tell you how much joy I get from seeing the audience’s response to our show. It seemed a crazy risk when we first brought this brand new play straight into the West End at the height of the pandemic over a year ago, I keep pinching myself about the fact that we are still playing to packed houses. Each theatre, and each cast brings something new and thrilling to the experience, and I’m really excited to be moving to the Lyric, our biggest house yet. Look out for the cast announcement coming soon as the 2:22 journey continues.’

What do you believe? And do you dare discover the truth?

“THERE’S SOMETHING IN OUR HOUSE. I HEAR IT EVERY NIGHT, AT THE SAME TIME”

Jenny believes her new home is haunted, but her husband Sam isn’t having any of it. They argue with their first dinner guests, old friend Lauren and new partner Ben. Can the dead really walk again? Belief and scepticism clash, but something feels strange and frightening, and that something is getting closer, so they’re going to stay up… until 2:22… and then they’ll know.

“A slick, chilling, romp of a play” The Guardian

2:22 – A Ghost Story features set design by Anna Fleischle, costume design by Cindy Lin, lighting design by Lucy Carter, sound by Ian Dickinson for Autograph Sound and illusions by Chris Fisher.

2:22 – A Ghost Story is produced by Tristan Baker and Charlie Parsons for Runaway Entertainment, Isobel David and Kater Gordon. 

Brighton Theatre Royal – until 22 October 2022

Reviewed by Sue Bradley

4****

Most people either love or hate farce, finding it either absurdly funny or irritatingly predictable. But this production will certainly broaden the view of those who hold the latter view, some of whom may start laughing almost grudgingly and end up laughing very hard. 

The writer, Michael Frayn, apparently conceived of this play whilst watching another of his plays from the wings and realising that what was happening backstage was at least as interesting as what the audience were seeing. Creating a play-within-a-play, or more accurately, a farce-within-a-farce, it feels like he set out to lampoon the form and whilst doing so, fell in love with it.

The play premiered in 1982 and there seems no need for this production to try and update it in any way; it simply isn’t necessary. The essential elements of British farce are all there and are, essentially, timeless – the improbable coincidences, misunderstandings, sexual innuendo and, of course, the dropped trousers.  But what sets this production apart is the astounding speed of the plot and the almost miraculously synchronised entrances and exits.

The three-act play shows us a small touring repertory company; firstly in last-minute rehearsal, where we see them stumbling through their lines and missing their cues but all at breakneck speed. The second act brings us to somewhere in the middle of the tour; this time we see the production from backstage. Chaos reigns supreme as the characters, either deliberately or accidentally, sabotage each other’s lives and performances. In the final act, we are seeing the performance from the front again, this time at the end of the tour, where the accidents and mishaps just keep on coming and the cast-within-a-cast must adapt, with genuinely hilarious results.

With a cast of this calibre, it seems almost inappropriate to single out any individual for special mention and there simply isn’t enough room in this review to give due attention and find the right superlatives for each actor. Felicity Kendal’s Dotty is, well, engagingly dotty, Tracy-Ann Oberman’s Belinda is wonderfully blousy. Garry is perhaps the most spectacular character – starting out as a deeply shallow actor he rapidly becomes more and more frazzled as the personal and professional sides of his life become more and more complicated and Joseph Millson, as Garry, displays a fine talent for physical comedy – watch out for his fall down the stairs!

Farce is usually not going to give you the insights into the human condition that great theatre sometimes can. But reflecting more on this production, the dazzling script, the great ensemble playing, the clever set design and stage management, the sheer attention to detail and last, but not least, the skill of all the performers makes us realise that, in the right hands, Farce can be very, very funny.

I had a wonderful evening and was genuinely delighted to add my voice to the audience’s roar of approval.

This is Great Theatre.

Birmingham Repertory Theatre – until Saturday 5th November 2022

Reviewed by Nadia Dodd

4****

Many great comedies are reimagined and this Moliére’s readaptation originally commissioned and produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company made with The Rep is very obliging to the audience.

Highly enjoyable and offering a new radical take on the original book that was produced in 1664.

The action has been relocated to a Birmingham suburb where a British Pakistani family live a life of comfortable affluence. Imran (Simon Nagra), the parvenu patriarch, was once proud of his Norwegian spruce decking, but has fallen under the spell of a seemingly straitlaced holy man, Tartuffe, played by Asif Khan. Not only does Imran decide the family has to live as “real Muslims”, he also plans to marry his progressive daughter, studying the plight of women in sub-Saharan Africa, to Tartuffe and even signs over his property to the two-faced intruder.

Written by Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto the cast that they have for the characters of this play have been perfectly chosen. Olga Fedori (Darina) who plays the Bosnian cleaner of the pakistani family for 10 years has such a dry sense of humor plus such love for the families well being, it becomes her responsibility to help daughter Mariam (Anshula Bain) to convince her father that she should marry a man that she actually loves, Waqaas (Qasim Mahmood) and not Tartuffe, an older man who she doesn’t even like let alone love.

Credit to Imran’s mother, Dadimaa (Siddiqua Akhtar) who had the audience in raucous laughter with her quick wit, sharp tongue and brightly decorated mobility walking frame.

Tartuffe, will get found out in the end and be revealed as the liar and fraud that he has been all along. You could even feel some sympathy for him, ever so slightly. His scene with Amira (Natalia Campbell) the beautiful wife of Imran, where he attempts to seduce her was hilarious. Asif Khan endows Tartuffe with just the right amount of lechery as he hops around in his leopard skin underpants, trying to be amorous whilst taking off a pair of skinny jeans.

The show offers a vigorous new take on Molière’s play by reminding us that wealth offers no protection against a hostile environment and that all of the world’s religions are subject to slippery abuse.

EMPIRE THEATRE, LIVERPOOL – UNTIL 22ND OCTOBER 2022

REVIEWED BY MIA BOWEN

4****

Strictly Ballroom the Musical is a musical theatre adaptation of the highly rated and critically acclaimed 1992 film, written and directed by Baz Luhrmann. Luhrmann is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor, with projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries. On the screen he is best known for projects including William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (1996), Moulin Rouge (2001), Australia (2008) and Elvis (2022).

Strictly Ballroom the Musical has had a checkered history ever since it premiered at the Sydney Lyric in April 2014, where it was met with mixed reviews. It received its British premiere in November 2016 in Leeds. There has been a number of productions, some using pre-existing songs and some using pre-existing songs combined with songs written especially for the show – the version that is now touring the UK and Ireland.

The musical follows the trials and tribulations of Scott Hastings (Edwin Ray), a champion ballroom dancer since he was 6 years old, who refuses to stick to regulation ‘federation steps’ in a competition and stands to ruin his chances of winning the prestigious Pan Pacific Championships. He struggles to find a partner to help break conformity but then meets Fran (Maisie Smith), who is full of enthusiasm but a beginner at the dance school.

The most beautiful surprise of the evening was from Maisie Smith, her characters’ debut song showed off her wondrously impressive vocal talents. Smith is best known for her 13 year stint on EastEnders and for being one of 2020’s Strictly contestants.

My favourite scene in this production, was at the end of act 1. Jose Agudo, as Fran’s father Rico put on a breathtakingly commanding display of the Paso Doble (Harbenera), a dazzling dance with great tempo. I was mesmerised and did not want it to end! Agudo was phenomenal and stole the show!

A special mention must go to Mark Walters for his spectacular set design. As soon as the safety curtain lifted, you were transported into the world of glitz and glamor of ballroom dancing.

Strictly Ballroom is a lot of fun with some superb performances, strictly brilliant! You will be foxtrotting your way home.

LYCEUM, SHEFFIELD – UNTIL 22 OCTOBER 2022

REVIEWED BY ALISON BEAUMONT

4****

The Commitments are a soul band from Dublin, Ireland who were formed for the film version of the book by Irish writer Roddy Doyle.

The Commitments is a musical comedy-drama and tells the story of Jimmy (James Kileen) who is bored in his sales job at a sweets company. He loves soul music and dreams of forming a band. The role of Jimmy’s Da is played by Nigel Pivaro who most of you will recognise from playing the bad boy Terry Duckworth in Coronation Street. Jimmy manages to put together a 10 piece band of misfits including three backing singers Imelda (Ciara Mackey), Natalie (Eve Kitchingman) and Bernie (Sarah Gardiner).

The musical then follows the band through the rehearsals, to them playing together and fighting as they try to get their music heard in bingo halls and clubs in Dublin.

Decco the leader of the band was played by Ian McIntosh and was a natural in this role and you could tell that he enjoyed every minute, feeling the music as he sang.

The band members play all their own instruments and show off their musical talent.

The show starts with cast members on the stage at the works Christmas party before the lights go down, I’m sure many people can relate to this scene.

From the start there is hilarity, and you will most certainly like the part when the band were getting changed into their suits for their performance at the bingo hall which made everyone laugh.

The show itself ends when the commitments all go their separate ways.

After the curtain comes down Jimmy comes back on stage and the audience participation begins. The band returns on stage with some of everyone’s all time favourites. Some people were already on their feet, singing, clapping and dancing but Decco shouted out to the audience and managed to get everyone up on their feet (that’s one way of getting a standing ovation).

You definitely felt like you were a part of this show being in a pub watching a band.

If you like Soul music you will love this show.

VIDEO ALERT
See inside rehearsals forTim Rice and Stuart Brayson’s epic musical’From Here to Eternity’ahead of the first London revival

Tim Rice and Stuart Brayson’s epic musical  ‘From Here To Eternity’ is getting its first London revival in a newly revised production at Charing Cross Theatre, from 29 October – 17 December

The cast features Jonny Amies, Jonathon Bentley, Desmonda Cathabel, Leonard Cook, Kyerron Dixon-Bassey, Sarah Drake, Dominic Adam Griffin, Cassius Hackforth, Robin Hayward, Callum Henderson, James Mateo-Salt, Rhys Nuttall, Jack Ofrecio, Jaden Oshenye, Eve Polycarpou, Adam Rhys-Charles, Carley Stenson, Alan Turkington, Joseph Vella.

Creative team: Director Brett Smock, Set & Costume Designer Stewart J. Charlesworth, Musical Director, Orchestrations and New Musical Arrangements Nick J Barstow, Choreographer Cressida Carré, Sound Designer Chris Murray, Lighting Designer Adam King, Projection Designer Louise Rhodes-Brown, Costume Supervisor Lucy Lawless, Casting Director Jane Deitch, Production Manager James Anderton, Produced by Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment, Bill Kenwright and Heartaches Limited, General Management by Chris Matanlé.

Set in the two weeks leading up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, ‘From Here To Eternity’ is a compelling portrait of humanity, love, duty and redemption set against the backdrop of a beautiful and conflicted paradise.

Adapted from the classic novel by James Jones, this breathtaking musical unites the writing talents of Tim Rice (lyrics), Stuart Brayson (music) and Donald Rice and Bill Oakes (book), and is directed by Brett Smock (Producing Artistic Director/The Rev Theatre Company).

Aria Entertainment,
Bill Kenwright
and Heartaches Limited
present

‘From Here To Eternity’

Adapted from the classic novel
by James Jones

Lyrics Tim Rice, Music Stuart Brayson,
Book Donald Rice and Bill Oakes

Directed by Brett Smock

Charing Cross Theatre
The Arches
Villiers Street
London WC2N 6NL
www.charingcrosstheatre.co.uk
Box office: 08444 930650

29 October – 17 December

Performances:

Tuesday to Saturday at 7.30pm

Wednesday,  Saturday and Sunday
at 3.00pm

Prices:
£25.00 – £39.50
Premium seats £49.50 (includes a
programme and a glass of bubbly)

A booking fee applies to phone and internet
orders; no booking fee to personal callers
The box office is open from 2 hours
before curtain time on performance days for
personal callers

SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook, Twitter & Instagram
@FHTEMusicalUK

Mark Goucher, Gavin Kalin and Matthew Gale present
SHREK THE MUSICAL

PRODUCERS ARE OGRE THE MOON TO CONFIRM 14 NEW DATES FOR THE BRAND-NEW PRODUCTION OF ‘SHREK THE MUSICAL’.

EXTENDING THE TOUR THROUGH TO APRIL 2024, THE NEW LOCATIONS INCLUDE GLASGOW, EDINBURGH, COVENTRY, SUNDERLAND, LIVERPOOL, SOUTHAMPTON, MILTON KEYNES, HULL, CHELTENHAM, NOTTINGHAM, NORWICH, BELFAST, BIRMINGHAM AND DERRY.

THE PRODUCTION HEADS OUT TO PAINT THE TOWN GREEN NEXT SUMMER, OPENING IN PLYMOUTH ON 21 JULY 2023.

Producers Mark Goucher, Gavin Kalin and Matthew Gale are ogre the moon to announce that the brand-new production of Shrek the Musical will tour to a further 14 theatres across the UK and Ireland. Opening at Theatre Royal Plymouth on 21 July 2023, the smash hit musical will tour through to April 2024 to a total of 31 venues.  

From the producers of Hairspray and Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Shrek the Musical brings together a new creative team to re-image this award-winning Broadway and West End hit show for a new audience, featuring all the classic characters from the Oscar®-winning DreamWorks animated film and the iconic songs and story from David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori’s original musical.

Shrek the Musical opens at Plymouth Theatre Royal on 21 July 2023 and then tours to Manchester, Dublin, Bristol, Southend, Carlisle, Aberdeen, Oxford, Wimbledon, Dartford, Northampton, Bradford, Woking, Eastbourne, Cardiff, York and Blackpool.

The new venues announced today for 2024 are Glasgow Kings, Edinburgh Playhouse, Coventry Belgrade, Sunderland Empire, Liverpool Empire, Southampton Mayflower, Milton Keynes Theatres, Hull New, Cheltenham Everyman, Nottingham Playhouse, Norwich Theatre Royal, Grand Opera House Belfast, The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham and The Millenium Forum, Derry. For full listings, please see the notes to editors below.

The national press night will be Thursday 3 August 2023 at Opera House Manchester.

The team joining forces to re-create the bright and beautiful world of Shrek the Musical includes co-director Sam Holmes (Club Tropicana the Musical), who returns to the swamp having played Lord Farquaad in the previous UK tour. He is joined by acclaimed director and choreographer Nick Winston (Bonnie and Clyde, Arts Theatre; Beauty and the Beast, UK tour). Set and costume design will be by Philip Witcomb (Bonnie & Clyde In Concert, Theatre Royal Drury Lane; Jack & The Beanstalk, Everyman Theatre Cheltenham). Further creative team includes Ben Cracknel (Lighting) and Ben Harrison (Sound).

Join our unlikely hero Shrek and his noble steed Donkey as they embark on a big, bright, musical adventure. Based on the Oscar®-winning DreamWorks animated film, the Broadway and West End hit Shrek the Musical is a fun-filled, hilarious musical comedy with a cast of vibrant characters and a ‘shrektacular’ score.

Featuring the beloved Princess Fiona, the evil Lord Farquaad, a host of magical fairy-tale characters and fabulous songs including the smash hit ‘I’m a Believer’, Shrek the Musical is a ‘musical extravaganza for big kids and little kids alike’ (Bristol Post).

Come join the adventure as Shrek and Donkey endeavour to complete their quest, finding unexpected friendships and surprising romance along the way. A perfect night out for the young, and the young at heart, the award-winning Shrek the Musical is guaranteed fun for all ages and will have you dancing in the aisles and laughing all the way home.

Salisbury Playhouse, Salisbury – until 5 November 2022

Reviewed by Gemma Gibson

5*****

When I saw the advert for Good Luck, Studio, I knew it was going to be funny. You could just tell it was going to be bonkers.

But to give that level of twisted, adult humour to the supposed filming of a kids TV show, now that is the perfect and unexpected recipe for comedy.

With just one more hour of filming to go, the Wibble the Dragon team is more than ready to say good bye to the iconic and widely-loved show. If they can complete the hour without – another – accident, that would be better. 

But, when a failed actor turns turns up with his own vendetta (and dragon costume), it might not just be the team’s reputation and careers on the line. 

Already a fan of Mischief Theatre, of The Play that Goes Wrong fame, I was very excited to see what else the company could do.

Act One opens with a panto feel, but you’re soon reminded it’s not that kind of show. For two hours the audience is taken through a whirlwind of explosive moments, different worlds within the studio and fast-paced fight scenes, all-the-while some people dressed as royal fruit. 

The characters were brilliantly thought through, the comical cast bringing each crazy personality to life from their first moments on stage.

There was ‘Princess Pineapple’ Elizabeth (played by Jemma Geanaus) determined to fake an injury for cash, medic Kevin (Greg Tannahill) getting himself in a sticky situation and script writer Sean obsessed with Dr Seuss (Harry Kershaw). It doesn’t seem like it should work, and I suppose for the creation of a children’s show it doesn’t, but for us watching, it really did.

And don’t forget the novice villain of the show, determined to be the star, played expertly by Gareth Tempest.

Andy, Bafta award-winning director who loathed everyone (played by Tom Walker) was definitely an audience favourite – you could never tell what his next evil and yet witty, hilarious insult would be. 

On that note, the clever narrative and script for this show, combined with the impeccable timing and flair of the actors, made it just so much fun to watch. After all, turning a children’s TV show into a hostage situation is just bananas.

Timing was such an important element of this show, and each and every person on that stage delivered. And, amidst the laugh-out-loud moments, there was a nice reminder that things considered unimportant to some, are a huge deal to others.

A special shout out must be given to the incredible and vibrant set too, which transported us to various settings and times within the studio with ease. 

This clever, dark comedy will have you laughing throughout. If you need a joyous night out I can’t recommend it enough. 

I’d love to think all kid shows are this mental behind the scenes!

SOPHIE OKONEDO AND BEN DANIELS STAR IN
A NEW PRODUCTION OF
MEDEA
DIRECTED BY DOMINIC COOKE
@SOHOPLACE

• Sophie Okonedo and Ben Daniels return to the West End to star in Robinson Jeffers’
  adaptation of Euripides’ Medea, directed by Dominic Cooke.
• Opening @sohoplace on 17 February 2023, with previews from 11 February.
• The production will run until 22 April 2023 in a strictly limited 10-week season
• Medea is the second production for Fictionhouse, run by Dominic Cooke and Kate Horton.
• Fictionhouse’s first production, GOOD starring David Tennant, is currently playing to sold-out houses at The Harold Pinter Theatre.
• Further casting to be announced.
• Tickets are on sale today, 19 October 2022.

Fictionhouse Limited, Nica Burns and Kate Pakenham Productions today announce Medea, adapted by Robinson Jeffers from the play by Euripides. Dominic Cooke directs with Sophie Okonedo as Medea and Ben Daniels as Jason/Creon/Aegeus, with full cast to be announced. The production opens at @sohoplace on 17 February, with previews from 11 February, and runs until 22 April 2023. Further casting to be announced.

Medea sees Dominic Cooke reuniting with long-term collaborators’ Sophie Okonedo and Ben Daniels, most recently with BBC’s The Hollow Crown – Wars of the Roses, in addition to working together across multiple stage productions since the 1990s.

What could turn a woman from a lover into a destroyer of love?

Medea tells the story of a woman laid bare by grief and rage, and her terrible quest for revenge against the men who have abandoned her.

Sophie Okonedo brings her visceral, mercurial brilliance to literature’s most titanic female
protagonist, whose complexity and contradictions have kept audiences on the edge of their seats, unable to look away, for almost 2,500 years.

Sophie Okonedo said, “I am really excited and a touch nervous to be playing Medea. I’m buoyed by the fact I’m working with two of my closest friends and long-term collaborators, Dominic Cooke and Ben Daniels. I was lucky enough to have Nica Burns show me around the new @sohoplace theatre while it was still being built, and I was so impressed by the space that I signed up immediately to perform there!”

Dominic Cooke also commented, “I have been friends with Sophie Okonedo since we were in our teens. We’ve worked together many times including on Arabian Nights at the Young Vic in 1998 and The Hollow Crown: Wars of the Roses for the BBC in 2015. Sophie is one of our most visceral, emotionally connected actors and I have long thought she’d be a brilliant Medea. I am over the moon that it’s now happening as the second West End production for Fictionhouse, run by Kate Horton and myself. I’m also really looking forward to working again with the super talented Ben Daniels after our hugely fulfilling collaboration on The Normal Heart at the National Theatre. Ben and Sophie have been an explosive onstage partnership in the past and I can’t wait to see them playing these iconic roles together in Nica Burns’ thrilling new auditorium @sohoplace.”

Design Vicki Mortimer
Lighting Neil Austin
Sound Gareth Fry

Produced by Fictionhouse Limited, Nica Burns and Kate Pakenham Productions