SONIA FRIEDMAN PRODUCTIONS ANNOUNCES
CAST FOR
THE WEST END TRANSFER OF
THE OLD VIC PRODUCTION OF
TOM STOPPARD’S
ARCADIA
OPENING AT THE DUKE OF YORK’S THEATRE IN JUNE 2026
Sonia Friedman Productions (SFP) today announces casting for the West End transfer of The Old Vic’s acclaimed and Olivier Award nominated production of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia, directed by Carrie Cracknell. The production runs at the Duke of York’s Theatre, which is being newly renovated into the round, from Saturday 20 June – Saturday 12 September 2026.
Cracknell directs Nikki Amuka-Bird as Hannah Jarvis and Oliver Chris as Bernard Nightingale who join the cast alongside Aaron Anthony as Richard Noakes, David Buttle as Captain Brice, Matthew Doswell as Gus Coverly / Augustus Coverly and Yolanda Kettle as Lady Croom. Returning to the production following The Old Vic run are Angus Cooper as Valentine Coverly, Seamus Dillane as Septimus Hodge, Tim Frances as Jellaby, Holly Godliman as Chloë Coverly, Isis Hainsworth reprising her Olivier Award-nominated role as Thomasina Coverly and Matthew Steer as Ezra Chater, with understudies Alex Britt, Peta Cornish and Keziah Hayes.
Nikki Amuka-Bird said, “Hannah Jarvis is a fascinating woman – fiercely intelligent, endlessly curious, always searching for the truth. Tom Stoppard gives her wonderful precision, wit and depth. I’m delighted to be playing her with this company in the West End and to be reuniting with the brilliant Carrie Cracknell.”
Oliver Chris said, “When I saw Carrie Cracknell’s wonderful production of Arcadia at The Old Vic I was completely captivated by it. Tom Stoppard’s writing is dazzlingly intelligent and deeply moving all at once and I can’t wait to be part of bringing this production into the West End and getting my teeth into the role of Bernard.”
The production plays in the round, with limited On-Stage seating available. Tickets are on sale now: arcadiawestend.co.uk
Sonia Friedman Productions present
The Old Vic production of
ARCADIA
By Tom Stoppard
Directed by Carrie Cracknell
Set Design Alex Eales; Costume Design: Suzanne Cave; Lighting Design: Guy Hoare; Sound Design: Donato Wharton; Movement: Ira Mandela Siobhan; Composer: Stuart Earl; Casting: Serena Hill CDG
Duke of York’s Theatre
20 June – 12 September 2026
Brilliant minds. Burning hearts. The irresistible pull between chaos and order.
A dazzling collision of science and romance, Arcadiaexplores the beauty of curiosity, the ache of lost knowledge and the timeless thrill of discovery.
In a country house, two centuries apart, genius, passion and discipline unfold. In 1809, teenage prodigy, Thomasina Coverly races ahead of her time – exploring mathematics, nature and the unpredictable forces that govern both the universe and the human heart.
In the present day, author Hannah Jarvis investigates a mysterious chapter in the life of Lord Byron with precision, patience and rigor, determined to resist the pull of romanticised myth.
As past and present intwine, their questions begin to echo across time: can we ever truly understand the patterns of life or are we forever poised on the edge of disorder?
Facebook: Arcadia West End
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The Old Vic production of Arcadia will be produced in the West End by Sonia Friedman Productions and Winkler & Smalberg.
CAST BIOGRAPHIES
Nikki Amuka-Bird | Hannah Jarvis
Theatre credits include: The Lady from the Sea (Donmar Warehouse); God Bless the Child, Love and Information (Royal Court); Welcome to Thebes (National); Twelfth Night (Bristol Old Vic); World Music (Crucible Sheffield & Donmar); Top Girls (Oxford Stage Company); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest, The Servant of Two Masters (RSC); Doubt: A Parable (Tricycle).
TV credits include: Betrayal (ITV); Citadel (Prime Video); I, Jack Wright, Hard Sun, Gold Digger, NW, Luther, Spooks, Silent Witness, The Line of Beauty, The Last Enemy, Robin Hood, Survivors (BBC); Avenue 5, Quarry (HBO); Torchwood (BBC & Starz).
Film credits include: Clarissa (Neon); Rumours (Buffalo Gal Pictures); Here (Miramax / Sony Pictures); The Outfit (Focus Features); Jericho Ridge (Brilliant Pictures); Knock at the Cabin, Old (Universal Pictures); Persuasion, The Laundromat, Cargo (Netflix); The Personal History of David Copperfield (Searchlight Pictures); A Private War (Aviron Pictures); Jupiter Ascending (Warner Bros.); Denial, The Face of an Angel, Shoot the Messenger (BBC Films); The Children Act (A24); The Omen (20th Century Fox); Almost Heaven.
Nikki Amuka-Bird was nominated for Best Leading Actress at the 2017 TV BAFTA’s for her outstanding performance in the BBC drama adaptation of Zadie Smith’s globally successful book, NW.
Aaron Anthony | Richard Noakes
Theatre includes: Heart Wall (Bush Theatre); Cymbeline, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare’s Globe); A Doll’s House (Sheffield Crucible); The Motive and the Cue (National Theatre); Yellowman (Orange Tree Theatre); Shakespeare in Love (West End); Twelfth Night, Billy Liar (Royal Exchange Manchester); Lose Yourself (Sherman Theatre); Romeo & Juliet (Insane Root); A View from the Bridge, Macbeth (Tobacco Factory Theatre); ’Tis Unmanly Grief (Theatre N16); Twelfth Night, Billy Liar (Royal Exchange Manchester); Human Emotional Process (Chaskis/Arts Theatre).
Television includes: The Blame, Father Brown, The Pact, Behind Her Eyes, Emmerdale, The Other One, Shakespeare & Hathaway, Midsomer Murders, Delicious, Doctors, Outlaws, Witless, Holby City.
Short Film includes: I, You and Silent Phantom.
David Buttle | Captain Brice
Theatre includes: Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons, Backstairs Billy (West End), The Mad Gay King (King’s Head).
Television includes: Slow Horses, Aids: The Unheard Tapes.
Film includes: The Nightingale.
Oliver Chris | Bernard Nightingale
Oliver Chris is a British actor and writer whose work spans stage, television, and film. He is currently a series regular in Disney’s smash hit Rivals and recently starred as Freddie in Terence Rattigan’s The
Deep Blue Sea alongside Tamsin Greig at Theatre Royal Bath.
A veteran of London theatre, Oliver’s stage career includes acclaimed performances in King Charles III (Almeida/West End/Broadway) and One Man, Two Guvnors (National/West End/ Broadway), for which he received an Olivier nomination. His extensive National Theatre credits also include Season’s Greetings, Great Britain and Twelfth Night, and he starred in Nicholas Hytner’s celebrated production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at The Bridge Theatre.
On screen, Oliver began his television career in Ricky Gervais’ The Office and went on to appear in beloved comedies such as Nathan Barley, The IT Crowd, and Green Wing. He recurs in BBC’s Motherland, plays ‘Freddy’ in Apple TV’s Trying, and features in A Very British Scandal, Miss Scarlet & The Duke, The Crown, Foundation, and ITV’s Maternal. His recent film work includes Living, What’s Love Got To Do With It?, Emma, and Miss Marx, with Michael Winterbottom’s Shoshana forthcoming.
In addition to his acting career, Oliver is an accomplished playwright. His 2022 play Jack Absolute Flies Again premiered at the National Theatre to strong critical acclaim from outlets including Variety and The Times.
Angus Cooper | Valentine Coverly
Theatre includes: Arcadia (The Old Vic); 1536 (Almeida). Television includes: Black Doves, Lynley, Alice & Steve. Film includes: H is for Hawk, Anemone, Artificial.
Seamus Dillane | Septimus Hodge
Theatre credits include: Arcadia (The Old Vic); Anna Karenina (Chichester); Richard II (The Bridge); The Invention of Love (Hampstead); The Outrun (Church Hill/Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh); The Girls of Slender Means (Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh).
Tv credits include: Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.
Film credits include: Hillside Drive; The Outrun.
Matthew Doswell | Gus Coverly, Augustus Coverly
Matthew studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. Arcadia will be his professional and West End debut.
Credits whilst training includes: The Watsons, Tartuffe (The Imposter); Hamlet; Much Ado About Nothing (RWCMD).
Tim Frances | Jellaby
Theatre includes: Arcadia and Machinal (The Old Vic); Witness for the Prosecution, Breakfast At Tiffany’s, The 39 Steps, A Man For All Seasons, An Inspector Calls, June Moon (West End); Never So Good, Marat-Sade (National); Roman Holiday, Machinal (Theatre Royal Bath); Taxidermist’s Daughter, Sweet Bird of Youth, Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (Chichester); The Sound of Music (Regent’s Park); Anne Boleyn, Eternal Love, The Woman in the Moon (Shakespeare’s Globe); Blue Stockings, The Suicide (Storyhouse Chester); King Lear (West Yorks Playhouse); Lady Anna: All At Sea (Park); Christmas Carol (Bridge House); Government Inspector (Broadsides); Love on the Links, Magna Carta, Map of the Heart, Habeas Corpus (Salisbury Playhouse); 1936 (Sadlers Wells & Arcola); Oliver Twist (Bolton Octagon); He’s Much To Blame, Relatively Speaking, Twelfth Night and Wives As They Were & Maids As They Are (Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds); Wizard of Oz (Edinburgh Lyceum); Glee Club (New Vic Stoke), Prodigal Son, Purvis (Stephen Joseph Scarborough); Cabaret, Comedy of Errors (Duke’s Playhouse Lancaster).
Screen includes: Raynmaker, Emmerdale, Citadel, Sister Boniface Mysteries, The Trial of Christine Keeler, Four Lives, It’s All Lies, Big School, Gangsta Granny, The Day of the Triffids, Land Girls, Simon Schama’s Shakespeare, The Death of Marat, Rapture, Bad Girls, My Dad’s the Prime Minister, Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Cromwell, Holby City, East Enders, The Bill, Doctors, Lexx, Othello, That Deadwood Feeling and The Taming of the Shrew.
Radio includes: She Fell Among Thieves, readings of Browning & Tennyson (BBC Radio 4), two series of short stories (QBS).
Holly Godliman | Chloe Coverly
Training: Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Theatre credits include: Arcadia (The Old Vic); Doubt: A Parable (Theatre Royal Bath); Her Country (New Diorama); Macbeth, Help Me I’m Falling, The Welkin, Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties, Top Girls, Queen Margaret, The Hypocrite, Richard III, The Seagull (RWCMD); The Tempest, Uncle Vanya (RADA).
TV and film credits include: The Woman in Cabin 10 (Netflix), House of the Dragon S3 (HBO).
Isis Hainsworth | Thomasina Coverly
Theatre credits include: Arcadia (The Old Vic); Measure for Measure (RSC); The Outrun (Royal Lyceum & Edinburgh International Festival); The House of Bernarda Alba (National); Romeo and Juliet (Almeida); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bridge); Moonlight/Nightschool (Harold Pinter); Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour (Duke of York’s).
TV and film credits include: Metal Lords (Netflix); Emma (Focus Features); Misbehaviour (Left Bank Pictures); The Panopticon (Molinare TV & Film); Red Rose (BBC); Les Misérables, The Victim (BBC1); Harlots, In Plain Sight(ITV); Wanderlust (BBC1); One of Us (BBC1 & BBC Scotland).
Isis was named one of the Screen International Stars of Tomorrow in 2022.
Yolanda Kettle | Lady Croom
Theatre credits include: The Comeuppance; Patriots; Oil (Almeida); The Interview (Park); Anthropology; Eden; Hello / Goodbye (Hampstead); Plenty, For Services Rendered (Chichester); The Deep Blue Sea (National Theatre); Birdland (Royal Court); Little Light (Orange Tree); Coolatully (Finborough); A Tale of Two Cities (Royal & Derngate Northampton); Pride and Prejudice (Regent’s Park); A Doll’s House (Young Vic & Duke of York’s); The Seagull (Arcola).
TV credits include: The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ (BBC); Roadkill (BBC); Marcella (ITV); Howards End (BBC); Doc Martin (ITV); The Crown (Netflix), Love, Nina (BBC) Father Brown (BBC); The Collection (Amazon); Holby City (BBC)
Film credits include: Sweetsick (Searchlight); Persuasion (Netflix); Made in Italy (CrossDay Productions).
Matthew Steer | Ezra Chater
Theatre credits include: Arcadia (The Old Vic); The Twilight Zone, Shades (West End); One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Old Vic); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Young Vic); Hamlet (Barbican); The Victorian in the Wall (Royal Court); The Summer House (Gate); Britain’s Best Mates (Edinburgh Fringe).
Television credits include: Talamasca: The Secret Order, How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge), Shardlake, The Ipcress File, Showtrial, Les Misérables, Partners in Crime, Dangerous Liaisons, The Crown, Miss Scarlet, Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy War, Leonardo, Urban Myths, Becoming Elizabeth, Cinderella: After Ever After, Outlander, Misfits, The Last Kingdom, Informer, Drunk History, Cider with Rosie, You, Crackanory, Siblings.
Film credits include: Say Your Prayers, Urban Hymn, Cinderella, The Duke, SuperBob, Last Swim.
Radio credits include: The Haunted Man, Lenin Forever!, The Lambeth Waltz, The Victorian in the Wall.
CREATIVE BIOGRAPHIES
Tom Stoppard | Writer
Plays include: Leopoldstadt, The Hard Problem, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, The Real Inspector Hound, After Magritte, Jumpers, Dirty Linen, Dogg’s Hamlet, Cahoot’s Macbeth, Travesties, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Night and Day, Hapgood, Indian Ink, The Real Thing, The Invention of Love, The Coast of Utopia, Rock ’n’ Roll. Radio plays include: Darkside, If You’re Glad I’ll Be Frank, Albert’s Bridge, Where Are They Now?. Stoppard has received eight Evening Standard Awards and five Tony Awards for his plays. Television includes: Parade’s End, Professional Foul. Film includes: Despair, The Romantic Englishwoman, The Human Factor, Brazil, Empire of the Sun, The Russia House.
Carrie Cracknell | Director
Theatre work includes: Arcadia at the Old Vic (Nominated for Olivier Award, Best Revival); The Grapes of Wrath, Julie, The Deep Blue Sea, Medea and Blurred Lines at the National Theatre; Seawall/A Life at The Public and Broadway (Nominated for four Tony Awards); Oil and Portia Coughlan at the Almeida; Macbeth, Elektra at the Young Vic and A Doll’s House (nominated for Evening Standard Best Director Award) at the Young Vic, in the West End and at the Brooklyn Academy of Music; Birdland, Searched and Pigeons at the Royal Court; Breathing Irregular, Hedda, I am Falling (also at Sadler’s Wells; South Bank Show Award nomination for Dance), Armageddon and The Sexual Neuroses of our Parents at the Gate; and Dolls at the National Theatre of Scotland. Opera includes Carmen for the Met Opera New York and Wozzeck (Olivier nomination for Best New Opera Production) for the English National Opera. Film includes Persuasion (MRC/Netflix) and Nora (Short). Julie, The Deep Blue Sea and Medea have all played in cinemas worldwide through NT Live. Carrie Cracknell was Artistic Director at the Gate Theatre from 2007 to 2012, and previously Associate Director at both the Young Vic and the Royal Court Theatre.
LISTINGS
ARCADIA
Duke of York’s Theatre
20 June – 12 September 2026
Box Office: arcadiawestend.co.uk
Access Performances:
Captioned: Thursday 6 August, 7pm
BSL interpreted: Saturday 15 August, 7pm
Audio Described: Saturday 29 August, 1.30pm