Birmingham Repertory Theatre are currently housing Rachel Kavanaugh’s revival of His Dark Materials, prior to the tour which arrives at the Lowry in April.

Former NT Associate Director Nicholas Wright adapted Philip Pullman’s novel trilogy – consisting of Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass – for the National Theatre’s lavish production, directed by Nicholas Hytner, which opened in the Olivier in December 2003.

Lyra and Will embark on a thrilling journey through worlds familiar and unknown. Their great quest demands a savage struggle against the most dangerous of enemies. They encounter fantastical creatures in parallel worlds – rebellious angels, soul-eating spectres, child-catching gobblers and the armoured bears and witch-clans of the Arctic. Finally, before reaching, perhaps, the Republic of Heaven, they must visit the Land of the Dead…

Kavanaugh’s production marks the first major UK revival of Wright’s two-part play cycle, and features a host of familiar REP faces joined by a group of young actors drawn from the theatre’s Young REP, alongside puppets by Mark Down and Nick Barnes at Blind Summit Theatre.

Lyra is played by Amy McAllister, last seen at the REP as Hilde Wangel in Lucy Bailey’s 2008 production of Ibsen’s The Lady From The Sea. She is joined by Nick Barber, as Will, whose last appearance at the REP was in 2005 as Eric Birling in the NT’s touring production of Stephen Daldry’s hit staging of JB Priestley’s An Inspector Calls.

John Hodgkinson returns as Lord Asriel, continuing his long association with Kavanaugh which has seen him appear in her recent productions of Tom Stoppard’s Hapgood and Arcadia, as Astrov in Uncle Vanya. Hodgkinson’s Hapgood co-star Christopher Ettridge returns as Lord Boreal, while his fellow Hare trilogy ensemble member Timothy Kightley returns as Fra Coram.

The company is completed by Nicholas Asbury, Charlotte Asprey, Daniel Brocklebank, Ian Conningham, Minnie Crowe, Josie Daxter, Geoffrey Lumb, Emma Manton, Emma Pallant and Ben Thompson.

The five-week Birmingham run (currently previewing, opens Mar 26, runs to Apr 18) precedes a national tour, which takes in Salford, Oxford, Bromley, Northampton, Edinburgh and concluding in Leeds, where it runs at West Yorkshire Playhouse between May 28 – Jun 20.

His Dark Materials arrives at The Lowry from 23rd- 26th April.

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