Cast: Poulet & Drake in Shivered, Cave leads Mary Rose
The Thick of It’s Olivia Poulet will star opposite Joseph Drake (Vernon God Little) in the world premiere of Philip Ridley’s new play Shivered at the Southwark Playhouse next month.
A young couple are moving into their new home. A soldier is being held hostage. Two boys are searching for monsters. All these things are connected by both family and time… but what story can be told when family and time are broken?
Covering over twelve years, Shivered, which is set in the Essex new-town of Draylingstowe, “unpicks the story of two families and then re-weaves it into something new and startling”.
The premiere production, which will be directed by Russell Bolam, follows recent revivals of Ridley’s The Pitchfork Disney (currently at the Arcola Theatre) and Tender Napalm, previously also at the Southwark Playhouse.
Olivia Poulet’s previous stage credits include Top Girls (Chichester/West End), A Voyage Round My Father (Salisbury) and Fiasco (Soho). Her TV credits include The Thick of It, Sherlock, Outnumbered, Love Soup and Whatever Love Means, while film credits include In The Loop.
Joseph Drake’s most recent stage credits include the title role in Vernon God Little at the Young Vic, as well as roles in The Lion in Winter (West End) and The Deep Blue Sea (Chichester).
In other casting news, Harry Potter actress Jessie Cave will play the title role in Mary Rose, adapted from the ghost story by Peter Pan author JM Barrie.
The production, which runs from 30 March to 28 April (previews from 28 March) at the Riverside Studios, will be directed by Matthew Parker and feature original music composed by Maria Haik Escudero and performed live.
Cave played Lavender Brown in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Parts 1 and 2. In 2009 she made her West End debut, playing Thomasina in a revival of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia at the Duke of York’s Theatre. In 2011 she won an Off-West End stage award for her performance in Lou Ramsden’s Breed at Theatre 503.
