Theatre News

Raison Returns to WOS Winner, Hall Season, Bike

Miranda Raison will return to Shakespeare’s Globe this summer to revive the title role in Howard Brenton’s Whatsonstage.com Award-winning play Anne Boleyn.

Following its sell-out run last year, Brenton’s play about one of England’s most notorious queens returns to the Globe for 22 performances, playing in rep between 8 July to 21 August 2011.

Raison is joined by a number of the 2010 cast including Anthony Howell as Henry VIII and James Garnon as James I. Many of the Anne Boleyn company can now be seen in All’s Well That Ends Well, also directed by John Dove, which opened at the Globe on 5 May 2011 (previews 27 April) and continues in rep until 21 August.

Miranda Raison is best known for her role in the BBC drama Spooks and ITV’s Married Single Other. Her stage credits include Henry VIII for the Globe, The Rivals at Salisbury Playhouse and The Man Who Came to Dinner at Chichester.

Howard Brenton won the 2011 Whatsonstage.com Award for Best New Play, with Anne Boleyn forming part of the Globe’s ongoing programme of new writing. His many plays include Danton’s Death, Never So Good, Paul, Roman’s in Britain, Pravda (with David Hare), The Churchill Play and In Extremis. Brenton’s writing for television includes 13 episodes of Spooks as well as essays, poetry and a novel.

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Casting has been announced for Peter Hall‘s eighth summer season at the Theatre Royal Bath, with four productions reflecting aspects of England at war, and beginning with two of Shakespeare’s greatest histories.

Hall re-visits Shakespeare’s Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 for the first time since the 1960s when they were part of his Wars of the Roses cycle for the RSC. The production, performed in its two parts, will run from 27 July (previews from 7 July) to 13 August 2011.

The cast have been annouced as Desmond Barrit, Paul Bentall, Luke Courtier, Michael Mears, Cornelius Booth, Peter Bygott, Edward Harrison, Alex Blake, Danny Ashok, Tom Mison, Wendy Morgan, Ross Waiton, Robert East, Philip Voss, Katie Lightfoot, David Yelland, Ben Mansfield, Lizzy McInnerny and Dominic Thorburn.

Stephen Unwin, artistic director of the Rose Theatre in Kingston, returns to the Theatre Royal Bath and will present Noel Coward‘s 1942 play This Happy Breed from 26 July (previews 19 July) to 13 August 2011. Originally written in 1939 with rehearsals interrupted by the war, This Happy Breed became a hugely successful film in 1944, directed by David Lean and starring Robert Newton and Celia Johnson.

Cast for the production have been announced as Dean Lennox Kelly, Rebecca Johnson and Marjorie Yates.

Alan Bennett‘s The Madness of George III will close the season, running 24 August (previews from 17 August) to 3 September 2011. Originally premiered at the National Theatre in 1991, the play went on to become an international theatrical sensation and was adapted into an award-winning film in 1994.

The cast includes: William Belchambers, Ed Cooper Clarke, David Haig, Orlando James, Christopher Keegan, Beruce Khan, Clive Francis, Gary Mackay, Simon Markey, Chris McCalphy, Peter McGovern, Patrick Moy, Gary Oliver, Peter Pacey, Nicholas Rowe, Ryan Saunders, Madhav Sharma, John Webb, Karren Winchester and Thomas Wheatley.

Christopher Luscombe directs, having previously helmed Bennett’s Enjoy as part of the 2008 Peter Hall Season and in the West End, and The History Boys.


Finally, the Royal Court have announced the cast for Penelope Skinner‘s debut play The Village Bike with star of the BBC’s Emma Romola Garai joining the provocative and darkly comic play. She is joined in the cast by Nicholas Burns and Alexandra Gilbreath

The Village Bike sees pregnant Becky (Garai) frustrated by her husband (Burns). He is more interested in the baby manual than her new underwear so she turns to the porn stash under the bed. As the summer heats up, a brief encounter sends her speeding downhill towards reckless abandon.

Romola Garai‘s stage credits include Three Sisters at the Lyric Hammersmith and King Lear and The Seagull for the RSC. On screen, she appeared in the BBC drama The Crimson Petal and the White and also took the title role in the BBC adaptation of Emma. On film, she appeared in Atonement, Nicholas Nickleby, I Capture the Castle and The Other Man.

Nicholas Burns has recently been seen in Ghost Stories in the West End, Lyric Hammersmith and Liverpool. His other stage credits include Fat Pig in the West End and Much Ado About Nothing. On television, he has worked extensively in comedy, including roles in Pyschoville, Benidorm and as the title role in Nathan Barley.

Alexandra Gilbreath‘s stage credits include Hay Fever at the Rose Theatre Kingston, Lucky You at Edinburgh Festival, and extensive work for the RSC including an Olivier-nominated performance in Twelfth Night. On screen, she is best known for playing Stella Moon in the BBC’s Monarch of the Glen.

The Village Bike is directed by Joe Hill-Gibbins. Further casting is still to be announced.