Casting announced for national tour of The Herbal Bed

Producers have announced the full cast for the first national tour of Peter Whelan’s The Herbal Bed, which opens at the Royal & Derngate, Northampton next month.

Emma Lowndes (Downton Abbey, Thérèse Raquin) leads the cast alongside two time Olivier-nominee Charlotte Wakefield (The Sound of Music, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), Philip Correia (The History Boys, National Theatre), Patrick Driver (Curious Incident, Apollo Theatre), Jonathan Guy Lewis (An Inspector Calls, Aldwych Theatre), Michael Mears (Conversations with my Father, Old Vic) and Matt Whitchurch (Pine, Hampstead Theatre).

Royal & Derngate artistic director James Dacre directs the play, a co-production from English Touring Theatre, Royal & Derngate and Rose Theatre Kingston, which is the first major revival of Whelan’s play.

The production will tour to Cambridge, Liverpool, Exeter, Brighton, Manchester, Bath and Oxford, before completing its run at the Rose Theatre Kingston in May.

The Herbal Bed, which will also feature original music by Icelandic composer Valgeir Sigurðsson, recounts real events surrounding the public trial of Shakespeare’s daughter, who was accused of adultery with her neighbour.

It was first produced to great acclaim by the Royal Shakespeare Company before transferring to the West End and Broadway, winning the Writer’s Guild and TMA Awards.