”The Band’s Visit” musical – meet the European premiere cast

The European premiere of The Band’s Visit welcomes the critics to the Donmar Warehouse tomorrow evening, so be sure to check WhatsOnStage on Friday for our review of the Grammy and ten-time Tony-winning musical!

In the meantime, however, you can get to know four principal cast members – Miri Mesika (who plays Dina), Alon Moni Aboutboul (Tewfiq), Yali Topol Margalith (Anna) and Peter Polycarpou (Avrum) – as we recently sat down with the talented quartet to get their thoughts on the highly anticipated production.

Telling the story of a band of Egyptian musicians who, after a slight miscommunication, travel to a small town in the middle of the Negev Desert in Israel instead of their intended bustling city destination, The Band’s Visit features a score by David Yazbek and book by Itamar Moses, based on the screenplay by Eran Kolirin.

Alongside Mesika, a seven-time Israeli Female Singer of the Year Award winner, Aboutboul, Margalith and Polycarpou, the company also includes Sharif Afifi, Andy Findon, Marc Antolin, Harel Glazer, Levi Goldmeier, Ido Gonen, Michal Horowicz, Emma Kingston, Shira Kravitz, Nitai Levi, Ashley Margolis, Carlos Mendoza de Hevia, Ant Romero, Idlir Shyti, Maya Kristal Tenenbaum, Sargon Yelda and Baha Yetkin.

Under the direction of Michael Longhurst, the production’s creative team features musical supervisor Nigel Lilley, designer Soutra Gilmour, lighting designer Anna Watson, sound designer Paul Groothuis, choreographer, movement director and intimacy director Yarit Dor, casting director Anna Cooper, musical director Tarek Merchant, associate director Orr Benezra-Segal, assistant musical director Natalie Pound, resident assistant director Dadiow Lin, cultural consultant Dr Lina Khatib, Arabic music consultant Attab Haddad and dialect coach Caitlin Stegemoller.