”When Winston went to War with the Wireless” set to star Stephen Campbell Moore and Adrian Scarborough
© Provided by the production
The Donmar Warehouse has unveiled casting for Jack Thorne’s play When Winston went to War with the Wireless.
Thorne’s play is billed as “a true story about truth”, set during the General Strike of May 1926, when Britain came to a standstill. With the printing presses shut down, the only sources of news were the government’s The British Gazette, edited by Winston Churchill, and the independent British Broadcasting Company, led by John Reith. What follows is a fierce battle for control of the news and who gets to define the truth.
Stephen Campbell Moore (The History Boys) will play Reith, and Adrian Scarborough (Leopoldstadt) as Churchill in a production directed by Katy Rudd. The show opens on 13 June, with previews from 2 June, and will run until 29 July. Further casting is to be confirmed.
To celebrate the Donmar’s 30th anniversary, the theatre will offer £10 tickets to audiences under 30 years of age, with support from Associate Sponsor Barclays. This initiative is part of the theatre’s ongoing mission to make theatre more accessible to a wider range of people.
Thorne said today: “So delighted to announce this wonderful cast. Adrian is going to dazzle as the younger Churchill we’ve barely seen before, and Stephen will delight in bringing all the Gary Lineker shades in Reith. The BBC has constantly found itself pinched by Government crows, this was the first pinching and it feels an ever more apposite time to bring it to the stage.”
