Amy Lennox and Olive Gray to star in Spy for Spy world premiere 

Casting for Riverside Studios’ world premiere of a new two-hander play Spy for Spy has been announced. 

The show is a romantic comedy with a twist – scenes will be performed in random order, ensuring that no two performances will be the same. It is to be presented in Studio 3 from 15 June to 2 July, with a press night on 20 June.

Set to appear are Olive Gray, whose credits include Halo, while they were also the lead in Sky Atlantic’s Save Me Too with Lennie James.

Opposite them will be Amy Lennox, who recently played the lead role of Sally Bowles in Cabaret. Other credits include the original West End cast of Kinky Boots. 

The play, written by Kieron Barry and directed by Lucy Jane Atkinson, is a co-production between Feather Productions and TeamAkers. The production company is led by Suranne Jones (Doctor Foster) and Laurence Akers, making their first foray into theatre production.

The play tells the story of Sarah and Molly, two Californians who are in love but have nothing else in common. As they try to make their relationship work, the audience will see them break up, meet the parents, move in together, and fall in love – all in a completely random order. 

One of the unique aspects of the play is that audiences will have the opportunity to affect the show they’re about to watch. Six people will be asked to pick a song title at random, and each song title relates to a scene. The order in which the song titles are picked will be the order in which the scenes are performed.

Atkinson explained: “I am so excited to be working with Olive and Amy on this show. They each bring with them a wealth of experience on stage and screen, as well as a playfulness, bravery, and enthusiasm which suits them perfectly to this piece. I can’t wait to get into rehearsal and see them bring these characters to life.”

In addition to the two lead actors, the creative team consists of designer Bethia Jane Green, lighting designer Holly Ellis, and sound designer Anna Short.

Barry added: “I wanted to write a play which would recreate the zigzagging, chaotic sensations of recollection, and in particular the act of summoning memory to examine the sharpest question of all: were we loved?”

Jones commented: “This is our inaugural step into theatre production, and we couldn’t be prouder of the people who’ve come together to make this a reality.”

Tickets are on sale now.