Full cast for Inspector Sands’ Wuthering Heights tour revealed

The complete cast and creative team have been announced for Inspector Sands’ upcoming touring adaptation of Emily Brontë’s classic novel Wuthering Heights, set to open at Northampton’s Royal and Derngate next month.

This new version is told through the eyes and memories of housekeeper Nelly and has been conceived and developed by Inspector Sands founding members Ben Lewis and Lucinka Eisler, penned by Ben Lewis and directed by Eisler.

Eisler said: “The show is ostensibly set in the 1750s of the story, but it is its contemporary resonances we are most drawn to, so the visual world, script and physical language all have a playful nod to a contemporary perspective on this classic. Brontë’s novel illustrates the way violence, beliefs and family dynamics are passed down from generation to generation. In turn, we look at the way the story we have inherited from Brontë speaks to the huge risks of ignoring history.

“We’re interested in treading the line between darkness and comedy where the most human of experiences seem to lie.

“Elena is excited to be collaborating with co-sound designer, Dan Balfour and their highly-charged sound design is central to the show’s language, with a rich score composed of contemporary music and original soundscapes – it’s a character in its own right! The experience will be highly sensory, with the violence in the novel transposed through live foley sound (played out on stage as part of the action) and the characters’ internal worlds spilling out into the vast weatherscapes of the Yorkshire moors.”

Alongside sound designers Elena Peña and Balfour, the creative team also features designer Jamie Vartan, lighting designer Ben Ormerod, associate director Chris Yarnell, costume designer Johanna Martensson, voice and accent coach Gurkiran Kaur, intimacy on set director Ita O’Brien, intimacy coordinator Rose Ryan, assistant intimacy coordinator Veniece Forde and consulting artist Tanuja Amarasuriya. Helen Mugridge is production manager and the stage management team are Roisin Symes (CSM) and Daniel Roach-Williams (ASM). Shally Gadhoke is the production’s Wellbeing Practitioner.

The cast includes Leander Deeny (he/him) (The Wonderful World of Dissocia) as Earnshaw / Edgar / Linton, John Askew (he/him) (Road) as Hindley / Hareton, Giulia Innocenti (she/her) (The Elephantom) as Nelly, Lua Bairstow (they/she) (The Sound Grief Project) as Catherine / Catherine’s ghost, Ike Bennett (he/him) (Road) as Heathcliff and Nicole Sawyerr (she/her) (Beneath the City) as Isabella / Frances / Young Cathy.

Wuthering Heights will open at Royal and Derngate, Northampton from 24 April to 6 May, with a national press night set for 28 April. It will then tour to Oxford Playhouse (9 to 12 May), Warwick Arts Centre (16 to 18 May), Rose Theatre, Kingston (23 to 27 May) and Newcastle’s Northern Stage (6 to 10 June).

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