Kneehigh announces Brief Encounter cast and West End run details

Casting has been announced for the Kneehigh production of Noel Coward's Brief Encounter, which will run in the West End for six months next year.

Performed at the Empire Cinema Haymarket, the piece is adapted and directed by Emma Rice based on the famed 1945 romantic film.

The show's cast will be composed of Jim Sturgeon as Alec (a role he previously played in 2013), Isabel Pollen (Joan of Arc) as Laura, Lucy Thackeray (A Midsummer Night's Dream) as Myrtle, Beverly Rudd (The Tin Drum) as Beryl, Jos Slovick (Once) as Stanley and Dean Nolan (Big Fish) as Fred/Albert, with Katrina Kleve (Cabaret) and Peter Dukes (Twelfth Night) completing the ensemble.

Prior to its run at the Empire cinema, Brief Encounter will run at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre from 2 to 17 February and at The Lowry, Salford from 20 to 24 February.

Emma Rice said: "I’ve always loved getting lost in the dark, and the cinema is one of the best places to do it. However, a film doesn’t change. It carries on whether you are there or not; performances are captured forever, never altering. My production of Brief Encounter combines the romance of cinema with all that live theatre can offer; magic, passion, surprise, suggestion and naughtiness."

Brief Encounter originally opened at the Birmingham Rep before a run in the West End in 2008, going on to be performed on Broadway and on an international tour.

The show will be designed by Neil Murray, with lighting by Malcolm Rippeth, original music by Stu Barker, sound by Simon Baker and projection by Gemma Carrington and Jon Driscoll.

Brief Encounter runs at the Empire Cinema Haymarket from 11 March to 2 September.

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