Orange Tree and ATC announce casting for Rice

The Orange Tree Theatre has announced casting for its upcoming UK premiere of Michele Lee's Rice, a co-production with Actors Touring Company (ATC).

ATC artistic director Matthew Xia directs the two-hander, which will star Zainab Hasan as Nisha and Sarah Lam as Yvette.

The production opens on 13 October (previews from 9 October) and runs until 13 November at Orange Tree, with livestreamed performances via OT on screen on 4 and 5 November.

The play centres on Nisha, a young hotshot executive working for Australia's largest producer of rice, and Yvette, an older Chinese migrant, who cleans up her mess. The two form a powerful – if unlikely – bond as they navigate the complexities of their lives and the world at large.

Zainab Hasan's theatre credits include The Motherhood Project (Battersea Arts Centre), Living Newspaper (Royal Court Theatre), The Welkin (National Theatre), The Shakespeare Trilogy (Donmar Warehouse), Timon of Athens (RSC) and Boy (Almeida Theatre).

Sarah Lam returns to the Orange Tree Theatre having previously appeared in Factors Unforeseen. Other theatre credits include Paradise (National Theatre), Snow in Midsummer (RSC), Richard II (Globe), La Cage aux Folles (Park Theatre) and Chimerica (Almeida Theatre).

Writer Michele Lee is an Asian-Australian working across television, film, stage, books, audio and live art. Her awards for Rice include the Australian Writer's Guild Award for Best Original Stage Play.

Rice continues with the Orange Tree's socially distanced seating and safety measures, which will remain in place until January 2022.

Completing the creative team is Hyemi Shin (designer), Bethany Gupwell (lighting designer) and Lex Kosanke (sound designer), Asha Jennings-Grant (movement director) and Sophie Parrott (casting consultant CDG).

Rice will be touring across the UK from February to April 2022, produced by ATC and the Orange Tree Theatre in association with Theatre Royal Plymouth.