Royal Exchange announces casting for Even These Things

The Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester has announced that Elaine Cassidy and Katherine Pearce will lead the cast of Rory Mullarkey’s new play Even These Things, which premieres next month.

Running as part of the venue’s 50th anniversary season, the drama takes place in three different moments of Manchester’s history, including the day an IRA bomb exploded in the city centre in 1996. Directed by James Macdonald, it runs from 15 May to 15 June 2026, the final performance marking exactly 30 years to the day when the bomb exploded.

Irish actress Elaine Cassidy will play Annie Donovan/Kaz. Her film credits include Disco Pigs, for which she won the Irish Film and Television Award, Felicia’s Journey and The Wonder alongside Florence Pugh, while on stage she’s been seen in Aristocrats, Fathers and Sons and Les Liasons Dangereuses (Donmar Warehouse), as well as Scenes from the Big Picture (National Theatre), There Came a Gypsy Riding (Almeida Theatre), The Lieutenant of Inishmore and The Crucible (RSC).

She’s joined by Katherine Pearce as Jenny, who returns to the Royal Exchange after starring in Our Pals and No Pay? No Way! in 2023. She also appeared in the National Theatre’s production of Husbands and Sons at the venue in 2016. Further theatre credits include The Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare’s Globe), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King John and The Whip (RSC), and Island Town (Edinburgh Fringe). Her screen credits include the BAFTA‑winning drama Three Girls (BBC), and the films England is Mine and My Cousin Rachel.

Fionnuala Dorrity is also joining the cast as Helicopter pilot/Queen Victoria, and the production will also feature a community cast of 108 participants from across all ten Greater Manchester boroughs.

The creative team also includes designer Laura Hopkins, lighting designer Charles Balfour, sound designer Ian Dickinson, movement and intimacy director Georgina Lamb, casting director Amy Ball and dramaturg Emily McLaughlin.