The Invention of Love with Simon Russell Beale announces complete casting

Hampstead Theatre has announced the full cast for its upcoming production of Tom Stoppard’s The Invention of Love, directed by Blanche McIntyre.

Joining Simon Russell Beale as A E Housman is Matthew Tennyson, who will play the role of the young Housman. The cast also includes Dickie Beau as Oscar Wilde, Stephen Boxer as Dr Jowett/Labouchère, Jonnie Broadbent as Walter Pater/Frank Harris, Seamus Dillane as Pollard, and Florence Dobson as Katharine Housman.

The ensemble is completed by Peter Landi as Pattison/Postgate, Ben Lloyd-Hughes as Moses Jackson, Michael Marcus as Chamberlain/Ellis, Dominic Rowan as John Ruskin/W T Stead/Jerome K Jerome, and Alan Williams as Charon.

Stoppard’s play follows the final journey of the poet and scholar A E Housman, who finds himself transported back to the Oxford of his youth while crossing the river Styx to Hades. There, he revisits the intellectual debates and friendships that influenced his life, including figures like John Ruskin and Walter Pater, and encounters the spirit of Oscar Wilde.

This marks Stoppard’s return to Hampstead Theatre following revivals of Hapgood and Rock ‘n’ Roll. The production’s creative team includes designer Morgan Large, lighting designer Peter Mumford, composer and sound designer Max Pappenheim, and movement director Polly Bennett. Matt Dann will serve as assistant director, with casting by Anna Cooper.

The production will run at Hampstead Theatre from 4 December 2024 to 25 January 2025, with a press night on 16 December. Tickets are on sale now