Theatre News

”The Beekeeper of Aleppo” world premiere reveals cast

(Top Row) Alfred Clay, Roxy Faridany, Joseph Long and Aram Mardourian

(Bottom Row) Daphne Kouma, Nadia Williams, Elham Mahyoub, Fanos Xenofós and Lily Demir
(Top Row) Alfred Clay, Roxy Faridany, Joseph Long and Aram Mardourian (Bottom Row) Daphne Kouma, Nadia Williams, Elham Mahyoub, Fanos Xenofós and Lily Demir

Casting has been announced for the upcoming stage adaptation of Christy Lefteri’s best-selling novel The Beekeeper of Aleppo.

Miranda Cromwell (Death of a Salesman) is set to direct the new production, which is penned by Nesrin Alrefaai and Matthew Spangler (who previously worked on Nottingham Playhouse’s international sell-out The Kite Runner, which also transferred to Broadway). Alrefaai also serves as cultural consultant for the piece.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo tells the story of a Syrian beekeeper and his artist wife who are forced to flee their home following the onset of war.

The cast includes Alfred Clay (The Comedy of Errors) as Nuri, Roxy Faridany (This Is Going To Hurt) as Afra, Joseph Long (Spider-Man: Far From Home) as Mustafa, Aram Mardourian (The Borrowers) as Nadim, Fotakis, Ali and others, Daphne Kouma (Offside) as immigration officer, Dr Faruk, Dahab and others, Nadia Williams (The Meaning of Zong) as Angeliki, Lucy Fisher and others, and Elham Mahyoub (The Visit) as Mohammed and Sami. Fanos Xenofós (Margot, The Most Famous Ballerina in the World) and Lily Demir (The Secret Love Life of Ophelia) complete the company as swings.

The creative team also includes set and costume designer Ruby Pugh, lighting designer Ben Ormerod, sound designer Tingying Dong, film designer Ravi Deepres, composer Elaha Soroor, casting director Christopher Worrall, voice and dialect coach Khaled Abunaama, dramatherapist Nikki Disney, associate director Nadia Emam, associate film designer Luke Unsworth and video programmer Edward Freeman.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo debuts at Nottingham Playhouse (3 to 25 February), before heading to Liverpool Playhouse (1 to 11 March), Salisbury Playhouse (21 to 25 March), New Theatre Cardiff (28 March to 1 April), Theatre Severn Shrewsbury (4 to 8 April), Gaiety Theatre Dublin (11 to 15 April), The Lowry Salford (18 to 22 April), Theatre Royal Glasgow (25 to 29 April), Richmond Theatre (2 to 6 May), Theatre Royal Norwich (9 to 13 May), Cambridge Arts Theatre (16 to 20 May), Belgrade Theatre Coventry (23 to 27 May), Leeds Playouse (31 May to 3 June), Theatre Royal Newcastle Upon Tyne (6 to 10 June), Birmingham Rep (13 to 17 June), Theatre Royal Plymouth (20 to 24 June) and Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford (27 June to 1 July).

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