Theatre News

Sebastian Faulks to cameo in stage adaptation of Birdsong

Alastair Whatley’s production will feature the author in three performances at the Richmond Theatre this summer

Sebastian Faulks (front row, centre) with the cast of Birdsong
Sebastian Faulks (front row, centre) with the cast of Birdsong
© Jon Kent, Bristol Post

Sebastian Faulks will take to the stage to play 'Wheeler' when the Birdsong tour comes to the Richmond Theatre on Monday 29 June, Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 July.

Faulks originally had a cameo role for two nights at the Bristol Old Vic in May and was very keen to revive his part in Rachel Wagstaff's adaptation of his bestselling novel Birdsong.

Birsong is an epic tale of love and war set both before and during the Great War. The play centres around a young Englishman, Stephen Wraysford, as he embarks on a passionate and dangerous affair with the beautiful Isabelle Azaire that turns their world upside down. As the war breaks out over the idyll of his former life, Stephen must lead his men through the carnage of the Battle of the Somme and through the sprawling tunnels that lie deep under ground. Faced with the unprecedented horror of the war Stephen clings to the memory of Isabelle as his world explodes around him.

The cast also includes Peter Duncan (Blue Peter, Tumble), Edmund Wiseman (Richard II, Filumena) and Emily Bowker (A Bunch of Amateurs, Holby City), as well as Emily Altneu, Max Bowden, Selma Brook, James Findlay, Roger Martin, Liam McCormick, James Staddon, Cloudia Swann and Alastair Whatley.

Richmond Theatre is the final venue for Birdsong, which has been on tour since February. The production runs in Richmond from 29 June until 4 July 2015.