Author: Eamonn
Autumn Theatre Preview
Josie Walker returns to the West End with Sheffield Crucible’s production of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie in which she plays the lead role of Margaret; Jonathan Butterell directs opening at The Apollo Theatre in November. Olwen May plays the Butcher in St George and the Dragon with Lyndsey Turner directing for The National Theatre whilst Clemmie Sveaas will begin rehearsals for Pinocchio with John Tiffany directing. Also opening at The National this Autumn for a limited run is Oslo with Geraldine Alexander and Howard Ward, transferring to the Harold Pinter Theatre from October. Tom Edden returns to the West End as he takes on the role of Mr Wormwood in Matilda for the RSC at The Cambridge Theatre. Lisa Palfrey, meanwhile continues as Big Mama in the Young Vic’s production of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof at The Apollo. Scott Karim joins Nicholas Hytner’s exciting new venture at the Bridge Theatre for his inaugural show Young Marx, Geoff Leesley transfers with Trouble in Mind, Laurence Boswell’s acclaimed production from Theatre Royal Bath coming to the Print Room Coronet and Jenna Augen plays Val in The Knowledge at the Charing Cross Theatre with Maureen Lipman directing.
Laura Rogers joins the cast of Rules For Living with Simon Godwin directing for ETT with Natalie Radmall Quirke also joining the company playing the lead role of Valerie in their celebrated revival of The Weir. Meanwhile at The Royal Exchange, Sophie Stone starts rehearsals for their much anticipated stage adaptation of the cult film Jubilee, Carol Macready, Kriss Dosangh head to Home Manchester for Walter Meierjohann’s production of Uncle Vanya and Patricia Allison plays Susan in The Harper Elliot/West Yorkshire Playhouse co production of The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe directed by Sally Cookson.
Screen update
TV
Thomas Coombes joins the cast of Hatton Garden – Jeff Pope and Paul Whittington’s next collaboration for ITV after Little Boy Blue and The Moorside, this time telling the inside story of the infamous jewell heist. Filming begins in Budapest on the second season of National Geographic’s MARS the global sic-fi series from Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment with Cosima Shaw reprising her role as Leslie. Matt Rawle films a guest role in Trust, Danny Boyle’s new show for FX about the Getty family whilst Sally Scott shoots Trauma, Mike Bartlett’s new drama for ITV with Marc Evans directing. Rocky Marshall returns as bodyguard James Hill in The Royals whilst Esther Coles joins the popular comedy series Josh which returns again to the BBC for series 3. Roger Sloman and Gavin Spokes make guest appearances in Greg Davies’ Man Down whilst Emma Handy and Sam Alexander both return to Doc Martin for the much loved new series. New grad Patricia Allison completes filming on Thanks For the Memories a 2 x 90’ film for ZDF based on Cecelia Ahern’s novel whilst Colm Gormly films a guest role in Victoria, Mammoth Screen/ITV, Paul Frift directing.
Film
Carol Macready completes filming on Walk Like A Panther, Fox International’s new comedy drama about the British wrestling world with Dan Cadan directing. Hayley Carmichael shoots Overlord, Julius Avery and JJ Abraham’s World War II
drama set in France. Ken Bones films Baghdad In My Shadow, a thriller set amidst London’s Iraqi community directed by Samir and Kriss Dosanjh films Benjamin, Simon Amstell’s writing and directorial debut feature. Meanwhile, Special Sundance Jury Award winner Gods Own Country featuring Melanie Kilburn as Gloria will be released in UK in early September and Sophie Stevens‘ first feature The Black Prince (from the producers of 12 Years a Slave) has opened in cinemas this week and has already made it into the top 10 in the UK box office chart.
Summer stage
Lisa Palfrey plays Big Mamma in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof for the Young Vic at the Apollo Theatre, West End with Benedict Andrews directing. The Broadway hit Oslo opens at the National’s Lyttleton Theatre before transferring to the Harold Pinter Theatre, West End; Geraldine Alexander and Howard Ward join the London cast with director Bartlett Sher.
Gavin Spokes returns to The Almeida over the summer in Against, Christopher Shinn’s new play with Ian Rickson directing whilst Queen Ann opens at The Haymarket, West End for the RSC with Hywel Morgan reprising his role as Prince George. Andrew Koji is at Regents Park for A Tale of Two Cities directed by Tim Shearer whilst Graham Turner opens in Dessert a new play premiering at Southwark Playhouse which Trevor Nunn directs.
In Bath, Sam Alexander and Michelle Bonnard both join Jonathan Church’s revival of Racing Demon whilst in Manchester Natasha Gordon performs What If Women Ruled the World as part of the festival with Vicky Featherstone directing. Also in Manchester, new graduate Patricia Allison makes her professional stage debut in Our Town with Sarah Frankcom as director.
The Ferryman receives its West End opening with Eugene O’Hare in the cast, The Committee opens at The Donmar with Robert Hands, Jodie McNee and Sarah Malin continue in the astounding Anatomy of a Suicide at The Royal Court whilst David Seadon Young joins Rachel Kavanaugh for Oklahoma at The Royal Albert Hall as part of this years BBC Proms season.
TV Update:
Pooky Quesnel returns to The A Word, BBCs groundbreaking drama centring around the family of an autistic boy. Pooky reprises her role as Louise for Series 2. Also recommissioned for a second series is National Geographic’s MARS. Cosima Shaw returns as astronaut Lesley in the innovative sci- fi adventure set in the perhaps not too distant future. Max Fowler will begin filming on State of Happiness an epic new drama series for Maipo Film exploring the Norwegian oil boom of the 1970s. Petter Noess Oscar nominated director of Elling is at the helm. Ken Bones, meanwhile, appears as the Papal Envoy across Season 3 of the hugely popular Versailles for Capa Drama and Canal+.
Back home Geraldine Alexander joins Benedict Cumberbatch in one off BBC 90 minute drama The Child in Time an adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel about the grief and loss of a couple directed by Julian Farino. Scott Karim films Crazy Diamond (Electric Dreams: The World of Philip K Dick) with Marc Munden for Left Bank/Channel 4. Hywel Morgan films the E4/Netflix produced The End Of The F**king World based on the American comic book. Laura Rees plays Dotti and Melissa Vaughan Sear in The City and the City a Mammoth Screen production for BBC 2 with Tom Shankland directing and Howard Ward plays Gary Green in Sky Atlantic’s The Tunnel which returns for a 3rd and final series later this year.
Kriss Dosanjh will play Uncle Molinder in BBC’s The Boy with the Topknot a 90 minute single drama for BBC2 adapted by from Sathnam Sanghera’s critically acclaimed Memoir with Lynsey Miller directing. Joseph May plays Justin Trudeau in The Windsors, Sophie Stone films the key role of Jo Halley in the 4th season of Shetland, Anita Reynolds films Rellik, a new 6 parter for the BBC from the creators behind The Missing and Gary Oliver plays Franco in the ever popular Benidorm. Over in soap land Laura Rogers joins Eastenders as new character Corrine Mandel whilst in Coronation Street the Bethany/Nathan storyline continues to unfold with Chris Harper both brilliant and appalling as the groomer at its centre.
Spring Theatre
Jodie McNee and Sarah Malin join the cast of Anatomy of a Suicide directed by Katie Mitchell in her second collaboration with writer Alice Birch for the Royal Court. Amy Cudden and John Mackay have been cast in Occupational Hazards by Stephen Brown based on the memoir by Rory Stewart and directed by Simon Goodwin for Hampstead. At The Donmar, Robert Hands plays David Jones in the much anticipated Kids Company Musical Committee directed by Adam Penford whilst at The Arcola Sara Powell plays Dr Rieux in The Plague adapted from the Gogol novel with Neil Bartlett directing alongside Queen Elizabeth in Shakespeare’s Richard III with Mehmet Ergen directing. Kate Fahy and Laura Rogers have been cast in the Southwark Playhouse revival of Sam Shepherd’s A Lie of the Mind whilst Jess Murphy takes on the title role in The Duchess of Malfi in Covent Garden with director Cecilia Mundi.
Ferdy Roberts begins rehearsals for Fatherland an ambitious new project for the the Royal Exchange/Manchester International Festival about contemporary fatherhood created by Frantic Assembly’s Scott Graham, Karl Hyde from Underworld and playwright Simon Stephens. Also at the Royal Exchange Geraldine Alexander will play Lady Russell in Persuasion directed by Jeff James whilst Colm Gormley joins the cast of The Country Girls an adaptation of the banned Edna O’Brian novel directed by Lisa Blair for Chichester Festival Theatre. Meanwhile, David Seadon Young has opened in An American In Paris at The Dominion to spectacular reviews, Gavin Spokes begins performances as Mr Snow in the ENO’s Carousel, Eugene O’Hare begins previews for The Ferryman, Tom Edden opens in Arturo Ui at The Donmar and Aiden Kelly begins performances in Salomé at The National Theatre.
Theatre updates
In theatre news, Eugene O’Hare joins the cast of Sam Mendes’ Royal Court production of The Ferryman. Written by Jez Butterworth, the play is set in Northern Ireland during the height of The Troubles. Gavin Spokes will play Enoch Snow in Carousel for the ENO, Daniel Rabin joins the cast of Robert Icke’s Hamlet at The Almeida and Aidan Kelly has been cast as Abaddon in Yael Farber’s re-working of Salome coming to the National Theatre.
Tom Edden begins rehearsals for The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at The Donmar with Simon Evans directing, Charlotte Lucas starts rehearsals on Speech and Debate at the Trafalgar Studios in a new play by the American playwright Stephen Karam, Andrew Koji plays Huang in the RSC’s re-telling of the classic Chinese drama Snow In Midsummer directed by Justin Audibert and Roger Sloman rehearses Seventeen at Lyric Hammersmith.
Josie Walker leads the cast of Everyone’s Talking About Jamie at the Sheffield Crucible directed by Jonathan Butterell with an original score written by Dan Gillespie Sells, David Seadon Young starts in An American In Paris and Lisa Palfrey opens in Junkyard which Jeremy Herrin directs for Headlong.
TV News
Pooky Quesnel joins the cast of BBC satire W1A as regular Fiona Craig, Thomas Coombes will play regular Michael “Goz” Gozdecki in GONE a new psychological thriller from World Productions written by and starring Lennie James, Michelle Bonnard plays Hazel
Furley in The Strike Series: Career of Evil, the third instalment of the detective series based on the best selling J.K Rowling trilogy and then goes onto film Ray & Liz the first feature by Turner Prize nominated photographer, Richard Billingham. Daniel Coonan takes on the role of murdered detective Alex Butler in the BBC’s new pre-apocalyptic crime drama Hard Sun a 6 part series by ‘Luther’ creator Neil Cross, Lochlann O’Mearáin begins the year in Prague filming Fox21’s new drama Genius: Einstein and Kriss Dosanjh films The Indian Detective on location in Cape Town. Emma Handy films Doctor Who and Trust Me a new 4 parter from Red Productions for the BBC and look out too for Chris Harper who arrived in Coronation Street Christmas Day and is set to embark on a rather dark affair.
Currently showing: Video clips
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Screen Latest
Television
Jodie McNee and Sara Powell will be playing regular roles in ITV’s recently announced factual drama Little Boy Blue. Written by Jeff Pope and directed by Paul Whittington (Cilla, Mrs Biggs), this four part drama focuses on the murder of 11 year-old Rhys Jones in Croxteth, Liverpool in 2007 and the efforts of his parents to gain justice. Filming is now underway and will also feature Kent Riley and Howard Ward in guest roles across the series. Gary Oliver and Scott Karim join the cast of Britannia, Sky’s new 10 parter written by Jez Butterworth whilst Pooky Quesnel joins Hayley Carmichael in the E4/Netflix production Kiss Me First based on Lottie Moggarch’s thriller novel about stolen identity in the digital world. Melanie Kilburn and Tony Guilfoyle, meanwhile, feature in new Jimmy McGovern drama Broken, a 6 parter for the BBC and Thomas Coombes films the recurring role of Brother Anthony in Knightfall shooting in Prague for the History Channel.
Film
In film news Carol Macready and Josie Walker film Amma Asante’s forthcoming drama Where Hands Touch set in Berlin during WW2, Nicholas Lumley films the sequel to Paddington playing Old Timer Jack and Alex Felton and Alex Blake shoot the Richard Eyre directed Children Act. Looking ahead, Roger Sloman and Nicholas Lumley begin rehearsals on the new Mike Leigh feature about the Peterloo massacre due to shoot 2017.
Currently showing
You can catch series regulars Cosima Shaw in the brilliant Mars (National Geographic), Pooky Quesnel in Class (BBC and iPlayer) and Ken Bones in Medici (Netflix from December).
