Stage News

Jenna Augen (right) in Nachtland at the Young Vic

A busy season of theatre is coming up to start the year. Jenna Augen and Dorothea Myer Bennet will both appear in the Young Vic production of Nachtland (translated as a place of eternal darkness) a new satire from German playwright Marius Von Mayberg and directed by Patrick Marber. Kate Fahy joins the cast of the National Theatre’s production of Dodie Smith revival Dear Octopus with Emily Burns directing.

Stephen Kennedy also returns to the National Theatre in London Tide based on Charles Dickens’ Our Mutual Friend with Ian Rickson directing and music by PJ Harvey. Hywel Morgan, Daniel Rabin and Tafline Steen all join the cast in Rob Icke’s production of The Player Kings with Ian McKellan as Falstaff and playing at the Noel Coward Theatre. Jodie McNee takes the lead in the stage adaptation of Minority Report , directed by Max Webster and opening at Nottingham Playhouse before transferring to London and Howard Ward returns to the Almeida production of The Hunt which transfers to New York with Rupert Goold directing.

Greg Hicks will next be seen at the Marylebone Theatre in a solo show inspired by Dostoevsky’s The Dream of a Ridiculous Man , directed by Lawrence Boswell. Hayley Carmichael appears in the world premiere of Shed at Manchester’s Royal Exchange, Phoebe Eclair Powell’s Bruntwood Prize winning play and Olivia Onyehara opens in A Song For Ella Grey, Northern Stage and Pilot Theatre’s ambitious new staging of David Skellig’s award winning novel adapted from the Orpheus myth. Lily Beau plays the lead role of Ffion in the National Theatre of Wales production of Feral Monsters and Sam Alexander will transfer with the Bath Theatre Royal production of Machinal to The Old Vic.

Lily Beau (left) in Feral Monster for the National Theatre of Wales

Autumn Screen

We stand in support of the strike action. Those actors whose regular filming has been uninterrupted by the disputes include: Thomas Coombes who’s been shooting the new six-part drama Moonflower Murders directed by Rebecca Gatwood for Eleventh Hour Films/BBC and Masterpiece; Michelle Bonnard who’s filming Insomnia, an adaptation of Sarah Pinborough’s sleep deprivation novel for Left Bank Pictures with Börkur Sigthorsson directing; Jodie McNee joins The Gathering in Liverpool, a story of rivalry within the elite world of gymnastics from the creators of Line of Duty with Gareth Bryn directing; Olwen May films The Bay Season 5 as new regular DC McClaren;  Sophie Stone plays series regular Wendy in Generation Z for Forge and Channel 4, directed by Ben Wheatley and Alex Blake who has recently completed filming on Joan, a new six part series for ITV/ITVX based on the true story of notorious jewell thief Joan Hannington.

Sam Alexander in “Murder Retrial”

Guest roles include Amy Cudden in Mr Bates vs the Post Office a drama detailing the great miscarriage of justice around the postal workers; Jay Simpson in The Day of the Jackall, a TV remake of the classic film;  Daniel Crossley who is filming a six part TV series about Ayrton Senna for Netflix in Brazil; Gavin Spokes and Patrick Brennan who both appear in Out There, a new rural Welsh thriller for ITV led by Martin Clunes; Aidan Kelly who is completing shooting on forthcoming drama Say Nothing for FX focusing on the Troubles in NI. Sam Alexander also plays the lead role in a new drama commissioned by Channel 4, titled Murder Retrial, examining the British judicial system.

Premiering at the London Film Festival this October; Melanie Kilburn plays Mrs Forde in Starve Acre with Matt Smith starring and Daniel Kokotajilo directing and Josie Walker stars in writer-director Naqqash Khalid’s debut feature film In Camera.  Congratulations also to Lily Beau who played leading roles in  Y Swn and Y Goleudy which have both recently been nominated for a host of Welsh BAFTA Awards.

Other things to watch out for this Autumn include Jakob Diehl in Netflix blockbuster All the Light We Cannot SeeGavin Spokes in the hugely popular Slow Horses, Sara Powell in Paramount Plus thriller The Killing Kind (streaming now), James Doherty in the highly anticipated TV remake of Sexy Beast and Jodie McNee in crime thriller Culprits for Disney Plus.

Summer TV

TV

Andrew Koji begins filming season 3 of martial arts crime drama Warrior this month for HBO Max. He returns as prodigy Ah Sahm who emigrates from China to San Francisco in search of his sister, becoming hatchet man for one of the most powerful “tongs” in Chinatown. Also returning to filming is Oliver Dench as Lucian Ainsworth in Season 2 of Brit Box original series Hotel Portofino. Set in the late 1920s, this beautiful period drama sees Lucian as a First World War survivor battling both his inner demons, a complicated family life and the rise of Mussolini’s fascism in Italy.

Gavin Spokes remains busy with Slow Horses next on his slate, Apple TV’s spy thriller series based on Mick Herron’s novels and starring Gary Oldman. Jakob Diehl joins an all star cast in The New Look, a biographical drama about Christian Dior set in post World War 2 Paris also for Apple and George Parker has been cast in the lead role of Henry Ashe in new Netflix drama Bodies. John Mackay has completed filming on both Steve Knight’s adaptation of Great Expectations for the BBC and ITV’s Nolly, Russell T Davies take on the legendary Noele Gordon with Helena Bonham Carter.

Other guest roles shooting over the summer include Jodie McNee in brand new comedy drama Mrs Sidhu Investigates, Ben Dilloway in hit German streaming show Das Boot, Joe Sims in The Ballad of Renegade Nell and Lily Beau who joins Welsh drama The Lighthouse