Full casting announced for Headlong co-production Richard III
29 Jan 2019
Headlong, Alexandra Palace and Bristol Old Vic with Royal & Derngate, Northampton and Oxford Playhouse present
Richard III
By William Shakespeare
Directed by John Haidar
Designed by Chiara Stephenson
Lighting by Elliot Griggs and Sound & Composition by George Dennis
- FULL CASTING ANNOUNCED ON RICHARD III DIRECTED BY JOHN HAIDAR
- OPENING AT BRISTOL OLD VIC & ALEXANDRA PALACE PRIOR TO A UK TOUR
Friday 1 March to Saturday 9 March at Bristol Old Vic
PRESS NIGHT: WEDNESDAY 6 MARCH AT 7PM
AND
Wednesday 13 March to Sunday 31st March at Alexandra Palace Theatre
PRESS NIGHT: THURSDAY 14 MARCH AT 7:30PM
‘What do I fear? Myself?’
Headlong today announces full casting for John Haidar’s production of Richard III with Stefan Adegbola, Derbhle Crotty, Heledd Gwynn, Tom Kanji, Michael Matus, Leila Mimmack, Eileen Nicholas, Caleb Roberts and John Sackvillejoining the previously announced Tom Mothersdale in the title role as Shakespeare’s most notorious and complex villain.
After decades of civil war, the nation hangs in the balance. Enter Richard, Duke of Gloucester, to change the course of history. Richard was not born to be a king, but he’s set his sights on the crown. So begins his campaign of deceit, manipulation and violence – and he’s killing it.
Yet, behind his ambition lies a murderous desire to be loved.
Richard III is a co-production between Headlong, Alexandra Palace and Bristol Old Vic, with Royal & Derngate Northampton and Oxford Playhouse. It will open at the recently redeveloped Bristol Old Vic before transferring to London’s newly restored Alexandra Palace Theatre. It will then return to Bristol for a further two full playing weeks before travelling to Cambridge Arts Theatre, HOME in Manchester and Oxford Playhouse before finishing at Royal & Derngate, Northampton.
John Haidar is an Associate Artist at Headlong. His theatre credits include Disco Pigs (Trafalgar Studios and Irish Repertory Theatre, New York); Mercury Fur, Saved (Guildhall); Last of the Boys (Southwark Playhouse); The Little Match Girl (Birmingham REP/UK Tour); The New Electric Ballroom (RADA); The Beauty Queen of Leenane, A Skull in Connemara, The Lonesome West (CAM FM); Macbeth (Cambridge American Stage Tour); The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Glass Menagerie (Corpus Playroom); Romeo and Juliet, The Alchemist (ADC Theatre).
As associate or assistant director, his credits include: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Harold Pinter Theatre); Common, The Plough and the Stars (National Theatre); I See You (Royal Court); Photograph 51 (Noël Coward Theatre); The Changeling, ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, Antony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare’s Globe).
Tom Mothersdale (Richard)
Tom’s previous credits for Headlong include The Glass Menagerie (UK Tour), Romeo and Juliet (UK Tour) and Boys (UK Tour). Other stage credits include Dealing With Clair (Orange Tree); The Woods (Royal Court Theatre); John, Cleansed (National Theatre); Oil (Almeida); Crave, 4.48 Psychosis (Crucible, Sheffield); The Cherry Orchard (Young Vic – Awarded second prize in the Ian Charleson Award 2014); In Lambeth (Southwark Playhouse); King Lear (BAM, NYC, Chichester Festival Theatre); Thursday (Adelaide International Festival); The Revenger’s Tragedy (Independent Productions); Iphigenia, Pride & Prejudice(Theatre Royal, Bath); An Ideal Husband (West End); The Comedy of Errors(Globe) and A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky (Lyric, Hammersmith). Film includes Overlord, Unseen, The Rain Collector and Actress. Television includesHanna, Philip K Dick’s Electric Dreams: The Hood Maker, Doc Martin, King Charles III, Endeavour and Peaky Blinders.
Stefan Adegbola (Buckingham)
Stefan’s stage credits include Titus Andronicus (RSC); The Convert (Gate); After Independence (Arcola); The Christians (Gate/Traverse); The Merchant of Venice(Globe/UK Tour); Widower’s House (Orange Tree); The Comedy of Errors (Globe); The Epic Adventures of Nhamo (Tricycle) and Othello (Riverside Studios). Film credits include The Mire. Television credits include Doctor Who and The Enterprise.
Derbhle Crotty (Elizabeth)
Derbhle’s theatre credits include The Approach (Edinburgh Festival and Tour); Hamlet (Almeida); Afterplay, Juno and The Paycock (Gate, Dublin); Anna Karenina, Sive, Marble (Abbey); The Seagull (Corn Exchange); Druid Shakespeare, The Silver Tassie (Druid); Hecuba, Macbeth (RSC); The Events(ATC) and The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Young Vic). Film credits include Rosie, Citizen Lane, The Merchant of Venice and Notes on a Scandal. Television credits include Come Home, Paula and The Clinic.
Heledd Gwynn (Hastings/Ratcliffe)
Heledd’s stage credits Henry V (Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory); Ice Road(Raucous); The Lightning Path (Small World); Windsongs of the Blessed Bay(Theatr Cadair); TI.ME. (Cwmni Pluen & Sherman Cymru); Y Fenyw Ddaeth O’r Mor (Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru); A Child’s Christmas in Wales (Wales Theatre Company) and Land of the Dragon (Puppet Soup at the Edinburgh Fringe). Television credits include Holby City, Ordinary Lies, Enid a Lucy, 35 Diwrnod, Amser Maith Yn Ol and Gwaith/Cartef.
Tom Kanji (Clarence/Catesby)
Tom’s theatre credits include The Box of Delights (Wilton’s Music Hall); Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Winter’s Tale, Pericles, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Doctor Scroggy’s War, Eternal Love (Globe); The Country Wife (Chichester Festival Theatre); Taming of the Shrew (US Tour); Fiddler on the Roof, Romeo and Juliet, The Story Giant, The Sum (Liverpool Everyman) and Romeo and Juliet, Anthony and Cleopatra, Much Ado About Nothing (Barbican). Television credits include Tyrant, Silent Witness, Hustle, Midnight Man and Saddam’s Tribe.
Michael Matus (Edward/Stanley)
Michael’s stage credits include King Lear (Duke of York’s), Broken Glass(Watford Palace), The Wizard of Oz, The Comedy of Errors (Sheffield Crucible), The Frogs (Jermyn Street), The Roman Actor, The Malcontent (RSC/West End) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Globe). Television credits include Endeavour, A Prince Among Men, EastEnders and Then. Film credits include The Crying Game and A Muppet Christmas Carol.
Leila Mimmack (Anne/Norfolk)
Leila’s stage credits include The Winter’s Tale (Bolton Octagon), To Kill A Mockingbird (Bolton Octagon), Debris (Southwark Playhouse), A View from The Bridge (Royal Exchange Manchester) and
That Face (Sheffield Theatre). Television credits include Love, Lies and Records (BBC), Home Fires (ITV), Silent Witness (BBC). Film credits include Level Up, High Rise, and Son of God.
Eileen Nicholas (Duchess of York)
Eileen’s stage credits include Midsummer (National Theatre of Scotland); Mary Stuart (Almeida/West End); Del Gesu’s Viola, It’s Only Words (Oran Mor); Every One (BAC); I Didn’t Always Live Here (Finborough); All About My Mother (Old Vic); Buried Child (Gatehouse) and Endgame (Donmar). Film credits include Dead In A Week, The Quiet Ones, Blackwood, Trainspotting, The Bomber and Regeneration.
Caleb Roberts (Richmond/Messenger)
Caleb’s theatre credits include King Lear (Chichester Festival Theatre/West End). Television credits include A Very English Scandal
John Sackville (Henry)
John’s theatre credits include Absolute Hell (National Theatre); An Inspector Calls (UK Tour/National Theatre); Othello, Volpone (RSC); William Wordsworth (English Touring Theatre); The Winslow Boy (Rose, Kingston) and Plunder (Watermill). Television credits include The Crown, Genius: Einstein, Royal Wives at War, House of Anubis, Dark Matters, Casualtyand The Secret of Crickley Hall. Film credits include Misbehaviour, Into the Mirror, The Lost City of Z, The Hoarder, Fossil and The Wedding Date.
Bristol Old Vic is the longest continuously running theatre in the UK, and celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2016. The historic playhouse aims to inspire audiences with its own original productions, both at home and on tour, whilst nurturing the next generation of artists, whether that be through their 350-strong Young Company, their many outreach and education projects or their trailblazing artist development programme, Bristol Ferment.
They use their funding to support experiment and innovation, to allow access to their programme for people who would not otherwise encounter it, or be able to afford it, and to keep their extraordinary heritage alive and animated.
On 24 Sep 2018, Bristol Old Vic completed its 2-year multi-million pound redevelopment project, which transformed its front of house space into a warm and welcoming public building for all of Bristol to enjoy, created a new studio theatre and opened up its unique theatrical heritage to the public for the first time.