ENGLISH TOURING THEATRE ANNOUNCES FULL CASTING FOR THE WORLD PREMIÈRE OF
SANDI TOKSVIG’S
Silver Lining
English Touring Theatre’s Artistic Director Richard Twyman today announces full casting for the world première of Sandi Toksvig’s Silver Lining.
Theo Toksvig makes his professional stage debut, having graduated from Drama Centre last year, and completes the company, joining the previously announced Rachel Davies, Kezia Josephs, Maggie McCarthy, Joanna Munro, Sheila Reid and Amanda Walker. It opens on 8 February at Rose Theatre Kingston before touring to New Theatre Royal Portsmouth, Oxford Playhouse, Cambridge Arts Theatre, New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich, Theatre by the Lake, York Theatre Royal and the Lowry.
On one dark and stormy night in the upper day room of the Silver Retirement Home, five elderly ladies are trading stories of their remarkable lives. With the storm floods rising and no rescue team in sight, the ladies are faced with the sudden realisation that in order to survive they are going to have to do what they have done for their entire lives – do it themselves!
Silver Lining is the new comedy by Sandi Toksvig. It tells the tale of five extraordinary yet forgotten women, who come together one treacherous night to recreate The Great Escape – senior citizen style!
Director – Rebecca Gatward
Designer – Michael Taylor
Sound and Projection Designer – Mic Pool
Lighting Designer – Mark Doubleday
Associate Director – Spencer Noll
Sandi Toksvig is a writer, actor, presenter and political activist. Her previous writing for the stage includes the musical Big Night Out at the Little Sands Picture Palace and The Pocket Dream. Until last year she was the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz and in October 2016 took over from Stephen Fry as the host of BBC television quiz show QI. She is the joint founder of the Women’s Equality Party which was established in March 2015.
Sheila Reid plays Gloria. Her theatre credits include Pericles (Shakespeare’s Globe), Othello and The Three Sisters (The Old Vic), Romeo and Juliet, ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore and Richard III (RSC), When I Was A Girl I Used To Scream And Shout and My Mother Said I Never Should (Royal Court Theatre), The Importance of Being Earnest (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Pornography (Tricycle Theatre), Into The Woods (Donmar Warehouse), Filomena (Almeida Theatre), Hedda Gabler (National Theatre) and at Edinburgh Festival, Love Among the Butterflies, Terrible with Raisons In It (both of which she wrote) and Maurice’s Jubilee (also UK tour). For television, she is perhaps best known for her role as Madge in ITV comedy Benidorm. Her other television credits include Call the Midwife, Doctor Who, Father Brown and Psychobitches.
Rebecca Gatward directs. Her theatre credits include The Night Watch (Manchester Royal Exchange), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, Chester), for West Yorkshire Playhouse, The Accrington Pals and Beryl(also Rose Theatre Kingston), The Trial Of Dennis The Menace(Southbank Centre), The Comedy Of Errors, The Merchant Of Venice (Shakespeare’s Globe), Pandas (Traverse Theatre), The Indian Boy (RSC Complete Works Festival), The Canterbury Tales, directed in partnership with Greg Doran and Jonathan Munby and Thyestes (RSC), Touched (Salisbury Playhouse) and Cancer Tales (New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich). She was Company Director on ThisIs Our Youth with Matt Damon and Casey Affleck at the Garrick Theatre. Her work for television includes EastEnders (winner Broadcast award and soap award nominations for best episode and scene), Casualty, Doctors and Sadie J.
English Touring Theatre is one of the UK’s most successful and exciting production companies, widely regarded as England’s national theatre of touring. The company works with leading artists to stage an eclectic mix of new and classic work for audiences throughout the UK and overseas; theatre that is thrilling, popular and, above all, entertaining. Upcoming tours include Sandi Toksvig’s Silver Lining which opens at Rose Theatre Kingston in February and the Olivier Award winning Shakespeare’s Globe production of Nell Gwynn, starring Laura Pitt-Pulford.
