Full casting announced for The Cardinal at Southwark Playhouse
Natalie Simpson (Royal Shakespeare Company’s recent productions of King Lear, Hamlet and Cymbeline) joins an eleven-strong cast to play Duchess Rosaura alongside the previously announced Stephen Boxer.
Troupe presents
THE CARDINAL
by James Shirley
Cast:
Stephen Boxer, Sophia Carr-Gomm, Phil Cheadle, Ashley Cook, Marcus Griffiths, Patrick Osborne, Jay Saighal, Natalie Simpson, Timothy Speyer, Paul Westwood and Rosie Wyatt
Directed by Justin Audibert
Designed by Anna Reid
Lighting by Peter Harrison
Sound by Max Pappenheim
Stephen Boxer plays the Cardinal. Theatre includes Raising Martha (Park Theatre), The Inn at Lydda (Shakespeare’s Globe), Shadowlands (National Tour for Birdsong Productions), Regeneration (Royal and Derngate Theatres, Northampton and National Tour for Touring Consortium Theatre Company), King Lear, The Holy Rosenbergs, Aristocrats, Power, Volpone, At Our Table, White Chameleon, The Shape of the Table and Once in a While the Odd Thing Happens (National Theatre), Titus Andronicus, The Heresy of Love, The Tragedy of Thomas Hobbes, The Taming of the Shrew, Measure for Measure, Twelfth Night, Richard III, The White Devil and Rousseau’s Tale (Royal Shakespeare Company), Anjin: The Shogun and The English Samurai (HoriPro Inc., Japan and Sadler’s Wells), Written on the Heart (Royal Shakespeare Company and Duchess Theatre), Hay Fever (Rose Theatre, Kingston), Brighton Beach Memoirs (Palace Theatre, Watford), The Great Highway (Gate Theatre), The Hypochondriac (Almeida Theatre), Love and Marriage and God and Stephen Hawking (Theatre Royal Bath), A Chaste Maid in Cheapside (Almeida Theatre and National Tour), Ten Rounds (Tricycle Theatre), Antarctica (Savoy Theatre), Six Characters Looking for an Author (The Young Vic), Six Degrees of Separation (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield), Bartholomew Fair (Royal Shakespeare Company and The Young Vic), The Herbal Bed (Royal Shakespeare Company and Duchess Theatre), Oleanna (Haymarket Theatre, Leicester), Measure for Measure (Cheek by Jowl), The Clearing (Bush Theatre), Karate Billy Comes Home (Royal Court Theatre), Barbarians and The Duchess of Malfi (Royal Shakespeare Company at the Barbican Theatre), Faith, Hope and Charity (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith), The Water Engine (Hampstead Theatre), Judgement Day (Old Red Lion Theatre) and Portraits (Savoy Theatre). Film includes Postcards from London, The Gatehouse, Bomb, Ginger and Rosa, We Are the Freaks, The Iron Lady, Children of Men, Rabbit on the Moon, Seven Seconds, AKA, Mary Reilly, Crossing the Border and Carrington. Television includes Poldark, The Five, Agatha Raisin, Lewis, Lucky Man, Humans, Life in Squares, Toast of London, The Honourable Woman, Foyle’s War, Death in Paradise, Father Brown, Garrow’s Law, Luther, Doctors, Casualty, Agatha Christie’s Poirot, The Mould in Dr. Florey’s Coat, Midsomer Murders, Mysterious Creatures, The Quatermass Experiment, Silent Witness, Together, Tom Brown’s Schooldays, Absolute Power, Cherished, Dalziel and Pascoe, Life Begins, The Bill, Trial and Retribution, Absolute Power, Rosemary and Thyme, Ultimate Force, Murphy’s Law, Sons and Lovers, Trust, Blue Dove, In Deep, Grafters and Prime Suspect II, III and VI. Radio for BBC Radio 4 includes John le Carré: The Biography and To a Mountain in Tibet.
Sophia Carr-Gomm plays Valeria. She trained at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Theatre includes Heartbreak House (Open Air Theatre, Brighton), Othello and The Tempest (88 London Road, Brighton) and King Lear (Citizens Theatre, Glasgow). Film includes The Inbetweeners 2. Television includes Shetland, Mr Selfridge, Doctors and World’s End. Audio plays include Doctor Who: River Song 3 and Doctor Who: The Day of the Comet.
Phil Cheadle plays Hernando. He trained at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Theatre includes Breaking the Code (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester), Henry V (Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park), The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (Chichester Festival Theatre and National Tour), Piranha Heights (Old Red Lion Theatre), Variation on a Theme and Events While Guarding the Bofors Gun (Finborough Theatre), Blue Remembered Hills (Northern Stage, Newcastle), Mrs Affleck (National Theatre), Henry IV Part I, Henry IV Part II and Bedlam (Shakespeare’s Globe), The Changeling (Cheek by Jowl), Neighbourhood Watch (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, Tricycle Theatre and 59E59 Theaters, New York), Dear Uncle (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough), All My Sons (The Curve, Leicester), Far From the Madding Crowd (English Touring Theatre), Knives in Hens and Tartuffe (Arcola Theatre), Macbeth (West Yorkshire Playhouse), If I Were You (Library Theatre, Manchester), Strawberry Fields (Pentabus), The Tempest and Saint Joan (USA Tours for A & BC Theatre Company) and As You Like It (Northcott Theatre, Exeter). Film includes John Carter, Comes a Bright Day, To the Sea, It’s About Time and A Touch of Sadness. Television includes Dark Angel, Silent Witness, The Crimson Field, New Worlds, Inside the Titanic, Hollyoaks, Coronation Street and The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.
Ashley Cook plays the King of Navarre. Productions for Troupe include Flowering Cherry (Finborough Theatre) and The White Carnation (Finborough Theatre and Jermyn Street Theatre). He trained at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. Theatre includes King Lear (The Old Vic and English Touring Theatre), The Mousetrap (St. Martin’s Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Belgrade Theatre, Coventry), Romeo and Juliet (Derby Playhouse), A Doll’s House and The Importance of Being Earnest (Theatre Royal, Lincoln), She Stoops to Conquer and The Daughter-in-Law (Perth Theatre), The Art of Concealment and How to Cook a Country (Riverside Studios), Absent Friends and The Importance of Being Earnest (National Tours for London Classic Theatre),The Bootmaker’s Daughter (Brighton Festival), F***ing Men (Finborough Theatre), Love and Understanding (BAC), Stonewall (Pleasance Edinburgh and The Drill Hall), Cahoot’s Macbeth (King’s Head Theatre) and Much Ado About Nothing (Antic Disposition). Film includes A Mind of Her Own, Love in a Dangerous Time, Don Justino de Neve and Llar. Television includes The Bill, The Basil Brush Show and Patrick Hamilton: Words, Whisky and Women. Radio includes Behind Closed Doors: Excluded, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Bad Memories, Development, Inside the Whale, Inside Stories, Q & A, Life Class, Sharp Focus and My Turn to Make the Tea.
Marcus Griffiths plays Count D’Alvarez and Antonelli. He trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Theatre credits include King Lear, Cymbeline, Hamlet, Love’s Sacrifice, Volpone, The Jew of Malta, Richard II and Julius Caesar (Royal Shakespeare Company) and The Globe Mysteries and Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare’s Globe). Film includes Unhallowed Ground, Adored and Never Far from the Tree. Television includes Versailles, The C Word, Julius Caesar and Skins.
Patrick Osborne plays Lord Xavier. Productions for Troupe include After October (Finborough Theatre). He trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Theatre includes Noises Off (Nottingham Playhouse, Northern Stage, Newcastle, and Nuffield Theatre, Southampton), Peter Pan (Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park), Shakespeare in Love (Noel Coward Theatre), Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body for Vibrant 2013 – A Festival of Finborough Playwrights and Accolade (Finborough Theatre), The Seagull (Baron’s Court Theatre), The Pearl (Rose Theatre, Kingston) and Clockheart Boy (National Tour). Film includes Their Finest. Television includes The Borgias, The Genius of Turner and My Parents Are Aliens.
Jay Saighal plays Columbo. He trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Theatre includes Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and As You Like It (National Theatre), Othello and The Merchant of Venice (Royal Shakespeare Company), Ross (Chichester Festival Theatre) and Aladdin (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough). Television includes Spotless.
Natalie Simpson plays Duchess Rosaura. She trained at LAMDA. Theatre includes Cordelia in King Lear with Antony Sher, Ophelia in Hamlet with Paapa Essiedu and Guideria in Cymbeline (Royal Shakespeare Company) and Measure for Measure (The Young Vic). Film includes Tula: The Revolt and Balloon. Radio includes Words and Music: Women Walking Alone and In Tune: Sounds of Shakespeare.
Timothy Speyer plays Antonio. He trained at Guildford School of Acting. Theatre includes The Alchemist, Don Quixote, Doctor Faustus, The Witch of Edmonton, The Roaring Girl, Cardenio, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The City Madam (Royal Shakespeare Company), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Royal Shakespeare Company and Garsington Opera), The Ladykillers (New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Hull Truck), The School for Scandal (Park Theatre), Laburnum Grove (Finborough Theatre), The School for Scandal (Theatre Royal Bath), She Stoops to Conquer (National Theatre), The 39 Steps (Criterion Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Rose Theatre, Kingston), Pygmalion (Theatre Royal Bath, National Tour and Hong Kong Arts Festival), Great Expectations (Library Theatre, Manchester), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare’s Globe), The Vortex (Apollo Theatre and National Tour), Arsenic and Old Lace and Arms and the Man (English Theatre, Vienna), The Anatomist (Eastern Angles), Goblin Market (Southwark Playhouse), Tom’s Midnight Garden and The Witches (National Tours for Birmingham Stage Company), Pygmalion and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Eye Theatre, Suffolk), Bridges and Harmonies, Mademoiselle Colombe and The Boundary (Bridewell Theatre), Puss in Boots (Polka Theatre), She Stoops to Conquer (Birmingham Old Rep), The Wind in the Willows (Torch Theatre, Milford Haven) and While the Sun Shines (National Tour for Channel Theatre Company). Film includes The Clap, The Mystery Man and Plonk. Television includes Call the Midwife, Shakespeare Unlocked, The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson, Londoners, The Dorset Hanging Oak, Wind Up TV, The Hutton Enquiry, Newsnight, The Unmarried Family and Crime Monthly. Radio includes The World at One and The World Tonight.
Paul Westwood plays Lord Medrano. He trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Theatre includes Lazarus (King’s Cross Theatre), King Charles III (National Tour for Almeida Theatre and Sydney Theatre Company), Dunsinane (National and International Tour for Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre of Scotland), A Life of Galileo (Theatre Royal Bath and National Tour for Royal Shakespeare Company), Three Men in a Boat and Dancing at Lughnasa (National Tours for Original Theatre Company), Two’s Company (Old Vic Tunnels), Outward Bound (Finborough Theatre), Seagull and Manchester (Arcola Theatre), Plucker (Southwark Playhouse), The Ring of Truth (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond), Twelfth Night (York Theatre Royal), Great Expectations (Library Theatre, Manchester), Hapgood (Birmingham Rep), Starlings (Old Vic New Voices: 24 Hour Plays), Othello (Birmingham Stage Company) and Hamlet (Robsham Theater, Boston). Film includes Us and Them and Mortdecai. Television includes McMafia, Da Vinci’s Demons, Gracie!, Walter’s War and Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story. Radio includes Real Crime: The Hungerford Massacre and Voices from the Old Bailey. Writing includes Tides, Citizen Recall: Mrs Helen Stridgen and Zain Tyrannus.
Rosie Wyatt plays Celinda. She trained at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Theatre includes Spine for which she won the Stage Award for Acting Excellence (Soho Theatre and National Tour), Mumburger (The Archivist’s Gallery), The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (Chichester Festival Theatre and National Tour), Worst Wedding Ever (Salisbury Playhouse), Blink (Soho Theatre and Traverse Theatre), Virgin (Palace Theatre, Watford), One Man, Two Guvnors (National and International Tour for National Theatre), Mogadishu (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith and National Tour), Bunny (nabokov) and Love, Love, Love (Paines Plough). Television includes Inspector George Gently, New Tricks and Doctors.
With their critically acclaimed production of Stephen Karam’s Speech & Debate running at the Trafalgar Studios, Defibrillator Artistic Director James Hillier today announces the full casting for their production of Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind. Joining the previously announced Gethin Anthony (Jake), Kate Fahy (Lorraine), Robert Lonsdale (Mike), Laura Rogers (Sally) and John Stahl (Baylor) are Nancy Crane (Meg), Alexandra Dowling (Beth) and Michael Fox (Frankie) in a new updated version by Sam Shepard as yet to be seen in the UK. The production opens at Southwark Playhouse on 8 May, with previews from 4 May, running until 28 May.
“Love… it’s a disease that makes ya’ feel good. While it lasts. Then, when it’s gone, yer worse off than before you caught it.”
America. The great wide open. Two families torn apart by more than one brutal marriage. Out of this bleak landscape emerges a human spirit that burns bright. At heart a love story, this poetic and gritty play explores the ambivalence of family relationships, of love lost and found, against the backdrop of a macho American West.
Defibrillator’s production will feature a soundtrack composed and performed live on stage by acclaimed musician James Marples, bringing a slice of rock n roll to one of the 20th Century’s most audacious American plays.
Sam Shepard (b 1942) is a playwright, actor, director and author. He has written over 45 plays (11 of which have won Obie Awards) including True Love, Fool for Love and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Buried Child, recently seen at Trafalgar Studios starring Ed Harris. He also wrote the screenplay for Wim Wender’s Paris, Texas for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Gethin Anthony plays Jake. Anthony previously worked with the company on The Hotel Plays – Green Eyes. Other theatre credits include In the Vale of Health and What Fatima Did (Hampstead Theatre), A life of Galileo and Boris Gondonuv (RSC), Carrot (Theatre503), 24 Hour Plays (The Old Vic), In Praise of Love (Theatre Royal Northampton), Ditch (HighTide), Cling to me like Ivy (Birmingham Rep) and Cyrano de Bergerac (Oxford Playhouse). For television his credits include Game of Thrones, Aquarius, ALT, Call the Midwife, Cloud Chamber, 10 Days to War and Pinochet’s Progress; and for film, First Kill, Kodachrome, We are Monster, Copenhagen, Dreck, Into the Storm, Beyond the Rave and Bus Terminal.
Nancy Crane plays Meg. For theatre her credits include The Sewing Group, The Strip, The Sweetest Thing in Baseball and Now or Later (Royal Court Theatre), Teddy Ferrara (Donmar Warehouse), Next Fall (Southwark Playhouse), Chimerica (Almeida Theatre), Design for Living (The Old Vic), Angels in America and Love The Sinner (National Theatre), The Girl in the Goldfish Bowl and Six Degrees of Separation (Sheffield Crucible). For television her credits include Genius, Upstairs, Downstairs, Cambridge Spies, Strike Force and Nixon’s the One; and for film, The Current War, Leavey, Florence Foster Jenkins, Woman in Gold, Batman: The Dark Knight, The Road to Guantanamo and The Fourth Protocol.
Alexandra Dowling plays Beth. For theatre her credits include While The Sun Shines (Theatre Royal Bath), I Have Been Here Before and The Last of the De Mullins (Jermyn Street Theatre). For television her credits include The Musketeers, Game of Thrones and Merlin; and for film, Starbright and Hammer of the Gods.
Kate Fahy plays Lorraine. For theatre her credits include Handbagged (UK tour), After Electra (Tricycle Theatre), Definitely the Bahamas (Orange Tree Theatre), The Goat (Almeida Theatre and Apollo Theatre), Copenhagen (Watford Palace Theatre), Grace, Gaucho and Sparrowfall (Hampstead Theatre), Seduced (Royal Court), Old Flames (Arts Theatre), A Doll’s House (Riverside Studios), Bouncing and Sunday Morning (National Theatre) and Othello (Young Vic). For television her credits include The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, The Marriage of Reason and Squalor, Death in Paradise, Cherished, Pure Wickedness, The Best Man, The House of Elliott, The Jury, Trial and Retribution, The Mozart Inquest, Danton’s Death, Terra Nova, Oxbridge Blues, The Lodger and The Nearly Man; and for film, Archipelago, Defiance, Brilliance, The Show, The Living and The Dead, The Fourth Angel, Somewhere Sometime.
Michael Fox plays Frankie. For theatre his credits include An Enemy of the People (Chichester Festival Theatre), As You Like it (Transport Theatre), Leaves of Glass (Alma Tavern) and Edmund Kean (Watford Palace Theatre). For television his credits include Endeavour, Downton Abbey, Marvellous, The Ark, New Worlds, Little Big Mouth, Family Affairs, Mrs Bradley Mysteries; and for film, Dunkirk and Good People.
Robert Lonsdale plays Mike. For theatre his credits include Plaques and Tangles, Open Court: Piigs and Brilliant Adventures (Royal Court), Another Place (Plymouth Theatre Royal), From Here to Eternity (Shaftesbury Theatre), A Life (Finborough Theatre), Anna Christie (Donmar Warehouse), Finding Neverland (Curve, Leicester), La Bete (Harold Pinter Theatre) and The Indian Wants the Bronx (Young Vic). For television his credits include Vera, Chewing Gum, Love Sick, The Interceptor, Lost Christmas, A Passionate Woman, Plus One and Decisions; and for film, The Glass House.
Laura Rogers plays Sally. For theatre her credits include Winter Solstice (Orange Tree Theatre), Private Lives (UK tour), Tipping The Velvet and Arcadia (Lyric Hammersmith), An Ideal Husband, Blue Remembered Hills, Hay Fever and Pressure (Chichester Festival Theatre), Masterpieces (Royal Court), 55 Days and Revelations (Hampstead Theatre), The Comedy of Errors (USA tour and Shakespeare’s Globe), Macbeth, A New World – The Life of Thomas Paine, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Timon of Athens, The Taming of the Shrew and Richard III (Shakespeare’s Globe), The 39 Steps (Criterion Theatre), See How They Run (Royal Exchange, Manchester) and The Three Musketeers and The Barber of Seville (Bristol Old Vic). For television her credits include New Tricks, The Smoke, Dates, Twelfth Night, Dark Matters, Doctor Who Christmas Special, Missing, Albert’s Memorial, Rock Face, Running Scared, Relic Hunter, Pleasure Beach and The Sins; and for film, Love Me Do, The Right Hand Man, Nylon Ghosts and In Two Minds.
John Stahl plays Baylor. For theatre his credits include The Winter’s Tale (Lyceum Theatre), Father Comes Home From the War (Royal Court), The Crucible and Ghosts (Bristol Old Vic), Hamlet, All’s Well That Ends Well, As You Like It, King John, Richard III and A Soldier in Every Son (RSC), Troilus & Cressida, The Frontline, We, The People, Othello, Much Ado About Nothing and The Globe Mysteries (Shakespeare’s Globe), Frankenstein (National Theatre), The Whisky Taster (The Bush Theatre), The Alice Trilogy (Royal Court Theatre), Blue Eyes and Heels (Soho Theatre), The Found Man (Traverse Theatre). For television his credits include Game of Thrones, Being Human, Beehive, Murder Rooms, Glasgow Kiss, Rebus – The First Stone, Shetland 3, Dr Finlay, Resort to Murder, Crime Story, Life of Jolly; and film, Victoria and Abdul and Loch Ness.
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