Wise Children’S WISE CHILDREN

PRESS RELEASE 28 August 2018

FULL CAST ANNOUNCED FOR The Old Vic & Wise Children’s WISE CHILDREN

WORLD PREMIERE By Angela Carter Adapted and directed by Emma Rice Co-produced by the Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Oxford Playhouse and York Theatre Royal

Previews from 8 October, press night 17 October 2018

The Old Vic today announces the cast of Wise Children, which will have its world premiere at The Old Vic on 17 October, with previews from 8 October, ahead of its UK tour. The cast includes Sam Archer, Ankur Bahl, Stu Barker, Omari Douglas, Mirabelle Gremaud, Alex Heane, Paul Hunter, Melissa James, Bettrys Jones, Patrycja Kujawska, Etta Murfitt, Katy Owen, Ian Ross, Gareth Snook and Mike Shepherd.

‘Let’s have all the skeletons out of the closet, today, of all days!’

It’s 23 April, Shakespeare’s birthday.

In Brixton, Nora and Dora Chance - twin chorus girls born and bred south of the river – are celebrating their 75th birthday. Over the river in Chelsea, their father and greatest actor of his generation Melchior Hazard turns 100 on the same day. As does his twin brother Peregrine. If, in fact, he’s still alive. And if, in truth, Melchior is their real father after all... A big, bawdy tangle of theatrical joy and heartbreak, Wise Children is a celebration of show business, family, forgiveness and hope. Expect show girls and Shakespeare, sex and scandal, music, mischief and mistaken identity - and butterflies by the thousand.

Emma Rice (Romantics Anonymous, Tristan & Yseult, The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk and Brief Encounter) brings her unique, exuberantly impish vision to Angela Carter’s great last novel, Wise Children, launching her new theatre company of the same name and its London residency at The Old Vic.

Suitable for ages 14+.

Writer Angela Carter Adapted & Directed by Emma Rice Designer Vicki Mortimer Musical Director & Composer Ian Ross Sound and Video Simon Baker Lighting Malcolm Rippeth Choreographer Etta Murfitt Animation Beth Carter and Stuart Mitchell Puppetry Design Lyndie Wright Fight Directors Rachel Bown-Williams and Ruth Cooper-Brown of Rc-Annie Ltd.

Sam Archer (Young Peregrine). Theatre credits include An Ideal Husband (Vaudeville Theatre/Oscar Wilde Season); Wonderland (National Theatre, London and Châtelet Theatre, Paris); The Soldier’s Tale (Metropolitan Theatre, Tokyo); La Bohème (Royal Albert Hall); We Will Rock You (Dominion Theatre); The Red Shoes, Lord Of The Flies, Swan Lake, Cinderella, Edward Scissorhands (Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures Company). Television credits include Humans Series 2 and Mr Selfridge Series 3.

Ankur Bahl (Young Melchior). Theatre credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare’s Globe); This Beach (Broken Talkers, Ireland); Volpone, The Empress, The Comedy of Errors, The Tempest, Twelfth Night (RSC); Can We Talk About This (DV8 International Tour); Miranda (Assembly Rooms Edinburgh/Tara Arts); Britain’s Got Bhangra, Where’s My Desi Soulmate (Rifco Arts); To Be Straight With You (National Theatre/DV8); Just Add Water (Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company); Seven Deadly Sins (Welsh National Opera); Shades of Passion (National Dance Company of Wales). Film and television credits include Voices of Finance, The Surprise, Honeycomb Lodge, Desi Boyz and Jump Nation.

Stu Barker (The Band). Stu has worked extensively as composer/musical director with Kneehigh Theatre over the last twenty-five years. Credits as a composer and Musical Director include A Matter Of Life And Death, Tristan And Yseult (National Theatre); Brief Encounter (Broadway/West End); Cymbeline, Don John, The Empress (RSC); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Winter’s Tale, Romeo And Juliet (Shakespeare’s Globe); 946-The Amazing Story Of Adolphous Tips (Kneehigh); Hansel And Gretel (Bristol Old Vic); The Bacchae, The Wooden Frock (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Nights At The Circus, The Red Shoes (Lyric Hammersmith); The Wild Bride, Rapunzel, Midnight Pumpkin (BAC) and Pandora’s Box (Northern Stage). Other theatre credits include The Grinning Man (West End) and productions at the Donmar Warehouse, Bristol Old Vic, Welfare State International, Contact Theatre, Horse and Bamboo, Liverpool Lantern Company, And Now, and Travelling Light. Television work includes The Cult of The Suicide Bomber and Beyond Grief. Other music work includes Trombonist with C. W. Stoneking & His Primitive Horn Orchestra (Jungle Blues tour).

Omari Douglas (Showgirl Nora). Theatre credits include High Society (The Old Vic); Five Guys Named Moe (Marble Arch Theatre); Elegies For Angels, Punks And Racing Queens (Criterion Theatre); Rush (King’s Head Theatre); Peter Pan, Jesus Christ Superstar (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Tristan And Yseult (Kneehigh/Shakespeare’s Globe); The Life (Southwark Playhouse); Annie Get Your Gun (Sheffield Crucible); When The Waters Recede (Theatre by the Lake) and Hairspray (Leicester Curve/UK Tour).

Alex Heane (The Band). Theatre credits include The Tallest Horse on Earth (Silly Boys Theatre); Jane Eyre (National Theatre); The Little Matchgirl and Other Happier Tales (Shakespeare’s Globe); Cinderella: A Fairytale (Travelling Light /Tobacco Factory Theatres); Hetty Feather (KW&NB) and 100: The Day Our World Changed (Wildworks Theatre). He is also a member of the band Branwell and half of the folktronica duo With Flares.

Paul Hunter (Melchior). Theatre credits include Life of Galileo (Young Vic); The Little Match Girl, The Mystery Plays, Much Ado About Nothing, Troilus and Cressida, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Under the Black Flag (Shakespeare’s Globe); Gaslight (Northampton); Tartuffe (Birmingham Rep); The Fantasticks (West End); Napoleon Disrobed, The Farenheit Twins, Don’t Laugh – It’s My Life, You Haven’t Embraced Me Yet, I’m So Big, On The Verge of Exploding (Told By An Idiot Tour); Nocturnal (The Gate); Rapunzel, The Red Shoes (Kneehigh); Beauty and the Beast (Belgrade Theatre); The Water Engine (Young Vic/Theatre 503); Oliver Twist, Aladdin, Pinocchio (Lyric Hammersmith); Playing the Victim (Traverse/Royal Court); The Play What I Wrote (Wyndham’s Theatre/Liverpool Playhouse) and The Firework Maker’s Daughter (Sheffield Crucible). Film and TV credits include Still Open All Hours, Denial, This Beautiful Fantastic, Pan, Marvellous, Cinderella, Maleficent, Wizards vs. Aliens, Snow White and the Huntsman, Pirates of the Caribbean, One Day, Trinity, After You’ve Gone, Absolute Power, The Only Boy For Me, Tunnel of Love, Mitchell and Kenyon, Black Books, Hardware, Everything I Know About Men, My Family, Music at the Close, Absurd, Vertical Hold, Hanging Around.

Mirabelle Gremaud (Young Nora). Mirabelle has worked with Acrojou (circus/theatre), Urban Conceptz Theatre (Dance/theatre) and with performance artist Georgina Starr. Other work under her label ‘Le Mirabellier’, includes a solo dance piece at the Resolution Festival 2018 (The Place) and the Fun Fatale Festival 2018, Prague. She graduated from the Accademia Teatro Dimitri and has a post-graduate from the Laban Conservatory of Dance. Her performance involves elements from circus, acrobatics, contortion and hand-balancing.

Melissa James (Showgirl Dora). Theatre credits include The Two Noble Kinsmen (Shakespeare’s Globe); Eugenius! (The Other Palace); One Love: The Bob Marley Musical (Birmingham Rep); Annie Get Your Gun (Sheffield Crucible); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Theatre Royal Bath); The Bodyguard (UK Tour); Guys and Dolls (Chichester Festival Theatre); Cats (UK Tour). Television credits include Training Days; Ransom Series 2; Dead Pixels; Waffle the Wonderdog; Thanks for the Memories’ Holby City; Silent Witness; WPC 56 and Doctors.

Bettrys Jones (Young Dora). Theatre credits include War Horse (National Theatre/West End); Wait Until Dark (West End); Hamlet (Shakespeare’s Globe); As You Like It (Shakespeare’s Globe); The Tin Drum (Kneehigh); Life Of Galileo (Young Vic); The Little Match Girl (Shakespeare’s Globe); We Want You To Watch (National Theatre); Praxis Makes Perfect (National Theatre Of Wales/Berliner Festspiele); Sleeping Beauties (Sherman Theatre Cymru); Edward II (National Theatre); The Mouse And His Child (RSC); Manchester Lines (Manchester Library Theatre); The Adventure (High Tide Festival); The Snow Queen (The Rose Theatre, Kingston); Sixty Six Books (Bush Theatre); The Dar Philosphers (Told By An Idiot – Edinburgh Traverse); And The Horse You Rode In On (Told By An Idiot – Drum Theatre Plymouth/Barbican); The Crucible (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Measure For Measure (Theatre Clwyd; Cariad (Theatre Clwyd); Box (Birmingham Rep); To Kill A Mockingbird (West Yorkshire Playhouse/Birmingham Rep/UK Tour); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (RSC/West End); Comedy Of Errors (RSC/West End); Quinto Quarto (Union Theatre); The Little Years (The Orange Tree Theatre) and Party Time/One For The Road (Battersea Arts Centre).

Patrycja Kujawska (Lady Atalanta/Wheelchair).Theatre credits include Drop Dead Gorgeous, Let The Mountains Lead You To Love, Punch Drunk, Broken Chords, Fairy Tale, Test Run, If We Go On, Motherland, Underworld (Vincent Dance Theatre); Don John (Kneehigh/Royal Shakespeare Company); Midnight’s Pumpkin, The Red Shows, The Wild Bride, Tristan and Yseult, Dead Dog In A Suitcase, 946, The Tin Drum (Kneehigh) and The Grinning Man (Bristol Old Vic).

Etta Murfitt (Nora). Etta is Associate Artistic Director for Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures. Stage credits as associate director and performer for Adventures in Motion Pictures and New Adventures include Cinderella (Sadler’s Wells 2010 & Original London and LA productions); Swan Lake (Sadler’s Wells, West End, LA & Broadway); Dorian Gray, Sleeping Beauty, Edward Scissorhands, Nutcracker!, The Car Man, The Infernal Galon, The Percy’s of Fitzrovia, Deadly Serious and Town & Country. TV and film credits include Nutcracker! (BBC/ NVC); The Car Man (Channel 4); Cinderella (South Bank Show, ITV); Swan Lake, Late Flowering Lust, Roald Dahl’s Red Riding Hood, Mrs Hartley and the Growth Centre, Storm (BBC) and Swan Lake 3D (Sky Arts). Etta has also worked extensively as a choreographer and is an Associate Artist of Kneehigh Theatre Company, a founder member & dancer with Images Dance Theatre, Scottish Dance Theatre and Arc Dance Company.

Katy Owen (Grandma Chance). Theatre credits include UBU Karaoke! (Kneehigh); The Little Matchgirl and Other Happier Tales (Bristol Old Vic Theatre/Shakespeare's Globe/Tour); Twelfth Night (Shakespeare's Globe); 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tipps (Kneehigh/Shakespeare's Globe/UK Tour); A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare's Globe); Rebecca (David Pugh/Kneehigh); The World of Work (Difficult Stage at Chapter Arts Centre); Apparitions of Spirits with the Forsythe Sisters (Gaggle Babble); Maudie's Rooms (Sherman Cymru); Ill Met by Moonlight (Hijinx Theatre); The Little Matchgirl (Theatr Iolo); Plum - And Me, Will (Sherman Cymru); The Tempest (Theatr Iolo); Cinders (Sherman Cymru); The Moon Dragon & The Wounded Angel (Theatr Gwent); The Exquisite Corpse (Fiction Theatre Co); The Night Before Christmas (Chapter Arts Centre) and Face The Wall (Charged). Film and television credits include Daddy’s Girl, Casualty, Boomerang Surf Video, The Story Of Tracy Beaker and Caerydd.

Ian Ross (Band Leader). Theatre credits include The Red Shoes, Don John, The Wild Bride, Tristan and Yseult, Dead Dog in a suitcase, The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk (Kneehigh) and Twelfth Night (Shakespeare’s Globe).

Gareth Snook (Dora). Recent theatre credits include Romantics Anonymous, Romeo & Juliet (Shakespeare’s Globe); Fiddler on the Roof (Chichester Festival Theatre); A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer (National Theatre) and Casa Valentia (Southwark Playhouse). Other West End theatre credits include Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty’s Theatre and 25th Anniversary production at Royal Albert Hall); Assassins, Company (Donmar Warehouse/Albery Theatre); Aspects of Love (Prince of Wales); My Fair Lady (Theatre Royal Drury Lane) Sunset Boulevard (Adelphi Theatre), The Rink (Cambridge Theatre); Les Misérables (Palace Theatre); The Hired Man (Astoria); Guys and Dolls (Prince of Wales); Cats (New London); Girlfriends (Playhouse); Closer Than Ever (Jermyn Street, Criterion & Vaudeville); Show Boat (Royal Albert Hall) and Made in Dagenham (Adelphi Theatre). Other theatre includes The Full Monty and Martin Guerre (National Tours); Side by Side By Sondheim (Harrogate); Merrily We Roll Along (Leicester Haymarket); Chicago (Manchester Library); Stags and Hens and Godspell (Nottingham Playhouse & Churchill, Bromley); Blood Brothers (Derby Playhouse) and ‘Diamond’ (Kings Head Theatre). He also performed in the 10th Anniversary concert of Les Misérables and in the Ira Gershwin Tribute Who Could Ask for Anything More. Television credits include Taboo, Emmerdale, Law and Order: UK, Pulaski, That Uncertain Feeling, The Bill, Ten Glorious Years, Rory Bremner-Who Else?, Company and French and Saunders. Films include Paddington 2 and Les Misérables.

Mike Shepherd (Peregrine). Mike is Artistic Director of Kneehigh theatre company which he founded in 1980. He is a pioneer of Kneehigh’s transportable venue, the Asylum, and actively involved in the Kneehigh Rambles. Theatre credits as an actor include Tristan and Yseult, Steptoe and Son, Midnight’s Pumpkin, The Red Shoes, The Bacchae, Cymbeline, The Wooden Frock, A Matter of Life and Death and Don John (Kneehigh). Film work includes Film includes Anna Karenina and Pan. Work as director includes Dead Dog in a Suitcase (Kneehigh, UK and International tour); The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings (Little Angel Theatre, Islington) and The Tin Drum (Kneehigh, 2017 Tour).

Emma Rice is the proud and excited Artistic Director of her new company, Wise Children. As Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe (2016/18), she directed Romantics Anonymous, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Little Matchgirl (and Other Happier Tales). For the previous 20 years, she worked for Kneehigh as an actor, director and Artistic Director. Her productions for Kneehigh include: The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk, Tristan & Yseult, 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, The Wild Bride, The Red Shoes, The Wooden Frock, The Bacchae, Cymbeline (in association with RSC), A Matter of Life and Death (in association with National Theatre), Rapunzel (in association with Battersea Arts Centre); Brief Encounter (in association with David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers Productions); Don John (in association with the RSC and Bristol Old Vic); Wah! Wah! Girls (in association with Sadler’s Wells and Theatre Royal Stratford East for World Stages); and Steptoe and Son. Other work includes: the West End production of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Oedipussy (Spymonkey); The Empress (RSC); and An Audience with Meow Meow (Berkeley Repertory Theatre). Brief Encounter was revived this year at the Empire Cinema Haymarket.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Wise Children Created and led by Emma Rice, with Executive Director Judith Dimant and Executive Producer Poppy Keeling, Wise Children is an Arts Council, National Portfolio Organisation for 2018-22. Based in Spike Island in Bristol, Wise Children will conceive, create and present world-class, innovative ensemble theatre; a culmination of the process and ethos Emma has developed over her theatrical career. Wise Children will work in partnership with venues to create ensemble work to tour nationally and internationally. Through a series of residencies, the company will develop and diversify audiences. www.wisechildren.co.uk

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The Old Vic, The Cut, London SE1 8NB

WISE CHILDREN An Old Vic & Wise Children production Co-produced by the Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Oxford Playhouse & York Theatre Written by Angela Carter Adapted & directed by Emma Rice Designed by Vicki Mortimer Composed by Ian Ross Sound and Video by Simon Baker Lighting by Malcolm Rippeth Choreography by Etta Murfitt

Mon 8 Oct–Sat 10 Nov 2018 Mon–Sat: 7.30pm; Wed & Sat 2.30pm; Wed 17 Oct 2pm Press night: Wed 17 Oct 7pm Audio Described Performance: Sat 10 Nov 2.30pm (touch tour at 1pm) Captioned Performance: Mon 5 Nov 7.30pm Recommended age 14+

TICKETS: £12, £16, £21, £30, £55, £65 SEASON LISTINGS

SYLVIA ZooNation: The Kate Prince Company Book by Kate Prince & Priya Parmar Music by Josh Cohen & DJ Walde Lyrics by Kate Prince, Josh Cohen & DJ Walde Directed & Choreographed by Kate Prince

Mon 3 Sep–Sat 22 Sep 2018 Mon–Sat: 7.30pm, Thu & Sat 2.30pm Audio Described Performance: Tue 18 Sep, 7.30pm Captioned Performance: Sat 22 Sep, 2.30pm Recommended age 10+

TICKETS: £12, £15, £25, £35, £45 For information regarding PwC Previews or Premium Seats please call the box office

A CHRISTMAS CAROL In a version by Jack Thorne Directed by Matthew Warchus

27 Nov 2018–19 Jan 2019 Mon–Sat: 7:30pm; Sat: 2:30pm 7pm: 5, 6, 11, 12, 18 & 19 Dec; 1pm: 12 & 19 Dec. Additional matinee performances: 7, 12, 16, 19, 23, 27, 28, 30, 31 Dec & 2 Jan. (no mat Sat 29 Dec) See our website for the full performance schedule. Press night: 5 Dec 2018 Audio Described Performance: Tue 8 Jan 7.30pm (touch tour at 6pm) Captioned Performance: Thu 10 Jan 7.30pm Recommended age 8+ Running time: Approximately 2 hours 5 minutes including 20min interval

TICKETS: £12, £16, £21, £30/£35, £55/£57.50 £65/£67.50

For information regarding PwC Previews or Premium Seats please call the box office

CONCESSIONS PwC £10 PREVIEWS: Available to everyone with half of the house priced at £10 for selected previews.

SENIOR CITIZENS:

SCHOOL GROUPS: 10+ £12.50 for Mon–Wed perf. Please see our website for more details.

STUDENTS: £12.50 for Mon–Thu perfs for Wise Children.

GROUPS: Group rates available, please see our website for more details.

DISABLED PATRONS: Top three price bands reduced to £21 for all performances. Please call 0344 871 7628 for access bookings.

All concessions are limited and subject to availability.

All 2018 ticket prices correct at time of issue.

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