PRESS RELEASE – Wednesday 10 October 2018 IMAGES CAN BE DOWNLOADED here Twitter/ Facebook / website

PRODUCTION IMAGES RELEASED FOR BRAND NEW TOUR OF THE HIT WEST END PLAY SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE

. BASED ON THE OSCAR-WINNING FILM BY MARC NORMAN AND

. AT ROYAL BATH UNTIL 13 OCTOBER WITH OPENING NIGHT ON 11 OCTOBER AND TOURING THROUGOUT THE UK THROUGH TO 24 NOVEMBER

. IMAGES AVALABLE TO DOWNLOAD HERE

Production photography is today released for the brand new tour of the critically acclaimed West End hit play Shakespeare in Love, currently playing at Theatre Royal Bath until 13 October, with opening night for press on Thursday 11 October. The new production, directed by Phillip Breen, will also tour to Nottingham, Malvern, Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Chichester until 24 November.

Pierro Niel-Mee stars as Will Shakespeare with Imogen Daines as Viola, Rob Edwards as Fennyman, Geraldine Alexander as the Queen, Edmund Kingsley as Kit Marlowe, Bill Ward as Wessex, Ian Hughes as Henslowe, Giles Taylor as Tilney and De Lesseps, Edward Harrison as Burbage and Philip Labey as Sam. The cast also includes Rowan Polonski as Ned Alleyn/Catling, Kevin N Golding as Lambert/Wabash, Joshua Richards as Frees/Ralph, Jonathan Blaydon as Nol/Valentine, Richard Rowe McGhie as Adam, Rosalind Steele as Molly, Toby Webster as Peter/Robin and Jazmine Wilkinson as Webster/Mistress Quickly.

Young Will Shakespeare has writer’s block… the deadline for his new play – a comedy called Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter – is fast approaching, he’s struggling to finish the first line of a sonnet and he’s in dire need of inspiration. Then he meets the beguiling Viola de Lesseps, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy merchant. Viola is prepared to do anything – including risking the frosty disapproval of Queen Elizabeth I – to fulfil her illicit dream of performing on the stage and pursuing a passionate affair with the greatest playwright of the age. Shakespeare in Love, the Oscar winning film written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard and starring , Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow, premiered 20 years ago and went on to win seven Academy Awards, including best screenplay. It was adapted for the stage by with music by Paddy Cunneen and opened to a triumphant West End run in 2014.

Shakespeare in Love is presented by Eleanor Lloyd Productions and Theatre Royal Bath Productions by special arrangement with Disney Theatrical Group and Sonia Friedman Productions. Phillip Breen directs, with design by Max Jones, lighting by Tina MacHugh, sound by Dyfan Jones, movement by Ayse Tashkiran, music by Paddy Cunneen and with Associate Producers Stafford, Eilene Davidson and Mark Puddle.

For further information please contact THE CORNER SHOP PR on 0207 831 7657 Su-Ann Chow-Seegoolam | Lewis Jenkins | Lydia Aaronson

Images Images available to download here

Listings

Shakespeare in Love Presented by Eleanor Lloyd Productions and Theatre Royal Bath Productions by special arrangement with Disney Theatrical Group and Sonia Friedman Productions Based on the screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard Adapted by Lee Hall Music by Paddy Cunneen Directed by Phillip Breen Designer: Max Jones Lighting Designer: Tina MacHugh Sound Designer: Dyfan Jones Movement Director: Ayse Tashkiran Associate Producers: Rebecca Stafford, Eilene Davidson, Mark Puddle

Theatre Royal Bath Thursday 4 - Saturday 13 October Press night: Thursday 11 October Box Office: 01225 448815 www.theatreroyal.org.uk

Nottingham Theatre Royal Tuesday 16 - Saturday 20 October Box Office: 0115 989 5555 www.trch.co.uk

Malvern Festival Theatre Tuesday 23 Oct - Saturday 27 October Box Office: 01684 569256 www.malvern-.co.uk

Oxford Playhouse Tuesday 30 - Saturday 3 November Box Office: 01865 305305 www.oxfordplayhouse.com

Cambridge Monday 5 - Saturday 10 November Box Office: 01223 503333 www.cambridgeartstheatre.com

King’s Theatre Edinburgh Monday 12 - Saturday 17 November Box Office: 0131 529 6000 www.capitaltheatres.com/kings

Chichester Festival Theatre Tuesday 20 - Saturday 24 November Box Office: 01243 781312 www.cft.org.uk

Cast biographies

Geraldine Alexander (Queen/Nurse) has worked extensively on stage and screen. Recent stage credits include Oslo (National Theatre), Persuasion, Breaking the Cofe (Royal Exchange), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (National Theatre UK tour). Her many TV credits include Marcella, The Jury, Father Brown, EastEnders, Jonathan Creek, Where the Heart Is, Taggart, Silent Witness.

Jonathan Blaydon (Nol/Valentine) was most recently seen in at the Castlefield Bowl in Manchester. His theatre credits also include Happily Ever After (Metamorph Theatre), Lord Dismiss Us (Edinburgh Fringe/) and Julia Pastrana (Watershed Productions). Jonathan also performed on stage with the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in The Country Wife, We the Animals, , and The Caucasian Chalk Circle.

Imogen Daines (Viola) most recently starred in (Oxford Shakespeare Company) earlier this year, and has previously appeared in (English Theatre of Hamburg), (Flute Theatre, ETT), Trevor Nunn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (New Wolsey) and The Wars of the Roses (Rose Theatre, Kingston), Coram Boy (National Theatre). Her screen credits include Netflix’s Black Mirror, ITV’s Chasing Shadows, CBBC’s The Story of Tracy Beaker and the film adaptation of On Chesil Beach.

Rob Edwards (Fennyman) has starred in the West End as Scar in Disney’s The Lion King and regularly with the RSC and Bolton Octagon. His most recent credits for stage include To Kill A Mockingbird, The Winter’s Tale, Enemy of the People, Noises Off (Bolton Octagon), and, for television, Men Who Sleep in Cars and Holby City. Previous credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Chichester Festival Theatre), Let Them Eat Cake, Of Thee I Sing (Opera North), The Merry Wives of Windsor, Women Beware Women, Julius Caesar, Hamlet (RSC), and the Kenneth Branagh’s film adaptation of Hamlet.

Kevin N Golding (Lambert/Wabash) was seen earlier this year in the UK and US tours of Hamlet and with the RSC. His other stage credits include The Sting (Wilton’s Music Hall), Sense of An Ending (Theatre 503), Play Mas () and Othello (). He has appeared in Dark Matters, Silent Witness and House of Games for television and It Never Sleeps and Lost a Girl for film.

Edward Harrison (Burbage) starred most recently in Holes at Nottingham Playhouse. Previous stage credits include Wolf Hall/Bring Up The Bodies (Broadway), Kenneth Branagh’s Macbeth (New York), Baskerville (Liverpool Playhouse), Constellations (Singapore REP), All My Sons (Rose Theatre, Kingston), Tomcat (Southward Playhouse). Screen credits include Doctor Who, Genius: Einstein, Oska Bayte and I, An Outcast.

Ian Hughes (Henslowe) has a varied stage career with performances in Strife (Chichester Festival Theatre), Guys & Dolls ( and Chichester Festival Theatre), Donkey’s Years (Rose Theatre, Kingston), (), The Lion King (Lyceum), The Merry Wives of Windsor, Comedy of Errors, Hamlet (RSC) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (). Television credits include Shakespeare and Hathaway, The Alienist, Doctor Who and Torchwood.

Edmund Kingsley (Kit Marlowe) has made numerous appearances across film, television and theatre. Films include Madness in the Method, Interlude in Prague, Hernalsian Elysium, Tomorrow and Capsule for which he won six Best Actor Awards in festivals across Europe and America. On stage Edmund starred in The Secret Theatre (Shakespeare’s Globe), Seven Acts of Mercy, Hecuba, Richard III (RSC), The Keepers of Infinite Space (), The River Line (). His television credits include Doctors, ITV’s Jekyll and Hyde and Breathless, Life in Squares and Casualty.

Philip Labey’s (Sam) television appearances include the new adaptation of Vanity Fair, The Royals, Holby City and Casualty, and, for film, On Chesil Beach and London Wall. Philip’s stage credits include Posh (Nottingham Playhouse/Salisbury Playhouse), First Episode (Jermyn Street Theatre), Not About Heroes (), (Mercury Theatre), The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (Belgrade) and Peter Pan (New Vic).

Pierro Niel-Mee (Will Shakespeare) most recently starred in the RSC productions of The Hypocrite and Imperium. His previous stage credits also include Kenny (Arcola),Wolf Hall/Bring up the Bodies (West End and Broadway). For television, his credits include Lewis, Casualty, and Bouquet of Barbed Wire.

Rowan Polonski’s (Ned Aleyn / Catling) theatre credits include Cockamamy (Hope Theatre, Islington), Litus (Cervantes Theatre), The Hypocrite (Hull Truck/RSC), The Acedian Pirates (Theatre 503), Desert Rats (Arts Theatre) and Another Country (Trafalgar Studios). On screen Rowan has appeared in the 2018 Tomb Raider film, BBC’s Good Omens and Doctor Who.

Joshua Richards (Frees/Ralph) has appeared numerous times with the RSC, most recently in the UK and international tours of Richard II and Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, plus Death of a Salesman, The Canterbury Tales, Edward III and among others. On TV he starred in BBC’s A Very English Scandal, ITV’s Downton Abbey, The Richard Burton Diaries and High Hopes. Film credits include the award winning Playing Burton.

Richard Rowe McGhie (Barman/Adam/Guard) is a recent graduate from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. He has appeared in Feathers in the Snow (The Unicorn), A-Level Playing Field (Shoreditch Town Hall) and Vernon God Little (). Television includes The Killer Beside Me, Channel 4’s Electric Dreams and ITV’s Inspector Lewis.

Rosalind Steele’s (Molly) stage credits include The Box of Delights (Wilton’s Music Hall), The Life and Times of Fanny Hill () and As You Like It (Oxford Shakespeare Company). She has also performed on Broadway in The Snail and the Whale as well as touring the USA with the production. Her musical credits include Alice with the Erasmus International Musical and Theatre Company as well as (Theatre by the Lake).

Giles Taylor (Tilney / De Lesseps) has appeared in the West End, on Broadway and at numerous regional theatres with stage credits including Twelfth Night, A Christmas Carol (RSC), This House (Chichester Festival Theatre/Garrick), King Charles III (national tour and Australia), Wolf Hall/Bring Up The Bodies (West End and Broadway), An Ideal Husband (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Secret Garden (Birmingham REP). For television, his credits include Mr Selfridge, Victoria, The Musketeers, Foyle’s War, Doctors, Stuart: A Life Backwards.

Bill Ward (Wessex) is best known for playing James Barton in Emmerdale and Charlie Stubbs Coronation Street with further television appearances in EastEnders, The Bill, Silent Witness and True Crime among others. On stage he most recently starred in the national tours of Legally Blond and Not Dead Enough, and previously in Viva Forever, Million Dollar Quartet, Spamalot (West End) and The Hairy Ape ().

Toby Webster’s (Peter/Robin) stage credits include OppenHeimer (RSC), Oedipus (Matchstick Theatre Company), Jukebox – No Filter (Siberian Lights), Pride and Prejudice, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Illyria Theatre Company). He has appeared on television in Doctors and in film in London Road and Everest.

Jazmine Wilkinson (Webster/Mistress Quickly) most recently appeared in the world premiere of Gilgamesh at the White Bear Theatre. Her stage credits also include Shadow Games (Tour), Lion in the Streets (Rose Bruford), The Crucible (Rose Bruford) and Threeway (Edinburgh Fringe).

Creative Team biographies

Phillip Breen (Director) has directed over 40 productions across the UK at the Citizens’, RSC, Clwyd Theatr Cymru (where he was director of new writing 2006-08), Theatre Cocoon Tokyo, off-Broadway, as well as in the West End. His work has played nationally and internationally and has won or been nominated for numerous awards. Credits include The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Shoemaker’s Holiday (RSC) A Streetcar Named Desire (Theatre Cocoon, Tokyo), Travels With My Aunt (Glasgow Citizens), The Hypocrite (RSC, Hull Truck Theatre and Hull UK City of Culture 2017), Treasure Island (Birmingham REP), the 2016 York Mysteries at York Minster, Cyrano de Bergerac (Theatr Clwyd), True West (Tricycle Theatre), Sex With A Stanger (Trafalgar Studios). Writing credits include, stage adaptations of Lady Chatterley's Lover and Crime and Punishment. Assistant director credits include House, RSC, Chichester Festival Theatre, Clwyd Theatr Cymru.

Max Jones (Designer) is a winner of The Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design and has designed productions across the UK and abroad, including All My Sons (Old Vic/Headlong), Love And Information (Sheffield Crucible Theatre), A Streetcar Named Desire (Tokyo), The House They Grew Up In (Chichester festival Theatre/Headlong), The Hypocrite (Hull Truck/RSC as part of Hull City of Culture 2017), Trainspotting (Glasgow Citizens Theatre), Pride and Prejudice (Regents Park Open Air Theatre and Tour). Max has designed extensively at Clwyd Theatr Cymru, where he was an Associate Artist (2008-2015).

Tina MacHugh (Lighting Designer) has designed the lighting for shows by London Contemporary Dance, , the National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Manchester Royal Exchange and Nixon's Nixon in the West End. Her lighting design credits include Animal Farm (UK Tour), Shadows (Royal Shakespeare Company) and The Birthday Party ().

Dyfan Jones (Musical Director) has worked on acclaimed productions of Spring Awakening and Little Shop of Horrors and has written a musical adaptation for Great Expectations and Mimosa (Theatre Clwyd/tour). He has orchestrated and written music for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Scottish National Orchestra, is an associate artist at Clwyd Theatr Cymru where he has been composer, musical director or sound designer for more than 70 productions. Recent productions include Cyrano (Theatr Clwyd), The Barnbow Canaries, Insignificance (West Yorkshire Playhouse/Theatr Clwyd), Before I Leave (National Theatre of Wales) All That Fall (Arts Theatre).

Ayse Tashkiran (Movement Director) is an Associate Artist at the RSC whose current work includes Romeo and Juliet (RSC), Tidy Up and Sssh..bang (Peut Etre Theatre, National and International Touring). She has worked regularly with the RSC including productions of The Duchess of Malfi, Dido, Queen of Carthage, Doctor Faustus, Hecuba, The Shoemaker’s Holiday, The White Devil, As You Like It, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Richard III, , Measure for Measure, Little Eagles, The Gods Weep and Days of Significance. Ayse’s other works include: Othello (Shakespeare’s Globe); Fantastic Mr Fox - UK Theatre Awards 2017 Winner for Best Presentation of Touring Theatre (Nuffield Theatre, UK and International Tour); Lady Chatterley’s Lover (Crucible Theatre/ National Tour with ETT); the 2017 Oliver Award nominated The Government Inspector (Birmingham Repertory Theatre and National Tour), The York Minster Mystery Plays, at York Minster - winner of best production York Culture Awards 2016; the 2016 Olivier Award nominated Barbarians ().

Paddy Cunneen (Composer) is the Artistic Director of Tumult In The Clouds Theatre Company and has been Associate Director of Cheek By Jowl since 1990. Composer credits for Theatre include Blue Remembered Hills, Angels in America I and II, The Birthday Party, Othello and The Merry Wives of Windsor (National Theatre). He has also composed for Period of Adjustment (Almeida), The Treatment (Royal Court), The Blue Room () and The Duchess of Malfi, Antony and Cleopatra and Richard III (RSC). Composer credits for film and TV include Bite, Big Fish and Boy A which was BAFTA nominated for best score in 2008. Paddy has also directed for (National Theatre), His Lordship’s Fancy (The Gate) and Nova Scotia (Traverse).