Press Release –Monday 15th July 2019 Fiery Angel and Ambassador Theatre Group Productions present the Bristol Old Vic, Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Royal & Derngate, Northampton, and Fuel production of TOUCHING THE VOID Based on the book by Joe Simpson Adapted by David Greig IMAGES CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE TRAILER CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE • PRODUCERS ANNOUNCE CASTING FOR THE WEST END TRANSFER OF TOM MORRIS’ PRODUCTION OF TOUCHING THE VOID • THE PRODUCTION WILL OPEN IN PREVIEWS AT THE DUKE OF YORK’S THEATRE ON NOVEMBER 9TH WITH AN OPENING NIGHT OF NOVEMBER 14TH • TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW Casting has today been announced for Touching The Void. Following critically acclaimed runs at the Bristol Old Vic, Royal & Derngate, Northampton, Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Hong Kong Festival and on Tour in the UK Tom Morris’ production of Touching the Void will see original cast members Fiona Hampton, Patrick McNamee and Josh Williams return to the show, joined by Angus Yellowlees. The show will open in the West End at the Duke of York’s Theatre previewing from November 9th for a strictly limited season with an opening night of November 14th. Fiona Hampton will play Sarah. Her theatre credits include: Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare’s Globe); Tamburlaine (Yellow Earth/Arcola Theatre and UK tour); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (New Wolsey Theatre); Private Lives (Octagon Theatre/New Victoria Theatre); Winter Hill, The Glass Menagerie, Tull, Of Mice and Men, Lighthearted Intercourse (all Octagon Theatre); Don’t Laugh (Cockpit Theatre); Playhouse Creatures (Chichester Festival Theatre); The Changeling (The Production Works/Southwark Playhouse); Roar, Clockheart Boy (Rose Theatre Kingston); The Merchant of Venice (Derby LIVE). Film includes: The Good Neighbour, Revolution, Kingsman: Secret Service, The Windmill, Legacy. Television includes: The Collection (Amazon Prime/BBC Worldwide); Switch (ITV); Holby City (BBC); The Sarah Jane Adventures (DW Productions). Patrick McNamee will play Richard. His theatre credits include: French Without Tears (Orange Tree Theatre); The History Boys (Selladoor); Sweeney Todd, A Few Good Men, Love and a Bottle, The Way of the World, Three Sisters, Hamlet, Women Beware Women, Iona Rain, For Services Rendered (all LAMDA). Film includes: The Invisible Hours (VR project). Television includes: Series regular on Our Girl, Inspector George Gently (BBC). Josh Williams will play Joe. His theatre includes: If We Got Some More Cocaine I Could Show You How I Love You (Project Arts Centre); One Night in Miami (Donmar Warehouse); Barbarians (Found 111); New Views: Is There a WIFI in Heaven? (National Theatre); Wendy and Peter Pan (RSC); Love and Information, Our Private Life (Royal Court); Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare’s Globe); Shivered (Southwark Playhouse); Lord of the Flies (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre). Television includes: Doctors, May Day, Holby City (BBC); Agatha Raison (Sky One); Midsomer Murders, Law and Order (ITV). Angus Yellowlees will play Simon. Angus trained at LAMDA graduating in 2017 where credits whilst training included Bury Fair, Hobson’s Choice and The Cherry Orchard. Screen credits include The Last Commanders (BBC) and We Have Everywhere To Go (NFTS). Radio work includes The Balloaloes and The Gnats. Angus is originally from the Scottish Borders and is a keen climber. Touching the Void will be his professional stage debut. Bristol Old Vic's Tom Morris (War Horse, Swallows & Amazons,) directs the first stage version of Touching the Void, adapted by The Lyceum's David Greig (The Events, The Suppliant Women, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) from the award-winning memoir by Joe Simpson, which also became a BAFTA-winning film. They are joined by Designer Ti Green, Sound Designer and Composer Jon Nicholls, Lighting Designer Chris Davey, Movement Director Sasha Milavic Davies and with casting by Jill Green CDG. This production marks the 30th anniversary of the publication of Joe Simpson’s best-selling memoir, charting his extraordinary struggle for survival on the perilous Siula Grande mountain in the Peruvian Andes. Alongside this struggle is the appalling dilemma of his climbing partner Simon Yates, perched on an unstable snow-cliff, clinging onto the rope tying him to the severely injured Joe. Unable to recover Joe from the void, Simon is faced with the agonising decision to cut the rope that binds them… -ENDS- For further information please contact Maisie Lawrence at The Corner Shop PR [email protected] / 020 7831 7657 LISTINGS Touching the Void Based on the book by Joe Simpson Adapted by David Greig Directed by Tom Morris Performance Dates: Duke of York’s Theatre St Martin's Lane, Charing Cross, London WC2N 4BG TouchingTheVoidPlay.com 0844 871 7623 Saturday 9th November 2019 – Saturday 29th February 2020 Monday – Saturday 7:30 pm Wednesday and Saturday 2.30pm First Saturday matinee 16th November First Wednesday matinee 20th November Press Night Thursday 14th November @TheVoidPlay #TouchingTheVoid Tickets from £15 Groups Bookings: 020 7206 1174 Access Bookings: 0844 871 7677 NOTES TO EDITORS FIERY ANGEL Headed by Edward Snape, Marilyn Eardley and Jon Bath, Fiery Angel is a theatrical production company that produces and manages drama, comedies, musicals and event theatre in the West End, and on tour throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. Upcoming productions include: Tennessee Williams’ Night of the Iguana (West End), Florian Zeller’s The Son (West End), Peppa Pig Live! (West End). Recent productions include: Home, I’m Darling (West End and UK tour), Long Day's Journey Into Night (West End, New York and Los Angeles), Mary Stuart (West End), Love From a Stranger (UK tour), The Jungle Book (UK tour), Mel Brook’s Young Frankenstein (West End), Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company inaugural season: The Winter’s Tale, Harlequinade/All On Her Own, Red Velvet, The Painkiller, Romeo and Juliet, The Entertainer (West End), Ben Hur (Tricycle Theatre), The 39 Steps (9 years at the Criterion Theatre in the West End, 3 years on Broadway, 3 UK tours and presented in over 40 territories worldwide to date; Olivier, Tony and Moliere winner), To Kill a Mockingbird (UK tour and Barbican), The Scottsboro Boys (West End), The Ladykillers (Gielgud, Vaudeville and UK tour) and Ghost Stories (West End). fiery-angel.com AMBASSADOR THEATRE GROUP PRODUCTIONS Ambassador Theatre Group Productions is the producing and general management arm of Ambassador Theatre Group. The company is committed to presenting high-quality musicals and plays across the West End, Broadway and UK regions and increasingly international. Recent productions and co-productions in London and the West End include 9 to 5 the Musical (Savoy Theatre); Betrayal starring Tom Hiddleston (Harold Pinter Theatre); The Lehman Trilogy (Piccadilly Theatre); The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night-Time (Piccadilly Theatre); Caroline, or Change (Playhouse Theatre, Olivier Award for Sharon D Clarke); the Pinter at the Pinter season presented by the Jamie Lloyd Company (Harold Pinter Theatre); King Lear starring Ian McKellen (Duke of York’s Theatre); the Tony Award-winning play Oslo (Harold Pinter Theatre); Glengarry Glen Ross starring Christian Slater (Playhouse Theatre); Buried Child featuring Ed Harris in an Olivier Award-nominated performance (Trafalgar Studios); Big Fish starring Kelsey Grammer (The Other Palace); Hamlet starring Andrew Scott (Harold Pinter Theatre); the Jamie Lloyd company season of The Maids and The Homecoming (Trafalgar Studios) and Doctor Faustus (Duke of York’s Theatre); the Olivier Award- winning Oresteia (Trafalgar Studios) and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Savoy Theatre and UK Tour). On Broadway productions and co-productions include Pretty Woman (Nederlander Theatre) and Sunday in the Park with George (Hudson Theatre) which starred Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford, both of which will be coming to the West End in 2020. ATG Productions is committed to bringing high quality shows to the regions and is proud to be producing and general managing Ian McKellen’s 80 date tour of the UK which will conclude with a West End run at the Harold Pinter Theatre in the autumn of 2019. Recent touring productions and co- productions include Abigail’s Party starring Jodie Prenger; Glengarry Glen Ross starring Nigel Harman and Mark Benton; Strangers on a Train based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel; the Victorian thriller Gaslight starring Kara Tointon, Keith Allen and Rupert Young; Noël Coward’s comedy Private Lives, starring Tom Chambers and Charlotte Ritchie and the multi-Olivier Award-winning musical Sunny Afternoon. BRISTOL OLD VIC 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