Following Sherman Cymru’s recent autumn season announcement the company is delighted to reveal who will be performing in the first two main house productions directed by new Artistic Director Rachel O’Riordan, Romeo & Juliet and the Christmas show, Arabian Nights.
Headlining the autumn season is an exciting contemporary version of Shakespeare’s classic Romeo & Juliet (2 – 18 October). Director Rachel O’Riordan, has teamed up with Sherman Cymru’s Associate Artist: Designer Kenny Miller, reviving the successful partnership that created Perth Theatre and Tron Theatre’s Macbeth in 2013.
Romeo & Juliet will be profiling some of the hottest fresh talent emerging from drama schools. Chris Gordon, who is from Cardiff and a recent graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama will be making his professional acting debut in the title role of Romeo.
Chris will be joined by a wealth of ‘rising acting talent’ who have graduated from the esteemed Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Swansea born actress Sophie Melville, who recently toured with Clywd Theatre Cymru’s critically acclaimed Under Milk Wood, will play Juliet and Luke Eliott Bridgeman will be playing both the dashing Paris and the volatile cousin of Juliet, Tybalt.
Sherman Cymru is excited to bring Linden Walcott-Burton to perform in Wales for the first time along with Scott Reid who was recently nominated for Best Actor at Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland for his role in Perfect Stroke at Oran Mor.
Joining this talented group of young actors who are just starting out in their careers, are a number of accomplished actors of high calibre, known for their strong performances on stage and screen. Welsh actress Sara Lloyd-Gregory who recently wowed audiences with her moving portrayal in the S4C and BBC3 TV thriller, Hinterland, will be playing Lady Capulet. Sara played the role of Juliet in Wales Theatre Company’s Romeo & Juliet, directed by Michael Bogdanov, nearly 10 years ago. Anita Reynolds will be joining the Sherman Cymru company again following her performances in Measure for Measure and the award-winning co-production with Shared Experience, Speechless.
Romeo & Juliet will also see a strong Celtic presence, as alongside the Welsh actors will be Scottish actor Paul Rattray (Perth/ Tron Theatre’s Macbeth, Sheffield Theatre’s Racing Demon and the original cast of National Theatre of Scotland’s Black Watch) and Irish actors Tony Flynn (Abbey Theatre’s Alice In Funderland, Living Quarters, At Swim Two Birds and Perth Theatre’s Twelfth Night) and Sean O’Callaghan (Over The Bridge, Finborough Theatre, The Taming of the Shrew, Derby Playhouse). Tony and Sean both worked with Rachel previously in the Lyric Theatre, Belfast and Perth Theatre co-production of The Seafarer when Sean was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
Alongside this outstanding cast, Sherman Cymru has also created a chorus of 8 local male actors to perform in Romeo & Juliet, many of whom have never been part of a producing theatre company before.
The cast has also been confirmed for Sherman Cymru’s main house Christmas production, Arabian Nights (5 December 2014 – 3 January 2015).
Arabian Nights will see actor-musicians take on multiple roles in this exciting storytelling feast over the Christmas period. This will be the second piece in her first season as Artistic Director that Rachel O’Riordan will be directing and this time she is reunited with composer Conor Mitchell, who she worked with on Grimm Tales (Library Theatre, Manchester) and Animal Farm (Theatre Royal, Bath).
Actor musicians will perform a vibrant original score by the award winning composer Conor Mitchell who is an opera, music-theatre and orchestral composer from Northern Ireland. As well as creating the musical score for Arabian Nights he will be performing live on stage.
Sherman Cymru is thrilled to be working with an exciting cast including Alun Saunders, who was in Sherman Cymru’s under 7s show last year, Corina Pavlova and The Lion’s Roar | Corina Pavlova a’r Llew sy’n Rhuo and The Snow Tiger | Teigr Yr Eira (2012), and Elin Phillips who was in Sherman Cymru’s A Christmas Carol. Following her performance in Romeo & Juliet, Anita Reynolds will be back at the Sherman for Christmas, and Pete Ashmore and Joanna Hickman will be working with Rachel once again following Grimm Tales at the Library Theatre, Manchester. Bringing a strong presence to the stage as the King will be actor Ashley Alymann.
Rachel said: “I am delighted to have been able to bring together two casts of superb actors who will captivate audiences at the Sherman this autumn. It is exciting to be working with both Welsh and Wales based actors, as well as bringing some of the most accomplished actors from the UK and Ireland to the Sherman for the first time. It’s fantastic to be bringing together our celtic connections on the Sherman stage.
As well as superb casts, Romeo & Juliet and Arabian Nights are two big plays and big productions which will be visually stunning for our audiences.”
For full details and listings of shows please visit www.shermancymru.co.uk or contact Sherman Cymru’s Ticket Office on 029 2064 6900 |
