Tag: Katy Rudd

The Ocean at the End of the Lane set for West End return at Nöel Coward Theatre

The Ocean at the End of the Lane, the National Theatre’s award-winning show, will return to London’s West End this autumn at the end of its UK and Ireland tour.

Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, adapted by Joel Horwood and directed by Katy Rudd, this thrilling adventure of fantasy, myth and friendship will play for a strictly limited 7-week run at the Noël Coward Theatre from October 11 – November 25, 2023.

This first major stage adaptation of Gaiman’s work blends magic with memory in a tour-de-force of storytelling that takes audiences on an epic journey to a childhood once forgotten and the darkness that lurks at the very edge of it. 

The Ocean at the End of the Lane production received its world premiere at the National Theatre in 2019.  It made its West End debut at the Duke of York’s Theatre in 2021. 

Gaiman said: “Ten years since my novel was first published, The Ocean at the End of the Lane won lots of awards and people loved it, then the National Theatre turned it into the most amazing play. I am thrilled, overjoyed and absolutely delighted that this glorious adaptation of my book is going to be returning to the West End on St Martin’s Lane. It makes audiences laugh and cry and wonder. If you wanted to see it, now is your chance.”

The 17-strong ensemble cast currently on tour, who will all transfer with the show to the West End, are: Charlie Brooks (Ursula), Daniel Cornish (alternate Boy), Trevor Fox (Dad), Emma-Jane Goodwin (understudy), Paolo Guidi (ensemble), Millie Hikasa (Lettie Hempstock), Lewis Howard (understudy), Kemi-Bo Jacobs (Ginnie Hempstock), Jasmeen James (understudy), Ronnie Lee (ensemble), Aimee McGoldrick (ensemble), Laurie Ogden (Sis), Keir Ogilvy (Boy), Domonic Ramsden (ensemble), Joe Rawlinson-Hunt (understudy), Risha Silvera (understudy) and Finty Williams (Old Mrs Hempstock). 

The creative team includes set designer Fly Davis, costume and puppet designer Samuel Wyer, movement director Steven Hoggett, composer Jherek Bischoff, lighting designer Paule Constable, sound designer Ian Dickinson, magic and illusions director and designer Jamie Harrison, puppetry director Finn Caldwell and casting director Naomi Downham. 

The associate creative team includes associate director Sophie Dillon Moniram, associate set designer Tim Blazdell, associate movement director Jess Williams, associate lighting designers Rob Casey (for Ammonite) and Tom Turner, associate sound designer Chris Reid, associate magic and illusions director John Bulleid and associate puppetry director Gareth Aled.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is currently on a 39-week UK and Ireland tour until October 7 before it transfers to the Noël Coward Theatre. 

Tickets: oceanonstage.com

Donmar goes to War with Stephen Campbell Moore, Adrian Scarborough

Stephen Campbell Moore, Adrian Scarborough

Jack Thorne’s new play, When Winston Went To War With The Wireless, has secured its leads ahead of its launch at Donmar Warehouse.

Stephen Campbell Moore will play John Reith and Adrian Scarborough will play Winston Churchill in this world premiere by Bafta and Olivier Award-winning Thorne. The play is directed by Katy Rudd (Ocean at the End of the Lane, Eureka Day).

In May 1926, Britain grinds to a halt, as workers down tools for The General Strike. With the printing presses shut down, the only sources of news are the government’s The British Gazette, edited by Chancellor of the Exchequer Winston Churchill, and the independent, fledgling British Broadcasting Company, led by John Reith. What follows is a fierce battle for control of the news and who gets to define the truth.

Campbell Moore’s theatre credits include Berenice at the Donmar, Consent, Clybourne Park, Chimerica, All My Sons and The History Boys. On TV he’s recently appeared in Litvinenko, The Confessions of Frannie Langton, War of the Worlds and The Child in Time.

Scarborough won an Olivier for his performance in Leopoldstadt. His prolific stage career includes Accidental Death of an Anarchist and To the Green Fields Beyond at the Donmar, as well as productions at the National Theatre including After the Dance, The Habit of Art, King Lear and Henry IV Parts I & II. His TV appearances include Bloods, Gavin and Stacey, Sanditon and Killing Eve. Films include Vera Drake and Gosford Park.

The creative team also includes designer Laura Hopkins (Rockets and Blue Lights), sound designers Ben and Max Ringham (Blindness, Prima Facie), lighting designer Howard Hudson (& Juliet, Orlando), movement director Scott Graham (Frantic Assembly, Olivier Award winner for The Curious Incident…), composer Gary Yershon (Art, The God of Carnage) and casting director Anna Cooper.