Casting is announced for the European Premiere of Anne Washburn’s Mr Burns. Almeida Theatre Associate Director Robert Icke directs, following the success of 1984 which transfers to the West End this week.
The company includes Fiona Digney, Adrian der Gregorian, Demetri Goritsas, Adey Grummet, Michael Henry, Justine Mitchell, Wunmi Mosaku, Annabel Scholey, Michael Shaeffer and Jenna Russell.
Mr Burns will be designed by Tom Scutt who most recently worked on the Almeida’s current production of King Charles III. Philip Gladwell will design the lighting, sound design will be by Tom Gibbons, with joint composition and musical direction by Orlando Gough and Michael Henry.
It's the end of everything in contemporary America. A future without power. But what will survive?
Mr Burns asks whether the stories we tell make us the people we are, explodes the boundaries between pop and high culture and, when society has crumbled, imagines the future of America's most famous TV family.
Due to popular demand performances of Mr Burns have been extended to Saturday 26 July. Tickets for the extension period are now on sale. See almeida.co.uk for further information.
Robert Icke is Associate Director at the Almeida. Most recently he wrote and directed 1984 with Duncan Macmillan. The acclaimed production played to packed houses at the Almeida and transfers to the West End this week. Robert was previously Associate Director at Headlong where he worked with Rupert Goold to conceive and develop Decade, directed Boys by Ella Hickson and a UK tour of Romeo and Juliet. Elsewhere, his theatre credits include The Alchemist at Liverpool Playhouse and Catalysta at Ovalhouse.
Anne Washburn’s other plays include The Internationalist, Apparition, The Communist Dracula Pageant, I Have Loved Strangers, The Small, The Ladies and A Devil at Noon.
Adrian der Gregorian will perform in Made in Dagenham at the Adelphi Theatre later this year. Previous theatre credits include Sweet Smell of Success (Arcola Theatre), Road Show (Menier Chocolate Factory), Rocky Horror Show (UK Tour), La Cage Aux Folles (Playhouse Theatre) and The Woman in White (Palace Theatre). He recently appeared in BBC sitcom W1A.
Demetri Goritsas has performed at the National Theatre on several occasions with credits including His Girl Friday, A Prayer for Owen Meany and Finding the Sun. Other theatre includes The Sweetest Thing in Baseball andBoy Gets Girl (both Royal Court). Opera includes Street Scene (English National Opera). He most recently starred in the films Rush, X-Men: First Class and The Whistleblower. Television credits include A Poet in New York, Nixon’s The One, Episodes, Twenty Twelve and Spooks.
Adey Grummet’s opera and musical theatre credits include Dr Dee and The Big Barber Bash (both ENO), The Cradle Will Rock (Arcola Theatre) and Shoes (Sadlers Wells). Her first full-length opera libretto was produced in 2011 and she is a founding member of The Shout. She is a programme advisor to the Spitalfields Music Festival, a member and trustee of the writers’ laboratory Book, Music & Lyrics and a mentor for Music For Youth. She works regularly in education and outreach work for the BBC and is part of the delivery team for Big, Big Sing.
Justine Mitchell’s theatre credits include Gastronauts and The Stone (both Royal Court), Twelfth Night (RSC),King Lear (Donmar Warehouse), Uncle Vanya (Young Vic), Hedda Gabler, Blithe Spirit and Bash (all Gate Theatre, Dublin), Three Sisters, Aristocrats, The Shape of Metal, She Stoops to Conquer and All My Sons (all The Abbey Theatre, Dublin). Her credits at the National Theatre include Detroit, Children of the Sun, The White Guard, The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other, Philistines, The Coram Boy, The House of Bernarda Alba and The Night Season. Television includes The Suspicions of Mr Whicher II and Harry and Paul. Film credits include The Stag, A Cock and Bull Story and Inside I'm Dancing.
Wunmi Mosaku’s theatre credits include Truth and Reconciliation and The Vertical Hour (both Royal Court), Mules(Young Vic), Katrina (The Bargehouse), Rough Crossings (Lyric Hammersmith) and The Great Theatre of the World(Arcola Theatre). Her film credits include Philomena and I Am Slave. Television includes Dancing On The Edge, Silent Witness, Black Out, Law & Order and 32 Brinkburn Street.
Annabel Scholey’s extensive theatre credits include Passion Play (Duke of York’s Theatre), Antigone (National Theatre), Richard III (Old Vic / BAM / World Tour), The Rivals (Theatre Royal Haymarket / UK Tour), Wallensteinand The House of Special Purpose (both Minerva Theatre, Chichester), Hobson’s Choice (Chichester Festival Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Rose Theatre, Kingston), Hamlet and Taming of the Shrew (both Bristol Tobacco Factory), Troilus and Cressida (RSC) and The Cherry Orchard (Sheffield Crucible). Her television credits include Family Tree, Personal Affairs, Being Human, Jane Eyre and Poirot. Film includes Walking On Sunshine and radio credits include All Passion Spent and Under Milk Wood.
Michael Shaeffer was last on stage in Godchild at Hampstead Theatre. His other credits include Table andLondon Road (both National Theatre), All About My Mother and Restoration (both Old Vic), The Threepenny Opera(National Theatre), Oliver! (Palladium), Hamlet (Northampton Royal Theatre) and Original Sin (Sheffield Crucible). His television credits include Foyles War, Luther, Black Mirror: The Waldo Moment, Mrs Biggs, Game of Thronesand Parades End. Film includes London Road, London Fields, Anna Karenina and Broken.
Jenna Russell is currently performing in Urinetown at St James Theatre. She won an Olivier Award for her performance in Sunday in the Park with George at the Menier Chocolate Factory. The production transferred to the Roundabout Theater Company, New York where she was nominated for a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award and a Drama League Award. Her other theatre credits include Merrily We Roll Along (Menier Chocolate Factory / Harold Pinter), Season's Greetings (National Theatre), Into the Woods and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (both Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), Amy’s View (Theatre Royal, Bath), Guys and Dolls (Donmar Warehouse), High Society(Crucible Theatre, Sheffield), Metropolis Kabarett (National Theatre), As You Like It, Antony and Cleopatra, The Winter’s Tale, Misha's Party, Wildest Dreams and The Beggar’s Opera (All RSC), Three Sisters (Royal Court) andLes Miserables (Palace Theatre). Television credits include Call The Midwife, The Paradise and On The Up.
