The Almeida Theatre has announced initial casting for the UK premiere of The Secret Life of Bees.
West End favourites Ava Brennan (Les Misérables; Hamilton; Tina – The Tina Turner Musical; The Lion King), Tarinn Callender (Hamilton; Come From Away), Danielle Fiamanya (Frozen, & Juliet, The Colour Purple), Rachel John (Hamilton, The Bodyguard), Mark Meadows (Quiz, Flowers for Mrs Harris) and Abiona Omonua (Caroline, or Change) will features in the highly anticipated UK premiere.
Written by playwright Lynn Nottage, composer Duncan Sheik and lyricist Susan Birkenhead, The Secret Life of Bees is directed by Whitney White (What to Send Up When It Goes Down) and based on the best-selling novel by Sue Monk Kidd.
This powerful, poignant and funny coming-of age story is set in 1960’s South Carolina and follows a lonely white teenage girl, struggling with the loss of her mother and a distant father. When her black caregiver and only friend is assaulted for asserting her civil rights, the pair escape on an adventure where they are taken in by a trio of black beekeeping sisters.
The creative team includes Shelley Maxwell (choreography), Soutra Gilmour (set design), Qween Jean (costume design), Neil Austin (lighting), Simon Baker (sound), Nigel Lilley (Music Supervisor and Musical Director) and Charlotte Sutton (casting director)
Up next at the Almeida is A Street Car Named Desire with Paul Mescal (Normal People) as Stanley, Lydia Wilson (Ripper Street) as Blanche, and Anjana Vasan (We Are Lady Parts) which runs from 10 December 2022 to 4 February 2023, followed by Women, Beware the Devil and then UK premiere of The Secret Life of Bees, running from 4 April to 27 May 2023.
The Secret Life of Bees is presented in association with Sonia Friedman Productions, Lauren Shuler Donner, Marianne Mills and Robert Cohen.
