Michael Grandage Company presents World première PETER AND ALICE A new play by John Logan
9 March – 1 June
Director: Michael Grandage; Set and Costume Designer: Christopher Oram
Lighting Designer: Paule Constable; Composer and Sound Designer: Adam Cork
Today full casting is announced for Peter and Alice – John Logan’s new play which continues the Michael Grandage Company Season at the Noel Coward Theatre. Joining Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw are Olly Alexander, Ruby Bentall, Stefano Braschi, Nicholas Farrell and Derek Riddell. The production follows the critically acclaimed Privates on Parade, and opens on 25 March, with previews from 9 March, and runs until 1 June 2013.
“Of course that’s how it begins: a harmless fairy tale to pass the hours”
When Alice Liddell Hargreaves met Peter Llewelyn Davies at the opening of a Lewis Carroll exhibition in 1932, the original Alice in Wonderland came face to face with the original Peter Pan. In John Logan’s remarkable new play, enchantment and reality collide as this brief encounter lays bare the lives of these two extraordinary characters.
Judi Dench plays Alice, and Ben Whishaw plays Peter in Logan’s first new play since Red, which won six Tony Awards in 2010.
John Logan is a playwright and screenwriter. His numerous plays include the Tony Award-winning Red, which Michael Grandage directed for the Donmar as well as Never the Sinner and Hauptmann. His next play I’ll East You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers opens on Broadway this April. A three-time Academy Award nominated screenwriter, his film work includes Skyfall, Hugo, Rango, Coriolanus, Sweeney Todd, The Aviator, Gladiator, The Last Samurai and Any Given Sunday.
Olly Alexander plays Peter Pan. His theatre work includes Mercury Fur (Old Red Lion Theatre) and The Aliens (Bush Theatre). For television, his credits include Skins, The Fades and Summerhill; and for film, Le Weekend, God Help the Girl, Great Expectations, Cheerful Weather for the Wedding, The Dish and The Spoon, Gulliver’s Travels, Dust, Tormented, Bright Star and Enter the Void.
Ruby Bentall plays Alice in Wonderland. For theatre, her credits include Hansel and Gretel, Grief, The Miracle, DNA, Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat (National Theatre), Blue Heart Afternoon (Hampstead Theatre), and Alice (Sheffield Crucible). Her television work includes The Paradise, Larkrise to Candelford, New Tricks, Lost in Austen and Oliver Twist; and for film, Robin Hood, The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler and Tormented.
Stefano Braschi plays Arthur Davies/Reggie Hargreaves/Michael Davies. His theatre work for Michael Grandage at the Donmar includes Richard II and King Lear (also national tour and Brooklyn Academy of Music. His other theatre work includes The Guinea Pig Club (York Theatre Royal), Danton’s Death (National Theatre), Warm (Nordland Theatre, Norway) and This Much is True (Theatre 503). His television credits include Miranda, The Best Possible Taste, Conviction, Benidorm, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Come Fly With Me, Sherlock: The Great Game and The Persuasionists.
Judi Dench plays Alice Liddell Hargreaves. Dench’s theatre credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Rose Theatre, Kingston), Madame de Sade (Donmar West End), Hay Fever, The Breath of Life (Haymarket Theatre), Merry Wives of Windsor, All’s Well That Ends Well (RSC), Amy’s View (National Theatre and Broadway) and A Little Night Music (National Theatre). For television, her credits include Cranford, As Time Goes By and Last of the Blonde Bombshells; and for film, Skyfall, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, J.Edgar, My Week With Marilyn, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Jane Eyre, The Quantum of Solace, Notes on a Scandal, Casino Royale, Mrs Henderson Presents, Pride and Prejudice, Iris, Chocolat, Shakespeare in Love (Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress) and Mrs Brown.
Nicholas Farrell plays Lewis Carroll. For theatre his work includes South Downs/ Browning Version (Chichester Festival Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre), Stuff Happens, Dinner (National Theatre), The Lady in the Van (Queen’s Theatre), The Strip (Royal Court), Walpurgis Night (Gate Theatre), Kean (Old Vic) and The Cherry Orchard (Aldwych Theatre). For television, his credits include The Special Relationship, Torchwood, Collision, Rebus, Talk to Me, The Roman Mysteries, Persuasion, Suburban Shootout, Jericho, Trial and Retribution, Bedtime Stories, Absolute Power, The Jury, Lipstick on Your Collar and The Jewel in the Crown; and for film, Amazing Grace, Driving Lessons, The Third Wave, Charlotte Gray, Bloody Sunday, Pearl Harbour and Beautiful People.
Derek Riddell plays JM Barrie. For theatre his credits include Knives in Hens (Royal Exchange), Victoria (RSC), The Cosmonaut (Tron Theatre), The Juji Girl (Traverse Theatre) and Anna Karenina (Shared Experience). His television work includes Frankie, DCI Banks, Ripper Street, Bob Servant Independent, More Than Words: Mightier than the Sword, Bad Sugar, Garrow’s Law, Death in Paradise, Field of Blood, Five Days, Trust Me, Ugly Betty, State of Mind, Forgiven, No Angels, The Book Group, Clocking Off and The Project; and for film, Twenty 8K, The Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, To Hell With Love and Best Laid Plans.
Ben Whishaw plays Peter Llewelyn Davies. His theatre work includes The Pride (Lucille Lortel Theatre), Cock (Royal Court Theatre), Some Trace of Her, The Seagull (National Theatre), Leaves of Glass (Soho Theatre), Mercury Fur (Paines Plough) and Hamlet (Old Vic). For television, his credits include Richard II, The Hour, All Signs of Death, Criminal Justice – International Emmy Award for Best Actor, Nathan Barley and Other People’s Children; and for film, For Viola And Piano, Skyfall, Cloud Atlas, The Tempest, Bright Star, Brideshead Revisited, I’m Not There and Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.
Michael Grandage is Artistic Director of the Michael Grandage Company in London. For the company he directed Privates on Parade opening the season at the Noel Coward Theatre. He was Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse (2002–2012) and Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres (2000–05). He is the recipient of Tony, Drama Desk, Olivier, Evening Standard, Critics’ Circle and South Bank Awards. He has been awarded Honorary Doctorates by both Sheffield University and Sheffield Hallam University and is President of Central School of Speech and Drama. He was appointed CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2011. His book A Decade At The Donmar, was published by Constable & Robins in 2012.
His work for the Donmar Warehouse included Richard II, Luise Miller, King Lear, Red (also New York, Tony and Drama Desk Awards Best Director), Jude Law in Hamlet (also Elsinore and New York), Ivanov (Evening Standard and Critics Circle Award Best Director), Madame de Sade, Twelfth Night, The Chalk Garden (Evening Standard and Critics Circle Awards Best Director), Don Juan in Soho, Frost/Nixon (also Gielgud, New York, USA tour, Tony Nomination Award for Best Director), Othello (Evening Standard and Critic’s Circle Awards for Best Director), The Wild Duck (Critic’s Circle Award Best Director), Guys and Dolls (Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production), Grand Hotel (Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production and Evening Standard Award Best Director), The Cut, After Miss Julie, Caligula (Olivier Award Best Director), Merrily We Roll Along (Evening Standard Award Best Director), Passion Play (Evening Standard Award and Critics Circle Award for Best Director). For Sheffield Theatres he directed many productions including Don Carlos (Evening Standard Award Best Director).
Peter and Alice continues a season of five plays at the Noel Coward Theatre in London’s West End. The fifteen month long season opened with Privates on Parade, and continues with Martin McDonagh’s comedy The Cripple of Inishmaan with Daniel Radcliffe; A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Sheridan Smith and David Walliams; and completing the season is Jude Law in the title role of Shakespeare’s Henry V. At the heart of the season, a commitment to access and building the next generation of theatregoers, with over 100,000 tickets across the season at just £10, a full education programme alongside schools’ performances, access performances and job opportunities.
A WEST END SEASON LIKE NO OTHER…
This season of five plays will be presented with over 100,000 tickets at £10, free performances for selected schools, a full education programme, captioned performances, audio-described performances, job opportunities for rising young directors and designers and much more. As well as offering audiences a diverse range of plays, the Michael Grandage Company is also reaching out to people of all ages and backgrounds to engage with the work they are presenting in the West End.
FREE EDUCATION PERFORMANCES
Every production in this season will have at least one free performance for schools and colleges from selected areas across London focusing on first-time theatregoers. This will launch MGC Futures, a scheme designed to introduce young people to the theatre.
MGC will also be engaging in a full education programme and reaching out to as many people as possible over the 15 months. There will be a Schools’ group rate offering access to all productions and a range of activities including a post-show talk, in-school workshops and online study guides free of charge.
In addition to this, MGC will undertake an ambitious intergenerational project focused around
Henry V – the final production in the season. This will culminate in MGC Education Week, which will see a performance of this work on the stage of the Noel Coward theatre, plus an exhibition of set and costume designs by local primary school children.
JOB OPPORTUNITIES – ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR/ ASSOCIATE DESIGNER
MGC will be seeking young directors and designers for each production as part of a training scheme to seek out the next generation of creative artists working in the theatre. Full details of how to apply for these roles will be available via www.michaelgrandagecompany.com
AUDIO DESCRIBED PERFORMANCES
Each show will have audio described performances that include touch-tours and other activities.
CAPTIONED PERFORMANCES
In association with Stagetext, MGC are proud to offer all five West End shows with captioned performances.
Press release issued by: Kate Morley PR
LINKS
Book tickets to Peter & Alice at the Noel Coward Theatre in London
Book tickets to the Michael Grandage Company season at the Noel Coward Theatre in London
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