See the latest videos and photos of new play Second Best featuring Sex Education star Asa Butterfield.
Asa Butterfield makes his stage debut in Barney Norris’ new play Second Best, which is now playing at the Riverside Studios in London until 22 February 2025.
New in are production photos of Second Best, featuring Asa Butterfield as Martin Hill.
Photos: Second Best production images
The new play is written by Barney Norris (Visitors), based on David Foenkinos’s internationally best-selling novel, and directed by former Donmar Warehouse artistic director Michael Longhurst (Next to Normal).
Photos: Second Best – In rehearsals
Also check out behind-the-scenes rehearsal photos and a video of the show.
At ten years old, Martin Hill (Asa Butterfield) was on the brink of stardom, down to the final two contenders for the role of Harry Potter but narrowly missing out. Now an adult, Martin is about to embark on the ultimate adventure – fatherhood. As he navigates this whirlwind of emotions, he is pulled back to that pivotal moment in his past as he struggles to move beyond imagining what his life might have been.
Video: Asa Butterfield talks about Second Best
British actor Asa Butterfield is best known for his role as Otis Milburn in the Netflix worldwide phenomenon Sex Education. The series returned for a fourth and final series last September. He will next star in Out Of The Dust for Netflix, a six-part psychological thriller, opposite Molly Windsor, and Christopher Eccleston.
Asa Butterfield is a rising star on screen, having played the lead role of Otis Milburn in hit Netflix drama Sex Education. His other screen credits include movies Hugo, directed by Martin Scorsese, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Tim Burton, and Ender’s Game, directed by Gavin Hood. His recent projects include Greed, directed by Michael Winterbottom, Choose or Die, directed by Toby Meakins, and All Fun and Games, directed by Eren Celeboglu and Ari Costa.
Barney Norris is an award winning playwright and novelist. His plays include Visitors, Every You Every Me, Eventide, Echo’s End, While We’re Here, Nightfall, We Started To Sing, A Stranger Comes To Town and The Band Back Together. Barney has won a number of writing awards including the Critics’ Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright for Visitors, and a South Bank Sky Arts Times Breakthrough Award for Literature.
Video: Watch a behind-the-scenes trailer for Second Best starring Asa Butterfield
Award-winning director Michael Longhurst is the former Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse. His upcoming projects include a new production of Much Ado About Nothing for the RSC starring Freema Agyeman as Beatrice and Nick Blood as Benedick. His recent productions include musical Next to Normal at the Donmar Warehouse and in the West End ; and Donmar shows including Keeley Hawes in The Human Body, The Band’s Visit, Rory Kinnear in Force Majeure, and Nick Payne’s Constellations. His other productions include Caroline, or Change (Chichester, West End, Broadway) starring Sharon D Clarke, Amadeus at the National Theatre, A Number at the Young Vic and Between Riverside and Crazy at Hampstead Theatre.
Joining Michael Longhurst in the creative team is Set and costume designer Fly Davis.
Produced by Simon Friend Entertainment, Second Best is playing at the Riverside Studios in London from 24 January to 22 February 2025.
Book tickets to Second Best at Riverside Studios London
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