News: Audrey Brisson to star in one-person version of Jekyll & Hyde

Reading Rep Theatre have announced that Olivier and Grammy award-nominated performer Audrey Brisson (Amélie, Into The Woods) will star in the upcoming world premiere production of Gary McNair’s one-person stage adaptation of Jekyll & Hyde

The production, which runs from 10-29 October, will be the first production of the theatre’s tenth anniversary season with all tickets being priced under £20 as part of the theatre’s recently announced ticketing strategy to combat the cost-of-living crisis’ effect on accessibility to theatre.

Gary McNair’s captivating and comic adaptation turns Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic story on its head, revealing the depths of one person’s psyche and the lengths people will go to hide their deepest secrets. 

The production will see Brisson reunite with director Michael Fentiman (AmélieThe Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), who directed her Olivier and Grammy award-nominated performance in Amélie (West End – Criterion Theatre, The Other Palace, UK Tour & Watermill Theatre).

Brisson can currently be seen as Cinderella in the much-anticipated revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into The Woods at Theatre Royal Bath with previous credits including Dr Seuss’s The Lorax (Old Vic Theatre), The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk (Live Stream) (Bristol Old Vic Theatre/ Wise Children), Marina in Pericles (National Theatre), Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio (National Theatre), Bella Chagall in The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk (Bristol Old Vic Theatre/ Edinburgh Festival – Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award), Gelsomina in The Strada (UK Tour & The Other Palace), Dea in The Grinning Man (Bristol Old Vic) and Bella Chagall in The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk (Kneehigh).

Gary McNair became a Traverse Associate Artist in February 2017 and was among the first writers selected to create new plays as part of a $5 million commissioning drive by US audiobook giant Audible. His other plays include After The CutsSquare Go (Fringe First Award Winner 2018), Letters To Morrissey (Fringe First Award Winner 2017), Locker Room Talk and A Gambler’s Game To Dying (Fringe First Award Winner 2015, nominated for Best New Play by Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland 2016).

Michael Fentiman, who will direct the world premiere, recently directed the current West End production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at the Gillian Lynne Theatre and its prior UK tour. Fentiman’s production of Amélie (The Watermill Theatre, UK Tour, West End) was nominated for three Olivier Awards (including Best New Musical) in 2020, with Fentiman being nominated for a Grammy® in 2021 for his work on the London Cast Recording. He also directed the West End productions of The Windsors: Endgame (Prince of Wales Theatre) and The Importance of Being Earnest (Vaudeville) and the RSC’s productions of The Taming of the Shrew (RSC/US Tour), Titus Andronicus (RSC) and Ahasverus (RSC/Hampstead Theatre). 

Joining McNair and Fentiman on the creative team are Max Jones (The Comedy of Errors at the RSC, Noises Off at Lyric Hammersmith & West End) as Production Designer, Emily Irish (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) as Lighting Designer, Richard Hammarton (Love and Other Acts of ViolenceThe Crucible) as Sound Designer and Annie Kershaw (Safe, Best of Enemies) as Assistant Director. Sarah Harkins (for Annelie Powell Casting) is Casting Director.

Annie Kershaw will also direct Reading Rep and A Girl Called Stephen Theatre’s upcoming production of Hedda Gabler, which is also part of the Reading Rep: 10 season.

10% of all tickets to Jekyll & Hyde will be free for those who can’t afford them, and thirty £5 tickets will be available to Under 30s for each performance during the first week of the production’s run.

Tickets are on sale at www.readingrep.com.  

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