Joint CEOs Artistic Director Paul Hart and Executive Director Claire Murray, and the whole team at Newbury’s The Watermill Theatre are thrilled to announce full cast and creative team for the next show at the award-winning Newbury venue.
From 12 April – 18 May, The Watermill’s critically acclaimed Watermill Ensemble will sashay into the Golden Age of Hollywood in a new take on Shakespeare’s classic comedy Much Ado About Nothing.
Adapted by Tom Wentworth and directed by Paul Hart, the new production sets the comedy at a bustling film set and will feature a 1940s-inspired soundscape, played live by the ensemble cast of actor-musicians.
Returning to The Watermill Theatre are Katherine Jack (As You Like It, The Watermill Theatre) who will play ‘Beatrice’ opposite James Mack (The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Rivals, Macbeth, Journey’s End, The Watermill Theatre) as ‘Benedick’, Patrick Bridgman (The Lord of the Rings, The Watermill Theatre) as ‘Leonato’, Thuliswa Magwaza (Much Ado About Nothing, The Duke of York’s Theatre) as ‘Hero’, Jack Quarton (Amélie, The Criterion Theatre) as ‘Don Pedro’, Augustina Seymour (Othello, The Watermill Theatre) as ‘Don John’ and Hayden Wood (The Play That Goes Wrong, The Duchess Theatre) as ‘Dogberry’. Emma Barclay (Rapunzel and As You Like It, The Watermill Theatre) will be sharing the roles of ‘Verges / Friar / Conrade’ with Leigh Quinn (Linck and Mülhahn – Hampstead, Boundless as the Sea, RSC). New to The Watermill Theatre are Fred Double (Aladdin, Hackney Empire) who will play ‘Claudio’ with Priscille Grace (Dick Whittington, Queens Theatre, Hornchurch) as ‘Margaret’.
Much Ado About Nothing will be directed by Watermill Artistic Director Paul Hart, with Ceci Calf as designer (Othello, The Watermill), Robin Colyer (An Enemy Of The People, Flintlock Theatre) as musical director and sound designer, Charley Dunford as lighting designer (Macbeth, The Watermill) and Sofia Gallucci as assistant director. The stage management team will be Cat Pewsey (CSM), Leila Stephenson and Natalie Toney (ASMs), with Maia Thompson on rehearsal placement (ASM). BSL Consultant is Daryl Jackson, the BSL integrated sign performers are Ana Becker and Rachael Merry, and the Audio Describer is Jane Brambley.
Paul Hart said, “What better way to celebrate Shakespeare, the creator of the romantic comedy, than with Tom Wentworth’s new adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing, which combines the on and off-screen drama and antics of a film studio with the glamour of 1940s Hollywood and a jazz and swing soundscape. Expect mischief, mayhem and passions to run high!”
