Full Casting Announced for Redcliffe at Southwark Playhouse

New musical Redcliffe, written by Jordan Luke Gage comes to Southwark Playhouse from May 2026.

Joining the highly anticipated premiere production will be Rebecca Lock (Here and Now) as Mother, Daniel Krikler (Fiddler On The Roof) as Richard, Jess Douglas-Welsh (Woven: A New Musical) as Abigail, Adrian Hansel (We Will Rock You) as Baber, Melissa Jacques (Just For One Day) as Georgie/Judge, Jade Johnson (&Juliet) as Landlady, Phoebe Kyriakopoulos (A Very Musical Birthday in Concert) as Esther, Joseph Peacock (Dear Evan Hansen) as Arthur and Steven Serlin (Here We Are) as Officer/Felix. 

They join the previously announced, Jordan Luke Gage (Bonnie & Clyde, Heathers, &Juliet), also writer of the piece, in the lead role of William, which he will be reprising from eight sold out workshop performances at The Other Palace in 2024.

New musical Redcliffe will run for a limited time, fully staged, at Southwark Playhouse Borough from 22 May until 4 July 2026.

Set against the backdrop of 18th Century England, the new musical is based on the haunting true story of William Critchard and Richard Arnold in Redcliffe, Bristol and is an epic tale of forbidden love during the persecution people faced for hundreds of years.

William, a man from humble beginnings, is swept up in a hurricane of passion and danger when he meets Richard, a sailor visiting the town. This meeting forces both men to question everything they knew about the world and themselves.

With book, music, lyrics and starring Jordan Luke Gage, directed by Paul Foster, choreography by Emma Woods, set design by Andrew Exeter, costume design by Martin Hanly, lighting design by Matt Hockley, sound design by Alastair Penman, musical supervision by Katy Richardson and associate musical direction & orchestrations by Ben Tomalin, additional orchestrations by Ben Ferguson, production managed by James Anderton and assistant designer Ethan Davis. Casting by Will Burton.

Steve Serlin
Rebecca Lock
Phoebe Kyriakopoulos
Melissa Jacques
Joseph Peacock
Jordon Luke Gage
Jess Douglas-Welsh
Jade Johnson
Daniel Krikler
Adrian Hansel

Additional Information

Performance Schedule: Monday – Saturday at 7pm

Tuesday and Saturday at 2.30pm

Running Time: 2 hours 20 minutes (including interval)

Age Guidance: 14+

Contains strong language at times, references to execution, oppression, sexual themes and physical threat. The production also explores homophobic themes.

More about the cast

JORDAN LUKE GAGE

Jordan is most known for originated the role of Clyde Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde (Arts/Garrick) and originating the role of Romeo in &Juliet (Shaftesbury theatre). 

His other West End credits include originating Cal in Titanique, Strat in Bat Out Of Hell (Dominion Theatre) and JD in Heathers (Theatre Royal Haymarket).

He played the role of Phillip in Alexi Kaye Campbells play The Pride at the Fortune theatre, West End, Fabrizio in the Light in the Piazza at Alexandra Palace and the title role in Bat Boy at the London Palladium.

Redcliffe is Jordan’s writing debut, which he has been working on for three years.

REBECCA LOCK (MOTHER)

Theatre credits include: Here & Now (UK No. 1 Tour and The Alexandra, Birmingham): Elf The Musical 2022/23 (Dominion Theatre; (Wyndhams Theatre); Heathers (Theatre Royal Haymarket, The Other Palace); Committee (Donmar Warehouse); Mary Poppins (International tour); MAMMA MIA! (Novello Theatre); The Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty’s Theatre); Avenue Q (Noel Coward Theatre); Mary Poppins (Prince Edward Theatre); Cats (New London); Oh! What A Lovely War (The National Theatre); Martin Guerre (Prince Edward Theatre); 30th Anniversary of Side by Side by Sondheim (Novello Theatre); Freaky Friday (HOME Manchester); School of Rock (UK Tour); Gypsy (Alexandra Palace); Curtains (UK Tour); Kiss Me Kate (Sheffield Crucible); Moonfleet (Salisbury Playhouse); A Christmas Carol (LMTO); Oliver! (Sheffield Crucible); Dear World (Charing Cross Theatre); The Sound of Music (JY Productions/Jordan); Sondheim Women (St James); The Tempest (Theatre Royal Bath); Merrily We Roll Along (Theatr Clwyd); Chess (Princess of Wales, Toronto); Moon Landing (Derby Playhouse); Alfie (Watford Palace); Dorothy Fields Forever (King’s Head); After the Fair (Kings Head) and The Pirates of Penzance (West Yorkshire Playhouse).

DANIEL KRIKLER (RICHARD)

Theatre credits include: All Is But Fantasy (RSC); Wendy and Peter Pan (RSC/Barbican); Fiddler on the Roof  (Regents Park Open Air / Barbican West End Transfer); Austenland (Savoy Theatre); Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (Donmar Warehouse); The Motive and The Cue (National Theatre Productions); The Book Thief  (Leicester Curve); The Secret Life of Bees (Almeida Theatre); The Tempest (Guildford Shakespeare Company); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Guildford Shakespeare Company); Fighting Irish (Belgrade Theatre); The Normal Heart (National Theatre); Pippin (Charing Cross Theatre); 4000 Miles (The Old Vic); Macbeth (Guildford Shakespeare Company); Present Laughter (The Old Vic); Unicorns, Almost (Bristol Old Vic); Homos, Or Everyone In America (Finborough Theatre); Pink Mist (Bristol Old Vic/UK Tour); A Serious Case of The Fuckits (Central School of Speech and Drama); The Heresy of Love (Central School of Speech and Drama); Jersey Boys (UK tour); Mamma Mia! (Novello Theatre); Bare: A Pop Opera (Union Theatre) and Loserville (Garrick Theatre & West Yorkshire Playhouse).

JESS DOUGLAS-WELSH (ABIGAIL)

Will be making her professional stage debut in Redcliffe.  

ADRIAN HANSEL (BABER)

Theatre credits include: Military Wives the Musical (Theatre Royal, York); We Will Rock You (London Coliseum, West End); Guys and Dolls (Crucible, Sheffield); Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Southwark Playhouse, London); Five Guys Named Moe (West End); The Distance You Have Come (Cockpit Theatre and Apollo Theatre (WestEnd) London); Carmen Jones (Old Vic, West End); Carousel (National Theatre, West End); Porgy and Bess (Royal Opera House, West End); FAME the Musical (West End); Starlight Express (West End); All You Need Is Love (Original London Cast, West End); Oh! What a Night (Australian Tour); Dancing in the Street(West End); Hairspray (Original London Cast, West End); Disney 100: In Concert (European Tour); Believe in Magic (European Tour); Remembering Fred (UK tour) and King the Musical in Concert (Hackney Empire).

MELISSA JACQUES (GEORGIE/JUDGE)

Theatre credits include: Just For One Day, The LiveAid Musical (Shaftesbury); That’s What I Call A Musical(UK Tour); I Should Be So Lucky (UK Tour); 42 Balloons (Vaudeville); Everybody’s Talking About Jamie(Apollo/ LA Ahmanson); Kinky Boots (Adelphi); Wicked (Victoria Palace); Mamma Mia! (Prince Edward and Prince of Wales); Pirates of Treasure Island, Alice In Wonderland (Sevenoaks Stag); My Fair Lady (Singapore Esplanade); Chess (Oslo Spektrum Arena); Into the Woods (Derby Playhouse); The Full Monty (UK Tour); Spend, Spend, Spend (West Yorkshire Playhouse/UK Tour); A Slice of Saturday Night, Oliver, Beauty and the Beast (Lincoln Theatre Royal); Little Shop of Horrors (Millfield); Me and My Girl and Crazy for You(Aberystwyth).

JADE JOHNSON (LANDLADY)

Theatre credits include: Cinderella (Hackney Empire); Babyface (Babyface Musical Ltd); & Juliet (UK Tour for Rodeo Productions); Cable Street (Southwark Playhouse); Dick Whittington (Newbury Corn Exchange); Cinderella (Salisbury Playhouse); The Pirate Queen Concert (London Coliseum); Cinderella(Newbury Corn Exchange); The Book Of Mormon (Prince of Wales Theatre); Mad On Her – the 80’s Musical(Arts Theatre); Club Mex (Hope Mill Theatre); Sweet Charity (Leicester Curve); The Midnight Beast Musical(Pleasance King Dome); Grease Factory (Playhouse Hitchin) and The Color Purple (Cadogan Hall).

PHEOBE KYRIAKOPOULOS (ESTHER)

Will be making her professional stage debut in Redcliffe.

JOSEPH PEACOCK (ARTHUR)

Theatre credits include: Grease (European Tour); Dear Evan Hansen (Asia Tour); Muriel’s Wedding (Leicester Curve); Becoming Nancy (Birmingham Rep); Kin (Theatro Technis); Sleeping Beauty (Wiltshire Creative); Titanic (Uk Tour); The Osmonds (UK Tour); The Last Ship (US Tour); Bat Out Of Hell (London Coliseum And Dominion Theatre, West End); Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (UK Tour); Burnt Part Boys(The Park Theatre); Grease (The Factory Playhouse) and West Side Story (Ljubljana Festival)

STEVEN SERLIN (OFFICER/FELIX) 
Theatre credits include: Dick Whittington (Gordon Craig, Stevenage); Here we Are (Lyttleton at The National Theatre); Made in Dagenham (HMP Bronzefield Women’s Prison); Priscilla the Party (Outernet, London); Elf the Musical (UK Arena Tour); Close Up, the Twiggy Musical (Menier Chocolate Factory); Hairspray (Kilworth House); Eurovision Your Decision (Wonderville); Mimma (Cadogan Hall); Heathers (Theatre Royal Haymarket/The Other Palace); Preludes (Southwark Playhouse); Amour (Charing Cross Theatre); We’ll Live and Die in These Towns (Belgrade Theatre); Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane);Aladdin (Gordon Craig, Stevenage); Oklahoma (Grange Park Opera); Jack and the Beanstalk (Devonshire Park, Eastbourne and Salisbury Playhouse); I Can’t Sing (The London Palladium); The Wild Party (The Other Palace); The Infidel (Stratford East); Mack and Mabel (Southwark Playhouse); Little Shop of Horrors (Kilworth House); Peter Pan (Waterside, Aylesbury); Imagine This (New London); Company (Southwark Playhouse), Arsenic and Old Lace (Salisbury Playhouse); Our House (UK Tour); Desperately Seeking Susan (West End); Saturday Night Fever (West End/UK Tour); Boogie Nights (West End and Tour); Grease (Dominion, West End), Scrooge The Musical (UK Tour); Godspell (Rep); The Rocky Horror Show (Tour); Elvis the Musical (Tour); Popcorn (Rep); Jesus Christ Superstar (25th Anniversary Tour); Bedroom Farce (Rep); Chess (1st National Tour); Joseph and his Amazing Technicoloured Dreamcoat.

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