The Menier Chocolate Factory have announced full casting for its forthcoming production of Noël Coward’s Fallen Angels which opens its new season at its home base in London Bridge.
Christopher Luscombe directs Janie Dee (Julia Steroll), Alexandra Gilbreath (Jane Banbury), Christopher Hollis (Bill Banbury), Richard Teverson (Fred Steroll), Sarah Twomey (Saunders), and Graham Vick (Maurice Duclos).
The production opens on 2 December, with previews from 21 November, and runs until 21 February, with public booking opening today.
The season continues with two plays directed by Lindsay Posner – who also returns to the venue after productions of Alan Ayckbourn’s Communicating Doors, Mike Leigh’s Abigail’s Party and Florian Zeller’s The Truth, the latter two of which transferred to the West End – Ryan Craig’s The Holy Rosenbergs and Peter Shaffer’s modern classic Equus, which is presented as a co-production with Theatre Royal Bath, where the production will run after the Menier run.
The Menier also continues its work in the US with the upcoming Off-Broadway production of Stephen Schwartz’s The Baker’s Wife, which Gordon Greenberg directs for Classic Stage Company. The cast includes Ariana DeBose, Scott Bakula and Judy Kuhn.
First performed exactly 100 years ago, Noël Coward’s outrageous comedy remains one of his funniest creations. Best friends Julia and Jane, now settled in happy marriages, receive an unexpected visit from a glamorous shared ex-boyfriend, and passions are rekindled with explosive results. This is the first London revival of the play in 25 years.
More about th cast of Fallen Angels
Janie Dee returns to the Menier to play Julia Steroll – she previously appeared in The Boy Friend. Her extensive stage work includes A Role to Die For (Barn Theatre), Old Friends (Gielgud Theatre), The Motive and the Cue, Follies (National Theatre), Hand to God (Vaudeville Theatre), The Seagull (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Ah, Wilderness! (Young Vic), Blithe Spirit (Gielgud Theatre), Putting It Together (St James Theatre), Calendar Girls (Noël Coward Theatre), Woman in Mind (Stephen Joseph Theatre and Vaudeville Theatre), Shadowlands (Wyndham’s Theatre).
Alexandra Gilbreath returns to the Menier to play Jane Banbury – she previously appeared in Florian Zeller’s The Lie. Her other theatre credits include Cymbeline, The Empress, The Provok’d Wife, Shakespeare Live, The Rover, The Merry Wives: The Musical, Twelfth Night, The Taming of the Shrew (Helen Hayes Award nomination – Best Actress), The Tamer Tamed, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, The Winter’s Tale, Cyrano de Bergerac, Ghosts, Love’s Labour’s Lost (RSC).
Christopher Hollis plays Bill Banbury. His theatre credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew, Henry V, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Macbeth (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival), Mamma Mia! (West End and UK tour), Mrs Warren’s Profession, My Cousin Rachel, The Nightingales (Theatre Royal Bath).
Richard Teverson plays Fred Steroll. His theatre credits include Witness for the Prosecution (County Hall), The Gift (Eclipse/UK tour), Richard III, Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare’s Rose), The Libertine (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Private Lives, Handbagged (UK tours), How Many Miles To Babylon? (Lyric Theatre Belfast), The Schoolmistress (Stephen Joseph Theatre), The Winslow Boy (The Old Vic), Somersaults (Finborough Theatre), The Doctor’s Dilemma, After the Dance (National Theatre), Cause Célèbre (Old Vic), The 39 Steps (Criterion Theatre), When Harry Met Sally, A Woman of No Importance (Theatre Royal Haymarket), The Lion King (Lyceum Theatre).
Sarah Twomey plays Saunders. Her theatre work includes Parklife (Birmingham Rep), Filumena (Theatre Royal Windsor), The Pocket Dream (Litchfield Garrick), Accolade (UK tour), The Southbury Child (Chichester Festival Theatre and Bridge Theatre), Venice Preserv’d, The Provoked Wife, A Christmas Carol, Twelfth Night (RSC), Mermaid (Shared Experience), and Young Chekhov Trilogy (Chichester Festival Theatre and National Theatre).
Graham Vick plays Maurice Duclos. His previous theatre credits include Mrs Henderson Presents (Noël Coward Theatre), Jersey Boys (Prince Edward Theatre), Mamma Mia! (Prince of Wales Theatre), Top Hat (Aldwych Theatre), Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Palace), The Far Pavilions (Shaftesbury Theatre).
Who was Noël Coward?
Noël Coward was one of the premiere entertainers of the 20th century. A prolific actor, lyricist, composer, singer, director, producer and playwright, Fallen Angels was one of four Coward productions performed on the West End at the same time in 1925 alongside On With The Dance, Hay Fever, and The Vortex. Famed for his acerbic wit as much as his fashion sense, the quartet of productions would promote him to one of the defining British voices of the 1920s. His more than fifty published works also include Cavalcade, Private Lives, Design for Living, Tonight at 8:30, Present Laughter, This Happy Breed and Blithe Spirit.
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