Ed Coleman (I AM HANNAH, C4), Mara Allen (MACBETH, Shakespeare’s Globe) and Ashlee Irish (HELLO, DOLLY!, London Palladium) will star in the UK premiere of THE WHITE CHIP, written, autobiographically, by Sean Daniels, directed by Matt Ryan, at Southwark Playhouse Borough 9th July – 16th August 2025.
The UK premiere, which runs from 9th July – 16th August (Press Night Friday 11th July), is produced by Danielle Tarento and Tony® Award winning actress Annaleigh Ashford.
Despite spending more time drunk than sober, Steven McAlister (Coleman) has managed to graduate from college, create an extremely successful theatre group, get married, and thrive in a dream job at one of the most prestigious regional theatres in the United States.
Sure, it’s gratifying to go to an AA meeting where they reward you with a white chip token just for showing up, but does he really have a problem? Even with an ailing father, a marriage on the rocks, and his professional life careening out of control, Steven has a carefully constructed balancing act that keeps it all together – until it all falls apart.
Told with humour, honesty, and compassion, The White Chip is about living with addiction and coming alive through recovery.
Ed Coleman (Steven)
Ed studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.
His credits include playing Harold Steptoe in STEPTOE & SON – LOST SITCOMS (BBC), THE BALLAD OF RENEGADE NELL (Disney), I AM HANNAH (C4), LEAVE A MESSAGE (Vaults Festival & Edinburgh), WHO IS DANIEL KING?, IMPOSSIBLE, THE BEAU SEUX (Edinburgh Fringe Festival). Films include PRIDE, 28 WEEKS LATER.
Mara Allen (#1)
Her credits include KING LEAR (Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company, West End & Broadway), THE NIGHT WATCH and THE MIRROR CRACK’D (Original Theatre), MACBETH (Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre), the title role in HENRY V (The Maltings Theatre), AN OCTOROON (Abbey Theatre, Dublin).
Ashlee Irish (#2)
His West End credits include HELLO, DOLLY! (London Palladium), GROUNDHOG DAY (Old Vic), THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE (Gillian Lynne Theatre), TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL (Aldwych Theatre), DREAMGIRLS (Savoy Theatre).
Sean Daniels said: “It’s an honour to get to work with Danielle Tarento and Annaleigh Ashford to bring The White Chip to London. After the response we had in New York – the mix of laughter-filled shows and someone saying ‘I’m ready to get help’ after every performance – we knew we wanted to keep this going as long as we could. When you write a comedy about recovery you hope it finds the right people, people who get your dark sense of humour – from actors to producers to audience – and how lucky am I that it has.”
The show premiered in New York at 59E59 Theaters and was most recently produced at The Susan & Ronald Frankel Theater at MCC Theatre by Tony® Award winning actress Annaleigh Ashford alongside Hank Azaria, Jason Biggs, and fellow Tony® Award winner John Larroquette. The play received widespread acclaim, earning a coveted New York Times Critics’ Pick.
