Sitting In The Cheap Seats

Dominic Cooper returns to the stage this year to play debauched 17th Century rake the Earl of Rochester in The Libertine .  This sexually charged masterpiece by award-winning playwright Stephen Jeffreys will play a limited run as part of the 2016 summer season at Bath Theatre Royal from 31 August to 17 September prior to the West End’s Theatre Royal Haymarket from 22 September to 3 December with opening night for press on 27 September.

Kit Harington will return to the London stage to play the title role in an anarchic production of Doctor Faustus at the Duke of York’s Theatre, London, from 9th April 2016. Directed by Jamie Lloyd , Christopher Marlowe’s masterwork, with two acts by Colin Teevan, will preview from Monday 9th April 2016, booking until Saturday 4th June. Further casting to be announced.

Another week has passed and somehow I still haven’t been to the theatre (damn that day job!) but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been a whole heap of theatre news to excite us all. Here’s a few of my favourite stories from the past seven days…

The festive season is long gone, pantomimes have finished and hundreds of actors are putting away their Dame costumes for another year, the presents have been put away (or exchanged) and after a month of gorging ourselves on sweet treats there’s one last box of mince pies in the cupboard that we’re trying to resist! So, with the world getting back to normal it’s about time we caught up on recent theatre news for those who aren’t already in the know via our chums at mytheatremates.com …

Full casting has been announced for the West End transfer of Jessica Swale’s new play Nell Gwynn , directed by Christopher Luscombe. The production stars Gemma Arterton in the title role, with the full cast including Paige Carter, Michele Dotrice, Matthew Durkan, Michael Garner, Greg Haiste, George Jennings, Ellie Leah, Peter McGovern, David Rintoul, Anneika Rose, Nicholas Shaw, David Sturzaker, Jay Taylor, Sasha Waddell and Sarah Woodward.