CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR RSC MISCHIEF FESTIVAL 2022
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The Royal Shakespeare Company has today announced casting for its upcoming Mischief Festival which will see Jenny Rainsford (Fleabag) and Tim Treloar (Maleficent, Doctor Who) return to the company this Autumn.
Six members of the company, which include Anna Andresen, Joe Barber, Alex Bhat, Linda Broughton, Nathan McMullen and Jade Ogugua will make their debut at the RSC this season.
The 2022 Mischief Festival will feature two provocative new plays exploring Britain today – O, Island! and Ivy Tiller: Vicar’s Daughter, Squirrel Killer - running in The Other Place from Friday 30 September – Saturday 5 November.
Best known to TV viewers for her role as Boo in Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s multi award-winning TV series, Fleabag, Jenny Rainsford returns to the RSC to play the title role of Ivy Tiller in Ivy Tiller: Vicar’s Daughter, Squirrel Killer this Autumn.
Jenny was last seen at the Royal Shakespeare Company playing the role of Miranda in Greg Doran’s 2016 production of The Tempest, produced in collaboration with Intel and in association with The Imaginarium Studios. In 2015, Jenny played the roles of Miss Prue in Love for Love and Jezebel/Lady-in-Waiting in Queen Anne by Helen Edmundson, which first opened in the Swan Theatre before transferring to the West End. Jenny also recently appeared in Daddy at the Almeida Theatre.
Meanwhile, Anna Andresen will make her RSC debut playing the roles of Head/Andrea and Sue in Ivy Tiller: Vicar’s Daughter, Squirrel Killer and Inge in O, Island! Anna’s most recent theatre credits include Emilia (Vaudeville Theatre/ The Globe Theatre) and Still Alice (UK Tour). Television credits include This Is Going To Hurt (BBC); Close to Me (Channel 4); Les Miserables (BBC); Fortitude (Sky Atlantic) Agatha Christie’s Marple - The Mirror Crack’d (ITV).
Making his professional debut in the role of Laurie (O, Island!) is Joe Barber. Joe recently graduated from Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. He is a member of the 2022 Open Door Graduate Group; an organisation that provides talented young people based in London, Essex, Sheffield, Rotherham and the East Midlands with the financial support and resources to help them gain a place at one of the UK’s leading drama schools.
Also making his RSC debut in 2022 is Alex Bhat as Reece in Ivy Tiller: Vicar’s Daughter, Squirrel Killer and Leonard in O, Island!
Alex’s previous theatre credits include Overruled, French Without Tears (Orange Tree Theatre); Sweet Bird of Youth (Chichester Festival Theatre); and Henry V (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre). His recent TV credits include Gentleman Jack, Des and Hanna.
Linda Broughton will mark her debut with the RSC playing Margaret in O, Island!
Linda’s previous theatre credits include: Stiletto Beach (Queens Theatre, Hornchurch); Dear Elizabeth (The Gate, London); Suzy Storck (Theatre National de Bretagne - Rennes and Paris tour); Home (Arcola); Purple Heart (The Gate); The Comedy of Errors (The Globe); 2nd May 1997 (The Bush); Ivanov (Wyndhams); The Chalk Garden (Donmar Warehouse); I Like Mine With A Kiss (The Bush); A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (Nottingham Playhouse); The Life of Galileo, The Crucible, Racing Demon, Absence of War, Murmuring Judges (Birmingham Rep) and The Importance of Being Earnest (Royal Theatre, Northampton). Her TV and Film credits include After Life (Season 3), Doctor Who, Holby City, The Lady in the Van, Babel, Watch That Man and Sliding Doors.
Nathan McMullen will play Gary in Ivy Tiller: Vicar’s Daughter, Squirrel Killer and will also mark his debut with the company. Nathan’s most recent theatre credits include: Our Lady Of Blundellsands (Everyman); Hushabye Mountain (Hope Mill Theatre); Love Liverpool (Playhouse). His TV credits include playing ‘Finn’ in Misfits and Shameless.
Joining them is Jade Ogugua in the roles of Jade in Ivy Tiller: Vicar’s Daughter, Squirrel Killer and Vi in O, Island! Jade’s recent theatre credits include: Solaris (Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne/Edinburgh Lyceum/ Lyric Hammersmith); ‘Viola’ in Twelfth Night (Edinburgh Lyceum/Bristol Old Vic) and How to Act (National Theatre of Scotland); Her most recent screen credits include Shetland (BBC), The Lost King, Such Brave Girls (BBC3), Havoc (Netflix), Winning (BBC Pilot) and Buffering (ITV2).
Returning to the RSC and completing the cast is Tim Treloar playing the roles of Clive/Tig in Ivy Tiller: Vicar’s Daughter, Squirrel Killer, and Mick in O, Island!
Tim last appeared at the RSC in 2011 in The Heart of Robin Hood. Other RSC credits include Thomas More, Sejanus, Believe What You Will, Back To Methuselah, Richard II, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and The Night Before Christmas.
Over the course of his career, Tim has performed on Broadway, at The Brooklyn Academy of Music and for the Royal National Theatre. During that time, he has performed in Motion-Capture, narrated audiobooks and played an assassin for Norwegian TV. Tim has played the audio third Doctor Who to critical acclaim for several years and is a winner of the BBC Carleton Hobbs Award.
O, Island! and Ivy Tiller: Vicar’s Daughter, Squirrel Killer
Shortlisted for the George Devine Award 2020, Nina Segal’s O, Island! is a funny and furious modern myth about disaster and community - exploring how borders can be changed by people, by nature and by accident.
The production will premiere from Friday 30 September – Saturday 5 November 2022 in The Other Place.
Nina Segal is a playwright and television writer. Her work has been produced by the Young Vic, Royal Court, Donmar Warehouse, Almeida Theatre, Bush Theatre, Yard Theatre, Gate Theatre and internationally.
The production will be directed by Guy Jones who is currently Literary Associate of the Orange Tree Theatre. Guy was Assistant Director on the RSC’s 2016 productions of Cymbeline, and Always Orange by Fraser Grace, the latter of which performed as part of the first Mischief festival of new plays premiering in the reopened The Other Place.
Guy is a former Associate Artist of Company Three and is a Creative Associate at Headlong, developing new plays and ideas for regional touring.
Ivy Tiller: Vicar’s Daughter, Squirrel Killer by Bea Roberts, is a darkly comic drama directed by Caitlin McLeod which challenges who belongs and who thrives.
Entrenched in her picturesque Devonshire village, Ivy Tiller is preparing to wage a war. Her target: the invasive grey squirrel. Her goal: to oust the invaders and restore the native red squirrels as the ‘rightful’ inhabitants. Galvanised by her important mission, Ivy’s determination swells to uncomfortable heights.
The production will premiere from Thursday 6 October – Saturday 5 November 2022 in The Other Place.
Bea Roberts is a multi-award winning playwright and screenwriter from the West Country. Her debut play, And Then Come The Nightjars, won the Theatre503 International Playwriting Award, made her finalist for the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and is being adapted into a feature film with Finite Pictures.
Caitlin McLeod is a freelance theatre director/practitioner with over a decade of experience in theatre and, more recently, film. She has directed theatre at leading institutions in the UK, US and Europe including Shakespeare’s Globe, the Almeida and Signature Theatre, NYC.
In 2016 Caitlin was a Sky Arts Scholarship Winner and used the grant to found a new-writing company The Coterie which developed multi- disciplinary performance projects with women artists at the core. She has been editing and developing scripts with writers ranging from Laurie Nunn (Sex Education) to Mike Bartlett (Dr Foster) bringing projects from commission to production.
She is currently script reader for the Bruntwood Prize, the O’Neill Prize (USA) and the Old Vic Theatre.
O, Island! and Ivy Tiller: Vicar’s Daughter, Squirrel Killer will both be designed by Milla Clarke, with lighting design by Elliot Griggs. The Composer is Luisa Gerstein (O, Island!), Sound Design is by Oli Soames, Movement by Chi-San Howard), Dramaturgy by Becky Latham and Fights by Kev McCurdy. The Casting Director is Annelie Powell CDG.
TikTok £10 Tickets are available for both productions and are open to all 14–25-year-olds, with a focus on increasing access to theatre regionally across the country and state school sector.
Developed in consultation with the RSC’s Youth Advisory Board, the creative collaboration delivers unique creative and educational experiences for young people and students, with a specific focus on those communities most in need.
ENDS
For further information, please contact Kate Evans (Media and Communications Manager) on 07920 244 434 or email kate.evans@rsc.org.uk
BIOGS:
Nina Segal is a playwright and television writer. Her play O, Island! was shortlisted for the George Devine Award. Upcoming productions include: The Good Person of Szechwan (Sheffield Crucible and Lyric Hammersmith). Previous productions include: AI (Young Vic); Assembly (Donmar Warehouse); (This Isn't) A True Story (Almeida Young Company); Dismantle This Room (Royal Court, Bush Theatre); Big Guns (Yard Theatre, Theater Ingolstadt); and In The Night Time (Before The Sun Rises) (Gate Theatre, Staatstheater Mainz, Theater Bielefeld).
Nina is a recipient of the 2022 Playwright's Scheme Award, on attachment with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and is under commission to the Unicorn Theatre, Soho Theatre, Rose Theatre and the Financial Times. For TV, Nina wrote on Hanna Series 2, for NBC and Amazon. She has two script commissions with ITV Studios and is developing other TV projects in the UK.
Bea Roberts is a multi-award winning playwright and screenwriter from the West Country. Her debut play, And Then Come The Nightjars, won the Theatre503 International Playwriting Award, made her finalist for the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and is being adapted into a feature film with Finite Pictures.
Her next project, the one-woman/no-woman show Infinity Pool: A modern re-telling of Madame Bovary had a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Festival, was nominated for a Total Theatre award and was optioned by Hartswood Films. Bea’s modern feminist adaptation of Little Mermaid won Best Play for Children & Young People at the 2018 UK Theatre Awards. Other writing credits include utopian eco-comedy Loam (Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in association with the Royal Court), The Borrowers (Tobacco Factory Theatres) and Sir F. Mother****ing Drake starring Fleabag’s Jenny Rainsford, part of the My England monologue series at the Young Vic.
As well as developing new work for screen, Bea is currently under commission to New Pictures, English Touring Theatre, Theatre Royal Plymouth and the Stephen Joseph Theatre.
LISTINGS INFORMATION:
THE OTHER PLACE
Ivy Tiller: Vicar’s Daughter, Squirrel Killer
Thursday 6 October – Saturday 5 November 2022
Press performance: Wednesday 12 October, 2pm
“You know you act like you’re not from here”
Entrenched in her picturesque Devonshire village, Ivy Tiller is preparing to wage a war. Her target: the invasive grey squirrel. Her goal: to oust the invaders and restore the native red squirrels as the ‘rightful’ inhabitants.
Galvanised by her important mission, Ivy’s determination swells to uncomfortable heights.
This darkly comic new play from Bea Roberts challenges who belongs and who thrives.
O, Island!
Friday 30 September – Saturday 5 November 2022
Press performance: Wednesday 12 October, 7pm
"You do not feel pain. You do not feel hunger. Now get out there and dance as though you love this island.”
When a river breaks its banks one night resulting in a massive flood, one medium-sized village (or very very very small town) finds itself completely cut off - unexpectedly an island.
As the residents embrace their independence, a new leader rises and a shared identity emerges – but at what cost?
Shortlisted for the George Devine Award 2020, Nina Segal’s O, Island! is a funny and furious modern myth about disaster and community - exploring how borders can be changed by people, by nature and by accident.
The Mischief Festival 2022 is generously supported by Backstage Trust
The RSC is supported using public funding by Arts Council England
The work of the RSC is supported by the Culture Recovery Fund
The RSC is generously supported by RSC America
TikTok £10 Tickets for 14-25s sponsored by TikTok
The work of the RSC Literary Department is generously supported by The Drue and H.J. Heinz II Charitable Trust
The RSC Acting Companies are generously supported by The Gatsby Charitable Foundation and The Kovner Foundation
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