Storyhouse has revealed the cast who will weave a storytelling spell inside the much-loved Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre this summer. The 2023 Grosvenor Park season runs from Saturday, 1 July to Bank Holiday Sunday, 27 August and tickets are on sale now.
This year there are a pair of unmissable shows running in repertory – Shakespeare’s beloved A Midsummer Night’s Dream which will ‘put a girdle round about’ the park’s circular theatre to enchant family audiences, and a dramatic new adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age saga The Great Gatsby.
Daniel Burke will play Gatsby in The Great Gatsby and Oberon/Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Stage credits include Richard II and Hamlet (Guildford Shakespeare Company), The Comedy of Errors (Mercury Theatre Colchester), Troilus and Cressida and Imperium for the RSC, and Bang Bang! By John Cleese (UK tour).
Molly-Grace Cutler is Daisy Buchanan, and also appears as Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Most recently, she has appeared in the title role in Beautiful – the Carole King Musical on a UK tour, while her other work includes Girls Don’t Play Guitars (Liverpool’s Royal Court), We’ll Live and Die in These Towns (Belgrade Theatre) and Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Queens Theatre Hornchurch).
Meanwhile, Thomas Cotran plays Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby and takes the role of Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. His other stage credits include The Snow Queen (Wrongsemble/Albany Theatre) Raising Agents and Red Sky at Night (Mikron Theatre), Titus Andronicus (Dundee Rep), and Footloose (Selladoor UK tour).
The roles of Titania/Hippolyta and Tom Buchanan will be played by Laurie Jamieson. His credits include One Man, Two Guvnors (UK tour), A Christmas Carol (Bolton Octagon), and 71 Colman Street and Romeo and Juliet (Hull Truck).
Alice Lyburd will appear as Myrtle Roberts in The Great Gatsby and Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She previously played Katy in Now is Good at Storyhouse in 2021, while her other credits include Three for Wrongsemble/Slung Low, Rita, Sue and Bob Too (Out of Joint national tour) and The Comedy of Errors (more or less) at Shakespeare North Playhouse.
Victoria Brazier returns to Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre to appear as Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Mrs McKee in The Great Gatsby. Previous productions include Pride and Prejudice, The Merry Wives of Windsor and The Jungle Book as part of the 2021 season, while her other stage credits include Alice in Wonderland (New Vic Theatre), Abigail’s Party (Watford Palace) and Hard Times for Northern Broadsides.
Flute and Wolfsheim/George Wilson will be played by Matthew Ganley whose credits include A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist for Storyhouse, The Prince and the Pauper (New Vic Theatre), The Ladykillers (Oldham Coliseum), Beryl (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and Around the World in 80 Days (UK tour).
Jessica Jolleys is Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Catherine in The Great Gatsby. Her previous credits include Nancy in Oliver Twist at Storyhouse, Beautiful – the Carole King Musical (UK tour), Big Brown Sky (Hampstead Theatre) and Jack and the Beanstalk (Theatre Clwyd).
James McLean takes on the roles of Quince and Mr McKee/Owl Eyes. His stage credits include Raising Agents and Red Sky at Night (Mikron Theatre), A Christmas Carol (Derby Theatre) and Much Ado About Nothing (Northern Broadsides/New Vic Theatre).
And Rosa Lennox is Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Jordan in The Great Gatsby. Other work includes Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare’s Globe), Cabaret (Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse) and Hansel and Gretel (Music for Miniatures).
Meanwhile, the cast also includes four young Grosvenor Park trainees who are all currently members of the Storyhouse Young Company.
Conor Anderson and Lauren Robertson will perform in The Great Gatsby as party guests, while Kameron Skeene and Lara Field will be seen in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ahead of the open-air season, all four will be appearing in Storyhouse Young Company’s production The Trials at Hunter Street.
The 14-strong repertory company will work with a host of talented creatives to bring the open-air shows to life within the Grosvenor Park auditorium.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be directed by Elvi Piper, founder and artistic director of award-winning family theatre company Wrongsemble (The Not So Grimm Twins – Wrongsemble/Gala Durham, BOY – Leeds Conservatoire, The Not So Ugly Sisters – Wrongsemble/Leeds Playhouse/Red Ladder Theatre Company) and is suitable for all audiences aged six and up.
Sarah de Tute is composer and musical director.
Meanwhile F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic The Great Gatsby is brought to the stage in a new adaptation by writer Deborah McAndrew and directed by Conrad Nelson who previously both worked on Grosvenor Park’s memorable production of Pride and Prejudice in 2021.
Rebekah Hughes is composer and musical director, and movement director is Beverley Norris Edmunds.
The play, appropriate for ages 14 and over, promises to plunge audiences into the glamorous and decadent world of New York high society in the Roaring 20s.
Adam Wiltshire (Antigone, Miss Julie, Blue Stockings, The Suicide all for Storyhouse) will design both productions and the 2023 Grosvenor Park creative team also includes Oliver Price as lighting designer, Helen Morris as production manager and Andy Patterson as technical manager. The season is produced by Storyhouse.
Along with the two full-length performances, the Grosvenor Park ‘village’ will also return with the popular tepee bar, seating areas, games, wood-fired pizzas, cocktails and more including, new for 2023, a brilliant barbecue and freshly made Belgian waffles.
And The Other Stage located in the festival tepee will host of extra events and activities organised as part of the two-month park residency including live acoustic music, comedy and storytelling.
Storyhouse producer Helen Redcliffe says:
“We’ve drawn together a really exciting cast to perform in our two very different, but equally brilliant summer shows this season.
“I’m so thrilled we’re able to welcome back a number of actors who have appeared with us before, either in the park or at Storyhouse itself, and also delighted to introduce some new faces for 2023 – along with four very talented trainees from the Storyhouse Young Company who will play an important part in the two productions.
“We’ve also assembled a fantastic team of creatives, and I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us in July. Now we just need the weather to behave!”
Tickets for A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Great Gatsby start from £25.30 (from £23 for Storyhouse Members). There is a £1.50 booking fee (no fee for Storyhouse Members).
Children aged 12 and under go free when accompanied by a full paying adult, and under 16s get 20% off the full ticket price.
For more details and to book visit www.grosvenorparkopenairtheatre.co.uk/
ENDS
For more information, contact:
Nancy Davies
Marketing and PR Manager
Storyhouse
07886 743531