Jimmy Akingbola is to play the title role in Frantic Assembly’s 21st century adaptation of Othello, which comes to the Lyric Hammersmith from 4 to 22 November (press night 6 November).
This new production sets Shakespeare’s tale of jealousy and murder in a working class northern town in modern Britain, where Othello is a bouncer at the local pub. With broken glass on the floor, beatings in the car park and tension around the pool table, things are about to kick off…
Akingbola was most recently seen last month in Jermyn Street’s production of Look Back In Anger. His other London stage credits include The Christ Of Coldharbour Lane and White Open Spaces at the Soho and The Cut at the Donmar Warehouse. He has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Sheffield Crucible and Birmingham Rep, and been seen on television in Holby Blue, Longford and The Bill.
The rest of the nine-strong cast includes Charles Aitken, Claire-Louise Cordwell, Leila Crerar, Minnie Crowe, Marshall Griffin, Eddie Kay, Richard James Neale and Jami Reid-Quarrell. They are directed by Frantic Assembly Artistic Directors Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett.
The production will incorporate the hard-hitting choreography which is the trademark of Frantic Assembly, one of the country’s leading physical theatre companies. Previous productions by Frantic Assembly include Stockholm, which played at Hampstead theatre in May, Dirty Wonderland, Peepshow and Sell Out.
Othello comes to the Lyric Hammersmith as part of a UK tour which originates at the Theatre Royal Plymouth in September.
In other casting news, Shared Experience has confirmed the full cast for its new play Mine, which runs at Hampstead theatre from 7 to 25 October (press night 9 October).
The cast is: Marion Bailey, Clare Lawrence, Alistair Petrie, Lorraine Stanley, Katy Stephens and Sophie Stone. They are directed by Polly Teale, joint Artistic Director of Shared Experience, who also wrote the play.
Mine is the story of a wealthy couple who long for a baby. When they decide to adopt, their lives become entangled with the baby’s troubled mother in a way that no one could possibly have imagined.
Teale’s other directorial credits for Shared Experience include War And Peace and Kindertransport, both of which have played at the Hampstead.
CB