Actor Tom Brooke will return to the Royal Court, where he was first seen in acclaimed drama Jerusalem, to lead the cast of autumn production The Ritual Slaughter Of Gorge Mastromas.
Brooke will play the title role in the new play from Matilda The Musical book writer Dennis Kelly, which will be the first full production to be directed by Vicky Featherstone since taking over as Artistic Director of the famous new writing venue.
Journeying through three decades, from the promise of the 70s to the unrelenting capitalism of the 80s and 90s, the dark morality tale, which begins its run on 5 September, asks “If you could lie without flinching, corrupt without caring and succeed at all costs, how far could you go and how much could you make?”
Brooke, who is among fantasy TV series Game Of Throne’s plethora of British stage stars, was last seen on the London stage in the National Theatre production of The Kitchen. He is joined in the cast by Joshua James, currently appearing in Shakespeare’s Globe’s The Tempest, Pippa Haywood, whose TV credits include Green Wing and The Brittas Empire, and Kate O’Flynn, who led the National Theatre production of Simon Stephens’ Port.
The cast is completed by Jonathan McGuinness (Metamorphosis, Lyric Hammersmith), Aaron Monaghan (King Lear, Abbey theatre) and Alan Williams (Stoning Mary, Royal Court).
The Ritual Slaughter Of Gorge Mastromas opens the first Featherstone-programmed season at the Royal Court since the former National Theatre of Scotland director succeeded Dominic Cooke at the Sloane Square venue.
The season, which also includes Rachel De-lahay’s Routes, Jack Thorn’s adaptation of Let The Right One In and Abi Morgan’s The Mistress Contract, follows the hugely successful Open Court season that saw the venue turned over to 140 writers for six weeks this summer. The initiative, which included a weekly rep company performing six shows, surprise performances and a Peckham-set soap opera, drew 14,600 audience members to the theatre – 45% for the first time – to see 40 new plays.