James Fleet is among the full cast announced for Caryl Churchill’s Cloud Nine, which opens at the Almeida on 31 October after previews from 25 October.
Fleet is joined in the cast by Mark Letheren, Tobias Menzies, Bo Poraj, Joanna Scanlan, Sophie Stanton and Nicola Walker. Thea Sharrock (Equus, The Emperor Jones) directs this revival of Churchill’s landmark 1979 play, which is set in colonial Africa and modern-day Britain and deals with relationships.
Fleet’s best known screen roles are Hugo Horton in TV comedy series The Vicar Of Dibley and Tom in the 1994 film Four Weddings And A Funeral. He is currently on stage in London at the Hampstead playing the lead in Richard Bean’s political farce In The Club, while his previous London theatre credits include Mary Stuart at the Donmar Warehouse, Three Sisters at the Playhouse and Art at the Wyndham’s.
Menzies also appeared in Three Sisters at the Playhouse, and in 2005 he played Irwin in the second cast of The History Boys at the National Theatre and on tour. On screen he is known for playing Marcus Junius Brutus in the series Rome, and has also appeared in A Very Social Secretary, Foyle’s War and Persuasion. His film credits include Casino Royale, Pierrepoint and Finding Neverland.
Letheren’s London theatre credits include Find The Lady at the Young Vic, Been So Long at the Royal Court and Beautiful Thing for the Bush. Poraj has appeared in London at the Hampstead, the Young Vic and frequently at the National. Scanlan was recently in the cast of Vernon God Little at the Young Vic and has a long list of television credits including Terri in The Thick Of it, Little Britain, Doc Martin and My Family. Stanton has previously worked at the Almeida in Dying For It, while her other London theatre credits include Market Boy at the National, Beautiful Thing at the Bush and the Donmar and Bright for the Soho. Walker has worked frequently for the Royal Court and the National, and appeared in The Dead Eye Boy at the Hampstead and Passion Play at the Donmar. She is also well known for playing Ruth in the BBC spy series Spooks.
Cloud Nine runs at the Almeida until 8 December. The play follows Clifford Odets’s Awake And Sing! which plays at the Islington venue from 31 August-20 October.
CB