Douglas Henshall will swap hunting prehistoric time-travelling monsters for more devilish activity when he joins the cast of The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot, which receives its European premiere at the Almeida in March. Henshall is part of an impressive cast that also includes Dona Croll, Gawn Grainger, Corey Johnson and Mark Lockyer. In other Almeida casting news, Paul Moriarty, Veronica Quilligan and Peter Sullivan join the cast of Rosmersholm.
Henshall is currently keeping Saturday afternoons safe from sharp-toothed invaders as Professor Nick Cutter in ITV1’s family adventure series Primeval. The actor, who plays Satan in Stephen Adly Guirgis’s serio-comic drama re-evaluating the fate of the New Testament’s most famous sinner, has London credits including The Cryptogram (Donmar Warehouse), Death Of A Salesman (Lyric) and The Coast Of Utopia (National).
This co-production between the Almeida and Headlong, directed by Headlong’s Rupert Goold, boasts an extremely experienced cast. Grainger’s credits include Amy’s View (Garrick), The Seagull (National) and Party Time, Mountain Language and No Man’s Land (all Almeida), while Croll’s recent London outings include Elmina’s Kitchen (National and Garrick) and The Christ Of Coldharbour Lane (Soho). Johnson is currently appearing in A Prayer For My Daughter at the Young Vic, a company for whom Lockyer, who has also worked extensively with the RSC, has previously appeared in Hergé’s Adventures Of Tintin, Peribanez and Outbreak Of God.
The cast is completed by Shane Attwooll, Amanda Boxer, Ron Cephas Jones, Josh Cohen, Edward Hogg, Susan Lynch, John MacMillan, Poppy Miller, Jessika Williams and Joseph Mawle. It will be a biblical year for Mawle, who plays Judas in this production. He will also play Jesus in BBC miniseries The Passion, which will be broadcast by the BBC over Easter.
Playwright Adly Guirgis is a member of New York’s LAByrinth Theatre Company, with whom actor Jones also works. His other plays include Our Lady Of 121st Street, Jesus Hopped The ‘A’ Train (which was staged at the Donmar Warehouse and Arts theatre) and In Arabia We’d All Be Kings (which has been seen at Hampstead).
Moriarty, Quilligan and Sullivan join the already announced Paul Hilton, Helen McCrory and Malcolm Sinclair in Anthony Page’s production of Ibsen’s Rosmersholm.
The production marks a return to the Islington venue for Moriarty, who previously appeared in Jonathan Kent’s production of Richard II and Coriolanus. His other credits include Market Boy, Pillars Of The Community and Sing Yer Heart Out For The Lads (all National), King Lear, Antony And Cleopatra and Troilus And Cressida (all RSC).
It is also a return for Sullivan, whose previous Almeida credits include Lulu and Certain Young Men. Elsewhere his recent theatre work includes The Pain And The Itch and Rock ‘N’ Roll at the Royal Court. Quilligan, who makes her Almeida debut in Rosmersholm, has previously appeared in A Pagan Place, From Cockney To Toffs (Royal Court) The Way Of The World and The Tempest (both National).
Rosmersholm, which runs at the Almeida from 15 May-5 July, tells of former clergyman Rosmer, whose new libertarian beliefs are threatened by his past.
MA