Following last year’s sell-out The Hotel Plays, audiences are invited once again to explore the glamourous surroundings of the Langham Hotel for the premiere of Ben Ellis’ new site-specific play The Armour.
Playing from 3 March to 4 April, a cast including Hannah Spearritt and Finty Williams will lead theatregoers through three interlinking stories, each of which will be performed in three different intimate spaces within the iconic hotel.
Directed by James Hillier, The Armour takes inspiration from the long history of the prestigious venue’s unique surroundings, immersing audiences in three very different time periods.
Former S Club 7 star Spearritt will follow London stage appearances in One Man, Two Guvnors (National Theatre and Theatre Royal Haymarket) and Southwark Playhouse’s The Belle’s Stratagem to play international pop star Poppy in the most modern piece, set in 2015.
On a comeback tour after a period of self-destruction and self-doubt, Poppy confronts her manager Franky (played by Coronation Street’s Thomas Craig) who is trying to boost her flagging confidence and get her on stage to play the gig of her life.
Moving to 1973, when the Langham was occupied by the BBC, the second tale stars theatre regular Simon Darwen (Committed at the Bush Theatre, Mad About The Boy at the Young Vic) and former From Here To Eternity star Siubhan Harrison as a successful couple waiting to be interviewed for a current affairs programme about their growing international shipping empire.
In the third piece of the play’s jigsaw, audiences will be transported back to the hotel’s very beginnings as Emperor Napoleon III and his wife Eugenie seek refuge at the newly built Langham in 1871. The piece will star Williams, whose numerous stage credits include Luise Miller at the Donmar Warehouse and Twelfth Night at the NT, alongside RSC regular Sean Murray, last seen on the London stage in Holy Warriors at Shakespeare’s Globe.
The unique project has been created by Defibrillator, a theatre company run by Hillier and Stage One producer Trish Wadley devoted to creating “dynamic, thrilling, edge-of-your-seat theatre”.
The company’s first collaboration with the hotel saw three little performed Tennessee Williams plays performed in Langham suites to critical acclaim. This second season is the result of The Langham 1865 Writer-in-Residence Award, launched to mark the hotel’s 150th anniversary and awarded to rising star playwright Ellis.