Tom Hughes will star alongside Niamh Cusack and Anthony Head in acclaimed film director Paul Andrew Williams’ debut play Ticking at the Trafalgar Studios this autumn.
Hughes, who will be best known to TV viewers for his recent role as MI5 spy Joe Lambe in BBC Cold War drama The Game, will play a young British man awaiting execution in a Chinese prison when the production begins its five-week run at the London venue from 6 October.
The drama follows Simon, who’s been convicted of the murder of a local prostitute, as he awaits the arrival of his parents for his final visiting hour. A bag of nervous energy, Simon and his parents must wait breathlessly to see if his appeal will be successful, but he also has another decision to make: should he confront the past with his father and expose a deeply hidden secret or leave it buried and say his goodbyes?
Hughes, whose recent stage credits include 2014’s Versailles at the Donmar Warehouse, is joined by original The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time cast member Cusack and Little Britain and Buffy The Vampire Slayer actor Head (Six Degrees Of Separation, The Old Vic). Heartbeat’s David Michaels (Herding Cats, Hampstead Theatre) completes the cast as Simon’s lawyer.
Williams’ Ticking, which the London To Brighton director will also direct, will open at the Trafalgar Studio 2 following the upcoming run of apartheid drama My Children! My Africa!, which plays from 4 to 29 August and the current Steven Webb-led production of As Is.