News: ROYAL EXCHANGE THEATRE Presents BRIEF ENCOUNTER
ROYAL EXCHANGE THEATRE
Presents
BRIEF ENCOUNTER
By Noël Coward.
Adapted for stage by Emma Rice
2 DECEMBER 2023 – 13 JANAUARY
2024
A new
musical production with live Jazz on stage
Directed
by Sarah Frankcom
Press
night – Royal Exchange Theatre, 7 December 7.30pm
In a busy railway station, where everyone is
simply passing through, Laura and Alec find each other. Falling passionately
and wildly in love in a few stolen moments they live and breathe a lifetime of
epic emotions, reawakening everything they buried deep
inside. Together they find themselves in a bittersweet, hopelessly
romantic, elegantly awkward love affair.
This December, Royal Exchange Theatre presents
Brief Encounter, a huge beating heart of a musical for incurable
romantics. This unique and timely version of Emma Rice’s smash hit stage adaptation
of Noël Coward’s iconic original, marks the 50th anniversary since the
playwright’s death and showcases his remarkable talent as a writer, composer
and songwriter.
RET Brief Encounter Rehearsals_Hannah Azuonye (Laura) and Baker Mukasa (Alec) Photo by Joel Fildes
Musical theatre performers Baker Mukasa,
fresh from his role in the acclaimed hit musical STANDING AT THE SKY’S EDGE,
and Hannah Azuonye who appeared in the West-End
transfer of GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY, will star opposite each other as
the hopeless lovers Alec and Laura, supported by a five-strong multi-rolling
cast of characters.
This new production, spanning 6 weeks from 2
December until 13 January 2024, will be directed by the Royal
Exchange Theatre’s former Artistic Director Sarah Frankcom (WEST SIDE
STORY Royal Exchange Theatre; THEY MIF; THE BREACH Hampstead
Theatre) and showcases for the first time a full complement of
musical numbers drawn from Coward’s extraordinary songbook, accompanied by live
Jazz on stage arranged by Musical Director Matthew Malone (STANDING
AT THE SKY’s EDGE Sheffield Crucible; CAROUSEL Regents Park Open Air
Theatre). The brand-new set design will be by 2019 Linbury Prize for Stage
Design winner Rose Revitt.
Sarah Frankcom says of this show: “Remembering
Noël Coward in this 50th anniversary year allows us to really
foreground his mastery as a remarkable songwriter responsible for delivering
and performing some of the most iconic songs of the last 100 years. I’m really
looking forward to creating a production that allows these enduring characters
to inhabit the world of the song and lets us understand the inside of their
hearts.”
She adds: “This is an iconic story that takes
place in a railway station, the most public of spaces, and as the audience
watch the most extreme and intimate moments of a relationship played out in front
of them, in a theatre, in the round, in a huge public space that is the Royal
Exchange, there’s an exciting synergy that I can’t wait for audiences to
experience.”
The production runs from 2 December until 13
January 2024.
CAST
Hannah
Azuonye Laura
Baker
Mukasa Alec
Matthew
Allen Bobbie
and Bill
Georgia
Frost Stanley
and Jonnie
Richard
Glaves Albertr,
Fred and Stephen Lynn
Christina
Modestou Myrtle,
Mary and Kardomah waitress
Ida Regan Beryl, Hermione, Dolly, Kardomah waitress and Margaret
CREATIVES
Written by Noël Coward and adapted by
Emma Rice
Director Sarah Frankcom
Designer Rose Revitt
Lighting Designer Simeon
Miller
Sound Designer Russ
Ditchfield
Orchestrator, Musical Supervisor and
Musical Director Matthew
Malone
Movement Director Sundeep
Saini
Casting Director Hannah
Miller CDG
Birkbeck Assistant Director Amara
Heyland
LISTINGS
Venue: Royal Exchange Theatre
Company
Dates: 2 December 2023 – 13 January
2024
Times: 2.30pm & 7.30PM. see
website for details
Tickets
From: £12
Website: https://www.royalexchange.co.uk/
Social Media: @rxtheatre
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