PRESS RELEASE: CASTING IS ANNOUNCED FOR FRANTIC ASSEMBLY’S PRODUCTION OF 'OTHELLO'

[Jan McNulty]

PRESS RELEASE
10am 13 July 2022
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A Frantic Assembly Production, co-produced with Curve
Originally a Frantic Assembly and Theatre Royal Plymouth collaboration, in association with Royal & Derngate Northampton and developed at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, London.

 

Shakespeare’s
OTHELLO

• CASTING AND FULL CREATIVE TEAM ANNOUNCED FOR FRANTIC ASSEMBLY’S ACCLAIMED ADAPTATION OF OTHELLO.

• FIVE OF THE NEW COMPANY ARE PAST ALUMNI OF IGNITION, FRANTIC ASSEMBLY’S FREE, NATIONWIDE TALENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.
• OTHELLO WILL TOUR FROM AUTUMN ONWARDS, OPENING AT CURVE THEATRE LEICESTER ON 19 SEPTEMBER 2022.

 

 

Frantic Assembly is delighted to announce casting for its acclaimed production of Shakespeare’s Othello which will tour from this autumn, opening at Curve Theatre Leicester on 19 September. A new video about the production featuring Frantic Assembly Artistic Director and Co-Founder Scott Graham is also released today alongside a trailer (featuring previous cast). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michael Akinsulire (Trigger Point, Stephen, both ITV) will play Othello, Joe Layton (The Unreturning, Frantic Assembly; Young Wallander, Netflix) will play Iago, Chanel Waddock (Rock, Paper, Scissors,Sheffield Crucible; Hamlet, National Theatre) will play Desdemona, Oliver Baines (I Like The Way You Move , Frantic Ignition 2019, Theatre Peckham) will play Montano, Tom Gill (Vigil, BBC; Britannia, Sky) will play Cassio, Felipe Pacheco (Brassic, Sky; The Responder, BBC) will play Roderigo, Hannah Sinclair Robinson (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, UK and Ireland Tour; Rockets, Blue Lights, both National Theatre) will play Bianca, Kirsty Stuart (I Think We Are Alone, Frantic Assembly; Call the Midwife, BBC) will play Emilia, and Matthew Trevannion (War Horse, National Theatre; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, West End) will play Brabantio. 

 

Five members of the Othello cast and creative team are past graduates of Frantic Assembly’s Ignition programme including Associate Director David Gilbert, Co-Choreographer Perry Johnson, Joe Layton (Iago), Oliver Baines (Montano) and Felipe Pacheco (Roderigo), proving that Frantic Assembly is at the forefront of finding, developing, and providing opportunity for new talent from all over the UK. 

 

Ignition is a free, nationwide talent development programme for young people aged 16-24. It seeks out underrepresented talent in unexpected places, playing a vital role in dismantling barriers that can prevent fresh perspectives from revitalising the Arts. Ignition continues to transform lives, open doors and allows young people to reach beyond what they thought they were capable of.

Frantic Assembly Co-Founder and Artistic Director Scott Graham said: “It is wonderful to be able to take our work back out on tour, to connect and demonstrate the talent of this brilliant cast within a story that feels as urgent and thrilling as ever”.

 

Blisteringly relevant today, Othello exposes the tension, fear and insecurity buried beneath the veneer of our relationships and how easily that can be maliciously exploited. Lies and truths are blurred to create a poison paranoia that eats away from the inside, manipulating and destroying, turning a community upon itself. 

 

Frantic Assembly takes Shakespeare’s muscular and beautiful text, combines its own bruising physicality, and presents an Othello firmly rooted in a volatile 21st century. This is a world of broken glass and broken promises, of poisonous manipulation and explosive violence. Othello’s passionate affair with Desdemona becomes the catalyst for jealousy, betrayal, revenge and the darkest intents.

Originally presented to great acclaim in 2008 and 2014, this updated version in co-production with Curve Theatre Leicester, will tour to Curve Leicester, Liverpool Playhouse, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Theatre Royal York, Yvonne Arnaud Guildford, Oxford Playhouse, The Lowry Salford Quays, MAST Mayflower Studios Southampton, Connaught Theatre, Worthing and the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre London.

 

Frantic Assembly’s other current and upcoming work includes Frantic Assembly STUDIO, an innovative new digital resource platform for teaching drama in secondary schools launching in September and a thrilling new take on Kafka’s Metamorphosis to premiere and tour in 2023. 

Press Night for Othello will be Wednesday 21 September at Curve, Leicester.

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

 

LISTINGS

OTHELLO

A Frantic Assembly Production, co-produced with Curve.
Originally a Frantic Assembly and Theatre Royal Plymouth collaboration, in association with Royal & Derngate Northampton and developed at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, London.

Creative Team
Director                                                            Scott Graham
Designer                                                           Laura Hopkins
Lighting Designer                                          Natasha Chivers
Associate Lighting Designer                        Matt Whale
Sound Designer                                              Gareth Fry
Associate Sound Designer                            Rob Parkinson
Music                                                                Hybrid
Casting Director                                             Will Burton CDG
Associate Director                                          David Gilbert
Co-Choreographer                                         Perry Johnson

 

Tour dates
19th September – 1st October                     Curve Leicester Studio
4th October – 8th October                           Liverpool Playhouse
11th October – 15th October                        Theatre Royal Plymouth
18th October – 22nd October                      Theatre Royal, York
1st November – 5th November                   Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford
8th November – 12th November                Oxford Playhouse
15th November – 19th November              The Lowry, Salford Quays
22nd November – 26th November            MAST Mayflower Studios, Southampton
29th November – 2nd December               Connaught Theatre, Worthing
19th January 2023 – 11th February           Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, London

 

www.franticassembly.co.uk
@franticassembly

 

CAST BIOGRAPHIES

Michael Akinsulire

Michael’s TV credits include: Upcoming Sci-Fi Thriller Foundation Season 2 (Apple TV), Trigger Point (ITV), Temple Season 2 (Sky TV), Stephen (ITV) and much more. 

Film Credits include: Without Remorse (Paramount Pictures), Farming (Groundswell Productions) and more.

 

Oliver Baines

Oliver Baines is a graduate of Frantic Assembly’s Ignition programme. Credits: I Like The Way You Move (Frantic Assembly Ignition; Theatre Peckham 2019), Peer Mentor for Frantic Assembly Ignition 2021.

 

Tom Gill

Theatre credits include The New Tomorrow (Young Vic) Growing Pains (Royal Exchange Theatre/UK Tour) First Light (Chichester Festival Theatre), Lines (The Yard Theatre), Buckets (Orange Tree Theatre), Dunsinane (US & International Tour), Dunsinane (UK and Scotland Tour) Goodbye Barcelona (Arcola Theatre), Dunsinane (Royal Shakespeare Company/National Theatre of Scotland).  

Television credits include Vigil (BBC), Britannia – Series 3 (Sky) Life and Rhymes (Sky Arts).  Film credits include Peterloo (Thin Man Films), Dunkirk (Warner Bros), Eden Lake (Celador Films) Angels in Small Change (Redemption Films)

 

Joe Layton

Joe trained at the Drama Centre London. 

Theatre credits include The Unreturning (Theatre Royal Plymouth and tour), A Level Playing Field (Jermyn Street Theatre), Animal Farm (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Ignition: The Fear (Frantic Assembly).

Television credits include Young Wallander S1 & 2 (Netflix), The Trouble with Maggie Cole (ITV), Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (ABC), Thirteen (BBC), Tatau (BBC), Casualty (BBC), Father Brown (BBC), New Worlds (Channel 4). 

 

Felipe Pacheco

Felipe is a Brazilian-British actor and movement artist who grew up in the North-West. He first trained at Columbia College Chicago and then at the University of Surrey (GSA), graduating in 2019. Recent screen credits include Brassic S4 (Sky One 2022), The Responder (BBC One 2021), Patterns (Aurelia Pictures 2022) and B in Black (The Pappy Show 2021), as well as music videos for Gecko Theatre (2022), Emeli Sandé (2021) and Rojaz (2020). Recent stage credits include the lead in Peter Pan (Alban Arena 2021) and Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Off The Ground 2019). 

Felipe has been a practitioner for Frantic Assembly since 2019, engaging and exploring the Frantic Method with performing arts students nationally and internationally. He is also a co- founder and joint Artistic Director of physical theatre company Buried Thunder and was part of New Adventures’ Overture cohort 2020/21. 

 

Hannah Sinclair Robinson 

Hannah is a London based actor and trained at East 15 Acting School and Bath Spa University. Her work in theatre includes: Mrs Shears/Mrs Gascoyne in The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time on the 2021/22 UK & Ireland Tour for NTP; Rockets and Blue Lights at the National Theatre; Helena in A Midsummer Nights Dream for Shakespeare in the Squares, Mandela in Water, Bread and Salt for Tangle International, Annette in Timothy at Vault Festival for Joyous Guard and Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet for Shakespeare in the Squares. TV includes Doctors, Eastenders, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Killer Cops. Films include Urban Decay. @heyitshannahsr

 

Kirsty Stuart

Kirsty trained at Drama Centre London.
Theatre credits include: I Think We Are Alone, (Frantic Assembly), Painted People & Faith Healer (Pitlochry Festival Theatre), The Duchess (of Malfi) (Lyceum/Citz), Gut (Traverse/NTS), Oresteia: This Restless House (Citizens/NTS), Fever Dream: Southside (Citizens Theatre), Crude/Spring Awakening (Grid Iron), The Infamous Brothers Davenport (Vox Motus/Lyceum), The Girl in the Machine (Traverse Breakfast Plays), Flo/Thoughts Spoken Aloud From Above/Tristan Nightaway (Play, Pie, Pint), Uncanny Valley (Ayr Gaiety/Edinburgh Science Festival), Molly Whuppie/Licketyleap (Licketyspit), The Silence of Bees (The Arches), The Hunted (Visible Fictions), Romeo & Juliet (Open Book), I Was a Beautiful Day (Finborough/Tron), Fast Labour (West Yorkshire Playhouse/Hampstead).
TV and Film credits include: A Glimpse (Compact Pictures), Call the Midwife (Neal Street Productions), Shetland (ITV), Outlander (Sony/Starz), River City (BBC Scotland), Lip Service (Kudos), Doctors/Sea of Souls (BBC), Closing the Ring (Lord Richard Attenborough/Jo Gilbert)
Radio credits: Donald & Benoit (Soundstage), Adventures With The Painted People (BBCR3), Keeping Mum (BBC Scotland), Cry Babies (BBCR4).

 

Matthew Trevannion

Matthew trained on the BA Acting Course at Rose Bruford College. 

Theatre includes: War Horse (National Theatre), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (Gielgud Theatre), Fiji Land (Southwark Playhouse), Beautiful Burnout (Frantic Assembly), Dr Dee (ENO), Little Dogs (Frantic Assembly/National Theatre Wales), Hamlet (Young Vic), Love Steals Us from Loneliness (National Theatre Wales), Bright Unconquered Sons (Pleasance Theatre), Bent, Journey’s End (Broadway Theatre), Here’s Tommy (Kings Head Theatre), Exit the King (Tabard Theatre), Divorce Me, Darling! (Union Theatre), Stig of the Dump (Hereford Courtyard Theatre).

TV includes: Wanderlust (BBC/Netflix), This World: The Bunker (BBC).

 

Chanel Waddock

Chanel trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, graduating in 2020. 

Theatre credits include Rock Paper, Scissor (Sheffield Crucible), Hamlet (National Theatre), Bonsai Baby (Theatre 503). 

Television credits include Sneakerhead (Steve Monger/ Rough cut/ Dave), London Kills S4 & 5 (BBC), This is Going to Hurt (Sister Pictures and BBC).

 

FRANTIC ASSEMBLY

Award winning theatre company Frantic Assembly’s method of devising theatre has been impacting theatrical practice and unlocking the creative potential of future theatre-makers for over 25 years. One of the most exciting theatre companies in the UK, Frantic Assembly is led by Artistic Director and co-founder Scott Graham and Executive Director Kerry Whelan. It has toured extensively across Great Britain and worked in more than 40 countries internationally, collaborating with some of today’s most inspiring artists. 

 

Frantic Assembly is currently studied as a leading contemporary theatre practitioner on five British and international academic syllabuses. The success of the company’s distinct approach has influenced contemporary theatre-making and foregrounded the use of movement directors and choreographers in new dramatic works. With a history of commissioning writers such as Simon Stephens, Abi Morgan, Bryony Lavery, Anna Jordan and Mark Ravenhill, the company has been acclaimed for its collaborative approach. 

 

Frantic Assembly’s flagship initiative Ignition, a free nationwide talent development programme for young people aged 16-24, seeks out under-represented talent and provides opportunities for young people to discover what is possible, increasing involvement in and access to the arts in places of low cultural engagement. 

 

Frantic Assembly productions include I Think We Are Alone (UK Tour), The Unreturning (UK Tour), Fatherland (Manchester International Festival 2017 and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre 2018), Things I Know To Be True (UK and Australia), Othello (UK), Beautiful Burnout (UK, Australia, New Zealand and New York), Lovesong (UK and Australia) and The Believers. They are also the Movement Directors on the award-winning National Theatre of Great Britain, production The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (West End, Broadway, UK & International Tours). Television credits include Movement Direction on BAFTA winning British - American series Humans (AMC, Channel 4 & Kudos). 

 

Frantic Assembly is supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England

www.franticassembly.co.uk.