Following a sold-out run at the Almeida Theatre, Tennessee Williams’ rarely staged classic Summer and Smoke will have a limited West End run from 10 November 2018 to 19 January 2019 at the Duke Of York’s Theatre, with press night on 20 November.
Directed by the Almeida’s associate director Rebecca Frecknall, the transfer will feature the full cast reprising their roles: Seb Carrington, Nancy Crane, Patsy Ferran, Eric MacLennan, Forbes Masson, Matthew Needham, Tok Stephen and Anjana Vasan.
Trapped between desire and a life of obligation, Alma meets John and her world turns upside down. This intoxicating classic about love, loneliness and self-destruction evokes the simmering passions of a sweltering summer in small-town Mississippi.
Summer and Smoke is designed by Tom Scutt, with lighting by Lee Curran, sound by Carolyn Downing, composition by Angus MacRae and casting by Julia Horan. The West End transfer of Summer and Smoke is produced by the Almeida Theatre and Sonia Friedman Productions.
Bios
Seb Carrington plays Archie Kramer. His theatre work includes Ivanov for the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute. His television work includes Doctors, Father Brown and The Crown.
Nancy Crane plays Mrs Winemiller/Mrs Bassett. She previously appeared at the Almeida in Against and Chimerica. Other theatre credits include The Sewing Group, Now or Later, The Sweetest Thing in Baseball and The Strip at the Royal Court; Teddy Ferrara at the Donmar Warehouse; A Lie of The Mind and Next Fall at Southwark Playhouse; The Children’s Hour an the Comedy Theatre; Design For Living at The Old Vic; Love The Sinner and Angels in America at the National Theatre; Chains of Dew and Trifles at the Orange Tree Theatre; The Girl in a Goldfish Bowl and Six Degrees of Separation at the Crucible Theatre; The Price on UK Tour; Habitat at the Royal Exchange, Manchester; and A Wedding Story at Sphinx.
Patsy Ferran plays Alma. Her theatre credits include My Mum’s A Twat at the Royal Court; Speech and Debate at Trafalgar Studios; As You Like It and Treasure Island at the National Theatre; The Merchant Of Venice at the RSC; The Angry Brigade for Paines Plough; and Blithe Spirit at the Gielgud Theatre.
Eric MacLennan plays Papa Gonzales/Vernon. For theatre his work includes Brave New World; 1984 at Creation Theatre; A Tale of Two Cities at Chung Ying Theatre; Government Inspector and Annie Get Your Gun at Young Vic; Henry V at Southwark Playhouse; Half-Life at the National Theatre of Scotland; and Cyrano de Bergerac at Manchester Royal Exchange.
Forbes Masson plays Rev Winemiller/Dr Buchanan. His recent theatre work includes Big Fish at The Other Palace; Boudica at Shakespeare’s Globe; Terror at Lyric Hammersmith; Travesties at the Menier Chocolate Factory and Apollo Theatre; A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Theatre Royal Bath; Doctor Faustus at the Duke of York’s; Mr Foote’s Other Leg at Hampstead Theatre and Theatre Royal Haymarket and The Ruling Class, Richard III and Macbeth at Trafalgar Studios.
Matthew Needham plays John Buchanan. His previous work for the Almeida includes The Twilight Zone and The Treatment. His other theatre credits include Much Ado About Nothing, Imogen, The Comedy of Errors, Titus Andronicus and The Knight of the Burning Pestle at Shakespeare’s Globe; Henry IV Parts I and II,Love’s Sacrifice, The Jew of Malta, Candide and Titus Andronicus for the RSC; Our Country’s Good for Out of Joint; There is a War at the National Theatre; Bingo and The Grapes of Wrath for Chichester Festival Theatre; and Shades at the Royal Court.
Tok Stephen plays Roger Doremus/Dusty. He recently graduated from RADA and his professional theatre work includes Boudica at Shakespeare’s Globe.
Anjana Vasan plays Rosemary/Rosa Gonzales/Nellie. Her theatre work includes King Lear and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare’s Globe; Life of Galileo at the Young Vic; Image of an Unknown Young Woman at the Gate Theatre; Dara and Behind The Beautiful at the National Theatre; and Macbeth at Manchester International Festival/Broadway.
