Rose Theatre Kingston has announced the full cast for Nick Dear’s double-bill Hogarth’s Progress. Anthony Banks directs Bryan Dick as the younger William Hogarth in the first major UK revival of Dear’s acclaimed comedy The Art of Success, which follows Hogarth through a bawdy night in 1730, and Keith Allen as the older William Hogarth in the world première of The Taste of the Town which rejoins the now hugely successful artist 30 years later towards the end of his career.
Ruby Bentall (Jane Hogarth and Nancy/Mrs Ryott), Emma Cunniffe (Louisa and Mrs Colquhoun/Mrs Bascombe), Ben Deery (Frank and Zachariah Blunt), Jack Derges (Henry Fielding and Parson Venables), Ian Hallard (Oliver and Horace Walpole), Susannah Harker (Queen Caroline and Jane Hogarth), Jasmine Jones (Sarah Sprackling and Bridget), Sylvestra Le Touzel (Mrs Needham and Lady Thornhill) and Mark Umbers (Robert Walpole and David Garrick) complete the company.
The plays will run in rep as part of Rose Theatre Kingston’s 10th anniversary season; opening 29 September 2018, with previews from 13 September, and running until Sunday 21 October. Each play can be seen as a single performance or together, either over different days or as an all-day theatrical experience.
Hogarth’s Progress is a double-bill of comedies by BAFTA Award winner Nick Dear, following one of Britain’s most celebrated artists on two monumental pub crawls. The plays explore the extraordinary lives of William and Jane Hogarth “at a time when culture escaped from the grasp of the powerful into the hands of the many”.
The Olivier Award-nominated comedy The Art of Success, in its first major revival, compresses the newlywed William’s rise to fame into an hilarious night out through 18th century London’s high society and debauched underworld.
A world première, The Taste of the Town catches up with the Hogarths in Chiswick some 30 years later. Now hugely successful, William and Jane are still at odds with the world and with each other. Facing public ridicule for what he considers his finest painting, William sets out to confront his fiercest critic, but there’s always time for one more pint on the way.
Bios
Keith Allen returns to Rose Theatre Kingston to play William Hogarth in The Taste of the Town. He previously starred in the company’s revival of Smack Family Robinson. Later this year he will be appearing in Landscape and A Kind of Alaska as part of the Pinter at the Pinter season. Other theatre credits include Gaslight (UK tour), The Homecoming (National Theatre/Trafalgar Studios), Comedians (Lyric Hammersmith), Treasure Island (Theatre Royal Haymarket), The Celebration & The Room (Almeida Theatre), Murmuring Judges (National Theatre), and Illuminatus and Macbeth (Citizen’s Theatre, Glasgow).
Bryan Dick plays William Hogarth in The Art of Success and Samuel in The Taste of the Town. His theatre credits include The Two Noble Kinsmen (Shakespeare Globe), Great Apes (Arcola Theatre), Fatherland (Royal Exchange Theatre), Years of Sunlight (Theatre503), Hobson’s Choice (Theatre Royal Bath), Seminar (Hampstead Theatre), School Play (Soho Theatre), Sliding with Suzanne, Plasticine, Bone (Royal Court Theatre), Lear (Sheffield Theatres), The Life of Galileo, The Alchemist (National Theatre), Tinderbox (Bush Theatre) and Kursk and Public Enemy (Young Vic).
Ruby Bentall plays Jane Hogarth in The Art of Success and Nancy/Mrs Ryott in The Taste of the Town. Her theatre credits include Ramona Tells Jim (Bush Theatre), Peter and Alice (Noël Coward Theatre), Hansel and Gretel, Grief, The Miracle (National Theatre), Blue Heart Afternoon (Hampstead Theatre), Remembrance Day (Royal Court Theatre) and Alice (Sheffield Theatres).
Emma Cunniffe returns to Rose Theatre Kingston to play Louisa in The Art of Success andMrs Colquhoun/Mrs Bascombe in The Taste of the Town. Her credits for the company include Dumb Show. Her other theatre credits include the title role in Queen Anne (Swan Theatre/Theatre Royal Haymarket), Proof (Menier Chocolate Factory), Conquest of the South Pole (Arcola Theatre), Amongst Friends, The Glass Room (Hampstead Theatre), The Entertainer (The Old Vic), Losing Louis (Hampstead Theatre/Trafalgar Studios), A Buyer’s Market, Caravan (Bush Theatre), Tales From Hollywood (Donmar Warehouse), and The Master Builder (UK tour – winner of UK Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actress).
Ben Deery plays Frank in The Art of Success and Zachariah Blunt in The Taste of the Town. His theatre credits include Death of a Salesman (Royal & Derngate Northampton/UK tour), Insignificance (Theatre Clwyd), Casa Valentina (Southwark Playhouse), A Mad World My Masters, Titus Andronicus, King Lear (RSC), The Woman In Black (Fortune Theatre), Anne Boleyn, All’s Well That End’s Well, Henry VIII (Shakespeare’s Globe), and La Cage Aux Folles (Playhouse Theatre).
Jack Derges plays Henry Fielding in The Art of Success and Parson Venables in The Taste of the Town. His theatre credits include Queers (The Old Vic), The Boys in the Band (Vaudeville Theatre), The Sweethearts (Finborough Theatre) and Territory (Pleasance, London).
Ian Hallard plays Oliver in The Art of Success and Horace Walpole in The Taste of the Town. His theatre credits include The Boys in the Band (Park Theatre/Vaudeville Theatre), Outings (Lyric Theatre), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Theatr Clywd), Lovesong of the Electric Bear (Arts Theatre/Hope Theatre), The Vote (Donmar Warehouse), Great Britain (National Theatre/Theatre Royal Haymarket) and Scenes from an Execution (National Theatre).
Susannah Harker plays Queen Caroline in The Art of Success and Jane Hogarth in The Taste of the Town. Her theatre credits include Abigail’s Party (Menier Chocolate Factory/Wyndham’s Theatre), A Good Death (National Theatre), Lucky Seven (Hampstead Theatre), On the Shore of the Wide World (Royal Exchange Manchester/National Theatre), Three Sisters (Playhouse Theatre), Uncle Vanya (Gate Theatre, Dublin/La Guardia Drama Theater), and Tartuffe (Almeida Theatre).
Jasmine Jones plays Sarah Sprackling in The Art of Success and Bridget in The Taste of the Town. Her theatre credits include Buggy Baby (The Yard Theatre), The Phantom Seahorse (Soho Theatre), Philippa and Will are Now in a Relationship (New Diorama Theatre), Fewer Emergencies (Royal Court Theatre), Porno Girl, Sense, This Child (Southwark Playhouse), Blue Funk (Old Red Lion) and Arden of Faversham (White Bear).
Sylvestra Le Touzel plays Mrs Needham in The Art of Success and Lady Thornhill in The Taste of the Town. Her theatre credits include The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Donmar), Giving, Imagine Drowning (Hampstead Theatre), Waste (National Theatre), Les Parent Terribles, Ivanov (Donmar West End), Topless Mum (Tricycle Theatre), Wild East, Ourselves Alone, Unity, Glasshouses (Royal Court Theatre), A Midsummer’s Night Dream (Almeida Theatre), Inspector Calls (Aldwych Theatre), The Illusion, Marya (The Old Vic) and Harvest (Ambassadors Theatre).
Mark Umbers plays Robert Walpole in The Art of Success and David Garrick in The Taste of the Town. His theatre work includes Merrily We Roll Along (Menier Chocolate Factory/Harold Pinter Theatre/Huntington Avenue Theatre), She Loves Me (Menier Chocolate Factory), The Browning Version (Chichester Festival Theatre/Harold Pinter Theatre), Sweet Charity (Menier Chocolate Factory/Theatre Royal Haymarket), Funny Girl (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Glass Menagerie (Apollo Theatre), The Vortex (Donmar Warehouse), and The Merchant of Venice, Candide and My Fair Lady (National Theatre).
