Natasha Gordon will take the role of Lorraine in her debut play Nine Night when the critically-acclaimed production transfers from the National Theatre to the Trafalgar Studios on 1 December 2018 (press night is 6 December), running until 9 February 2019.
Gordon, recently nominated for the Best Writer Award in The Stage newspaper’s Debut Awards, is joined by Oliver Alvin-Wilson (Robert), Michelle Greenidge (Trudy), also nominated in the Stage Awards for Best West End Debut, Hattie Ladbury (Sophie), Rebekah Murrell (Anita) and Cecilia Noble (Aunt Maggie) who return to their celebrated NT roles, and Karl Collins (Uncle Vince) who completes the West End cast.
Directed by Roy Alexander Weise (The Mountaintop), Nine Night is designed by Rajha Shakiry, with lighting design by Paule Constable, sound design by George Dennis, movement direction by Shelley Maxwell, company voice work and dialect coaching by Hazel Holder. The resident director is Jade Lewis.
Nine Night is Gordon’s first play as a writer and this transfer will make her the first black British female playwright to have a play staged in the West End. As an actor, her work in theatre includes Red Velvet (Tricycle); The Low Road and Clubland (Royal Court); Mules and Exception and the Rule (Young Vic); Luce (Southwark Playhouse); and As You Like It (RSC).
Bios
Oliver Alvin-Wilson’s work in theatre includes The Red Barn, Emperor and Galilean and All’s Well That Ends Well at the National; Seven Ages of Poetry for the RSC; The Twilight Zone at the Almeida; Hamlet for Hamletscenen; A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the Young Vic; Othello at the Stafford Gatehouse; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice and Henry V for Propeller; Antigone, Romeo and Juliet and This Child for Pilot; Doctor Faustus for West Yorkshire Playhouse; Blue/Orange on UK tour for ATG; Antony and Cleopatra for Nuffield; To Kill a Mockingbird for Theatr Clwyd and on tour; Pigeon Lover at The Space; and Much Ado About Nothing for Derby Live.
Karl Collins’ work in theatre includes Fuente Ovejuna at the National Theatre; Shebeen at Nottingham Playhouse and Theatre Royal Stratford East; One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show, Category B, Seize the Day, Detaining Justice, Fabulation and How Long is Never? Darfur at the Tricycle; The 11th Capital at the Royal Court; The Measles at Gate, Notting Hill; and Chimerica at the Almeida and in the West End.
Michelle Greenidge’s work in theatre includes At the Feet of Jesus and Super Skinny Bitches for Angelic Tales at Theatre Royal Stratford East; House for Clean Break at the Edinburgh Festival and The Yard; All Saints for Furious Theatre at the King’s Head; Stopcock and Do You Pray? at Southwark Playhouse and Theatre503; The Distance Between Us at Park Theatre; People Who Need People for Out of Spite at Vault Festival; and The House They Grew Up In for Headlong and Chichester.
Hattie Ladbury trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Her work in theatre includes The Norman Conquests, Canvas and An Ideal Husband at Chichester; Running Wild, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, Lady Be Good and To Kill a Mockingbird at Regent’s Park; Much Ado About Nothing at Queen’s, Hornchurch; The Deep Blue Sea at the Watermill, Newbury; The Comedy of Errors at Shakespeare’s Globe; The Web Project at the Young Vic; The Seven Year Itch, The Game of Love and Chance, The Winslow Boy and The Mayor of Casterbridge at Salisbury Playhouse; Private Lives at the New Wolsey; Tejas Verdes at Gate, Notting Hill; The Comedy of Errors at Sheffield Crucible; The Importance of Being Earnest at Theatre Royal, Bath; Candida, After the Dance and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Oxford Stage Company; After Mrs Rochester for Shared Experience at the Duke of York’s; Top Girls at Battersea Arts Centre and at the Aldwych; Romeo and Juliet for Wild Thyme; The Fire Raisers at Southwark Playhouse; Tess of the D’Urbervilles for Forest Forge; and Absent Friends at Harrogate.
Rebekah Murrell trained at the National Youth Theatre, Tricycle Young Company, The Actors Class and ALT. Her work in theatre includes The Host for the National Youth Theatre; Puppy for Little Bit Fierce at the Vaults; Switch at the Tricycle; and Exotic Tastes at the Arcola.
Cecilia Noble trained at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Her work in theatre includes The Amen Corner (for which she was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress; Evening Standard Award for Best Supporting Actress; WhatsOnStage Award for Best Supporting Actress), His Dark Materials, Henry V and The Recruiting Officer at the National; and The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night and The Tempest for the RSC.
