Star Wars star John Boyega will be joined in the cast of Woyzeck by Sarah Greene (pictured), Nancy Carroll, Ben Batt and Steffan Rhoddri at London’s Old Vic Theatre. The new version of Georg Buchner’s classic, by the multi-award winning Jack Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), runs from 13 May to 24 June 2017, with a press night on 23 May.
Jack Thorne breathes new life into Woyzeck, one of the most extraordinary plays ever written. It’s 1980s Berlin. The Cold War rages and the world sits at a crossroads between Capitalism and Communism. On the border between East and West, a young soldier and the love of his life are desperately trying to build a better future for their child. But the cost of escaping poverty is high, and its tragic consequences unfold in this searing tale of the people society leaves behind.
The production is directed by Joe Murphy and designed by Tom Scutt, with lighting by Neil Austin, sound by Gareth Fry, music by Isobel Waller-Bridge, movement by Polly Bennett and illusions by Ben Hart.
Bios
John Boyega plays Woyzeck. John trained as an actor at the Identity School of Acting. The recipient of the 2016 BAFTA Rising Star Award and the Chopard Trophy at Cannes, John was most recently seen in Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015). He is currently filming Pacific Rim: Uprising which he is also producing through his production company, Upper Room Productions. He will next be seen in The Circle (April 2017) followed by a principle role in Kathryn Bigelow’s Untitled Project set against the backdrop of the 1967 Detroit Riots (August 2017). In December 2017, he will reprise his role of Finn in Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi and will also star in the Netflix original feature, Imperial Dreams. Theatre credits include Six Parties (National Theatre), Category B (Tricycle Theatre), Seize The Day (Tricycle Theatre) and Detaining Justice (Tricycle Theatre). Film and feature-length dramas include Half of a Yellow Sun (2013), The Whale (2013), My Murder (2012), Attack the Block (2011, SXSW Audience Award) and Da Brick (2011). Television credits include Becoming Human and 24: Live Another Day.
Ben Batt plays Andrews. Recent theatre credits include the acclaimed A Streetcar Named Desire (Royal Exchange Theatre). Other credits As You Like It (Royal Exchange Theatre), The Funfair (HOME), Making Noise Quietly (Donmar Warehouse). Ben’s recent television credits include Prey, Barbarians Rising, From Darkness, The Go-Between, The Village (Series 2), From There to Here, Scott & Bailey, Prisoners Wives, Death in Paradise, and he will soon be seen in the BBC’s In The Dark. Film credits include The Windmill, Slapper and Me, Despite The Falling Snow, Coach, Electricity, and A Running Jump.
Nancy Carroll plays Maggie. Her theatre credits include The Moderate Soprano (Hampstead Theatre), Closer, The Recruiting Officer (Donmar Warehouse), The Magistrate, After the dance, for which she won an Olivier Award for Best Actress and Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress at the Evening Standard Awards, Man of Mode, The Enchantment, The Voysey Inheritance, The False Servant, The Talking Cure (National Theatre), Arcadia (Duke of York’s), Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 (RSC), House of Games, Waste, King Lear (Almeida), Mammals (Bush Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Sheffield Crucible), The Lady’s Not For Burning (Chichester Festival Theatre). Nancy’s television credits include Will, Father Brown (Series 1- 5), Tennison, The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, Call The Midwife, Silent Witness, Lewis, Midsummer Murders and Cambridge Spies. Film credits include An Ideal Husband, Iris and The Gathering Storm.
Sarah Greene (pictured) plays Marie. Tony and Olivier Award nominated actress, and winner of the IFTA and Irish Film Board ‘Rising Star Award’, Sarah Greene is arguably best known for her recurring role as ‘Hecate Poole’ in the Showtime/Sky Atlantic series Penny Dreadful, created by John Logan. For her role she was awarded the IFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in Drama this year. Sarah will next be seen as one of the leads in the Big Light Productions/CBS drama series Ransom, created by Frank Spotnitz and David Vainola. The series is currently on in the US and will soon be available in the UK – TX TBC. Earlier in 2016 Sarah was seen in the role of ‘May’ in the SundanceTV Easter Rising drama Rebellion, for which was she also nominated as Best Actress in a Lead Role for this year’s IFTA Awards. Sarah has also had an exceptional stage career, her most notable stage performance was in Michael Grandage’s production of The Cripple of Inishmaan, a play by Martin McDonagh and co-starring Daniel Radcliffe. As the mean-spirited ‘Slippy Helen’, Sarah performed in both the West End and Broadway, was nominated for a Tony and Olivier Award in 2014, and won the 2014 World Theater Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut.
Steffan Rhodri plays Captain. His recent theatre credits include This House (Garrick Theatre), The Hairy Ape (Old Vic Theatre), The Mentalists (Wyndham’s), Posh (Duke of York’s), Absent Friends (Harold Pinter), Abigail’s Party (Hampstead Theatre), The Kitchen Sink (Bush), Clybourne Park (Royal Court Theatre), and It’s A Mad World My Masters and Candide (RSC). On television he is best known for playing Dave Coaches in Gavin and Stacey, his other extensive television credits include Henry IV The Hollow Crown: Henry IV, part 2, Under Milk Wood, Stella, Crawford and Wire in the Blood. His film credits include Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Submarine.
Jack Thorne Recent work includes Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (SFP Productions/ Harry Potter West End Theatrical), The Solid Life Of Sugar Water (Graeae Theatre Company, Edinburgh Festival & UK Tour), Hope (Royal Court Theatre), Let The Right One In (Dundee Rep / Royal Court Theatre, NTS / Marla Rubin Ltd.), The Borough (Punchdrunk / Aldeburgh Festival), Stuart: A Life Backwards (adapt. Hightide / Sheffield Theatre – Edinburgh Festival & UK tour), Mydidae (Drywrite – Soho Theatre / Trafalgar Studios), The Physicists (adapt. Donmar Warehouse), Bunny (nabokov – UK tour / NYC), Red Car Blue Car, Two Cigarettes, When You Cure Me (Bush Theatre), Greenland (National Theatre), 2nd May 1997 (Bush / nabokov), Burying Your Brother in the Pavement (NT Connections), Stacy (Tron /Arcola / Trafalgar Studios) and Fanny and Faggot (Pleasance Edinburgh / Finborough / Trafalgar Studios).
Television work includes National Treasure, The Last Panthers, Don’t Take My Baby (Best Single – Bafta 2016), Glue, The Fades (Best Drama Series – BAFTA 2012), This Is England ’90 (Best Serial – Bafta 2016), This Is England ‘88 (Best Mini-Series – BAFTA 2012) and This is England ‘86, Cast-Offs and episodes of Skins and Shameless. Films include Warbook, A Long Way Down and The Scouting Book for Boys, which premiered at the 2010 London Film Festival and won the Best British Newcomer Award.
Joe Murphy is a freelance director with experience working in London, on the West End, Broadway and internationally. He was Artistic Director of nabokov theatre company from 2010 to 2015, during which time the company presented the work of 88 playwrights and 496 artists across three continents. He took up his role as The Old Vic’s Season Two Baylis Director in September 2016.
Theatre credits as a director include What I Learned from Johnny Bevan (Soho Theatre and UK tour), Incognito (Bush Theatre), Blink and Bunny (Soho Theatre, UK tour and off-Broadway), The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (Chichester Festival Theatre and UK tour), The Taming of the Shrew and Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare’s Globe and international tour). His Associate Director credits include Wolf Hall (RSC, West End and Broadway), This House (National Theatre), Henry V (Shakespeare’s Globe and UK tour) and Ghost Stories (West End and Moscow).
