Cast announced for The Wolf from the Door at Royal Court Theatre

Monday 11 August

The cast has been announced for Rory Mullarkey’s play The Wolf from the Door at the Royal Court Theatre in London (10 September – 1 November 2014 – press night 15 September). The cast includes Anna Chancellor, Calvin Demba, Pearce Quigley and Sophie Russell.

“- We don’t actually drink coffee at my coffee morning.
– What do you do, then?
– We discuss the violent overthrow of the government. Also, there’s flower arranging.”

Rory Mullarkey imagines a wild road trip across Middle England where Lady Catherine (Anna Chancellor) and her young protégée Leo (Calvin Demba), enlist every tearoom, hot yoga class and WI group on a mission to change the country forever.




The production is directed by James Macdonald, designed by Tom Pye, with lighting by Peter Mumford and sound by Giles Thomas.

Anna Chancellor plays Lady Catherine. Her theatre credits include Private Lives at Chichester Festival Theatre and the West End, The Last of the Duchess at Hampstead Theatre, The Browning Version/South Downs at Chichester Festival Theatre and West End, Creditors at the Donmar Warehouse and on Broadway and The Observer for the National Theatre. Her television credits include Penny Dreadful, The Hour, Fleming, Spooks and Pride and Prejudice. Film credits include How I Live Now, St Trinians, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Calvin Demba plays Leo. He last appeared at the Royal Court in Routes. His television credits include Babylon, Sherlock, Youngers, Hollyoaks and Fast Freddie, The Widow and Me. Film credits include: London Road and Twenty8k. Calvin was selected for Screen International’s Stars of Tomorrow 2014.

Pearce Quigley’s credits at the Royal Court include Birth of a Nation, The Seagull, Road and The Queen and I. His most recent theatre credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Taming of the Shrew at Shakespeare’s Globe and The Winter’s Tale at the RSC. His television credits include BBC’s Cutting It.

Sophie Russell’s credits at the Royal Court include The Get Out and The Big Idea: Collaboration. Her other theatre credits include Every Last Trick at Royal & Derngate, Northampton, Get Happy at the Barbican, King Lear, Anthony and Cleopatra and As You Like It at the RSC, and Stuart: A Life Backwards at the Sheffield Crucible and on tour.

Rory Mullarkey won the George Devine Award forThe Wolf from the Door and was this year’s recipient of the Pinter Commission – an award given annually by Lady Antonia Fraser, Harold Pinter’s widow, to support a new commission at the Royal Court. This is his first play at the Royal Court Theatre. Rory was the Royal Court’s writer on attachment in 2010 and has been closely associated with the theatre’s international work, translating Russian-language plays from Latvia, Russia and Ukraine, including Aleksey Scherbak’s Remembrance Day as part of the 2011 International Season and for a number of staged readings. His first full length play Cannibals opened at the Royal Exchange Manchester in 2013, where he became the youngest playwright to have his work performed on their main stage.

James Macdonald directs. His previous credits at the Royal Court include Love and Information and Cock (both which transferred to New York), Drunk Enough to Say I Love You, Dying City, Fewer Emergencies, Lucky Dog, Blood, Blasted, 4.48 Psychosis (including European/US tours) and was Associate Director there from 1992 to 2007. Other directing credits include King Lear, The Book of Grace, Drunk Enough to Say I Love You (Public Theatre); Top Girls (Broadway/MTC); Dying City (Lincoln Center); A Number (New York Theatre Workshop); And No More Shall We Part (Hampstead Theatre); A Delicate Balance, Judgment Day, The Triumph of Love (Almeida); John Gabriel Borkman (Abbey Theatre Dublin/BAM); Dido, Queen of Carthage, The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other, Exiles (National Theatre); Glengarry Glen Ross (West End), and A Number (New York Theatre Workshop).

In autumn 2015, The Wolf from the Door will head out on a UK rural tour with Farnham Maltings and the National Rural Touring Forum to village halls and community centres.

The Wolf from the Door is part of the Royal Court’s Jerwood New Playwrights programme, which aims to discover and support the next generation of world class playwrights, supported by the Jerwood Charitable Foundation.

ends

Notes to Editors:

For more information, please contact Anna Evans on 020 7565 5063 annaevans@royalcourttheatre.com

Creative Team:

James Macdonald Director
Tom Pye Designer
Peter Mumford Lighting Designer
Giles Thomas Sound Designer

Cast:

Anna Chancellor Catherine
Calvin Demba Leo
Pearce Quigley Ensemble
Sophie Russell Ensemble

Listings Information:

The Wolf from the Door
by Rory Mullarkey
Directed by James Macdonald
Wednesday 10 September – Saturday 1 November 2014
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square SW1W 8AS
Monday – Saturday 7.45pm
Saturday matinees (from 20 Sep) 3pm
Thursday matinee (from 18 Sep) 3pm
Captioned Performance Tuesday 28 October, 7.45pm
Press Night Monday 15 September, 7pm
Age Guidance 15+
Tickets £20 Mondays all seats £10
Concessions £15* (available in advance until 20 September, and all matinees. For all other performances, available on a standby basis on the day)
School and HE Groups of 8+ £10 (available Wed -Sat mat, plus midweek mat)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate) *ID required. All discounts subject to avail.

Coutts support Innovation at the Royal Court Theatre

Coutts is the UK private banking arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland. Coutts has a long history of supporting the arts going back 200 years, having looked after the financial affairs of many famous clients connected with the arts such as Bram Stoker, Charles Dickens and Chopin. In 1816, Thomas Coutts married Harriot Mellon, a popular actress of her day, and together they became partners of a number of London Theatres, including the Drury Lane and the Royal Opera House. Coutts has even featured in a number of artistic works including The Gondoliers by Gilbert and Sullivan, and Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic story Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. In the new millennium, this tradition has continued not only through managing the finances of many of today’s top writers, actors and musicians, but also through our arts sponsorship programme and we are delighted to support The Royal Court and its diverse range of ground-breaking performances.

The Wolf from the Door by Rory Mullarkey is supported by Jerwood New Playwrights

In 2014 Jerwood New Playwrights, the longstanding partnership between the Jerwood Charitable Foundation and the Royal Court Theatre is 20 years old. Each year, Jerwood New Playwrights supports the production of three new works by emerging writers, all of whom are in the first 10 years of their career. The Royal Court carefully identifies playwrights whose careers would benefit from the challenge and profile of being fully produced either in the Jerwood Downstairs or Jerwood Upstairs Theatres at the Royal Court.

The Jerwood Charitable Foundation supports the Jerwood New Playwrights programme and is dedicated to imaginative and responsible revenue funding of the arts, supporting emerging artists to develop and grow at important stages in their careers. The aim of its funding is to allow artists and arts organisations to thrive; to continue to develop their skills, imagination and creativity with integrity. It works with artists across art forms, from dance and theatre to literature, music and the visual arts. For more information visit www.jerwoodcharitablefoundation.org