Michael Fentiman’s production will play at the Rose Theatre in Kingston from the 20th September.
The Rose Theatre and The Original Theatre Company have announced casting for the upcoming production of the first major revival of Valued Friends by Stephen Jeffreys.
Michael Fentiman is set to direct Natalie Casey (Sherry), Ralph Davis (Scott), Sam Frenchum (Paul), Michael Marcus (Howard), Catrin Stewart (Marion) and Nicolas Tennant (Stewart) in the production that is set to run at the Rose Theatre from the 20th September until the 12th October.
It’s 1980s London and change is happening. The city is ablaze with social, political and cultural upheaval and in a basement flat in Earls Court, four friends in their mid-thirties are scrabbling to keep their heads above water.
Housemates for more than 10 years, Sherry is a hapless, quirky comedian; Paul, a keen music journalist; Marion, a straight-talking realist; and Howard, an earnest academic writing about the corruption of capitalism. The friends are thrown unexpectedly into a battle of nerves when a young, confident property developer offers them a substantial fee to vacate their home in West London.
The play originally premiered at the Hampstead Theatre in 1989 winning the Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright, with a cast that featured Jane Horrocks, Peter Capaldi, Tim McInnerny, Serena Gordon, Martin Clunes and Peter Caffrey.
Natalie Casey plays Sherry. Her previous theatre credits include Stepping Out (Vaudeville Theatre), Things I Know to be True (Lyric Hammersmith, UK tour), Sex and the Three Day Week(Liverpool Playhouse), Albion (Bush Theatre), 9 To 5 (UK tour), Abigail’s Party, The Invisible Man (Menier Chocolate Factory) and Legally Blonde (Savoy Theatre).
Ralph Davis plays Scott. His previous theatre credits include The Deep Blue Sea (Chichester Festival Theatre), Tamburlaine/ Timon of Athens (RSC), The Open House (Theatre Royal Bath, Print Room), and King Lear (Shakespeare’s Globe).
Sam Frenchum plays Paul. His theatre credits include There is a Field (Theatre503), The Outsider (Print Room), Love From A Stranger (Royal & Derngate Northampton), and Loot (Park Theatre).
Michael Marcus plays Howard. His theatre credits include The Inheritance (Noël Coward Theatre, Young Vic), Two Gentlemen of Verona (RSC), Richard II (Donmar Warehouse), Jumpy(Royal Court Theatre) and Measure for Measure (Shakespeare’s Globe).
Catrin Stewart plays Marion. Her theatre credits include 1984 (Almeida Theatre, Nottingham Playhouse), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Theatr Clwyd), The Jew of Malta, Love’s Sacrifice (RSC), The Cherry Orchard (Young Vic), Mametz, The Devil Inside Him (National Theatre Wales), Longing (Hampstead Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Headlong), Buried Child (Curve, Leicester),The Lady from the Sea (Royal Exchange Theatre) and The Duchess of Malfi (Shakespeare’s Globe).
Nicolas Tennant plays Stewart. His theatre credits include Hamlet, As You Like It, All’s Well That Ends Well, The Duchess of Malfi (RSC), The Seagull (Lyric Hammersmith), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime (Apollo Theatre), The Alchemist (Liverpool Playhouse), Twelfth Night (UK tour), Three Kingdoms (Lyric Hammersmith), After Troy (Shaw Theatre, UK tour), Tiger Country (Hampstead Theatre), The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (Liverpool Everyman, Chichester Festival Theatre), The Power of Yes (National Theatre), Roaring Trade, Pirhana Nights (Soho Theatre) and People at Sea (Salisbury Playhouse).
The creative team for the production includes: set design by Michael Taylor, costume design by Madeleine Girling, lighting design by Nic Farman and sound design by Richard Hammarton.
Valued Friends will play at the Rose Theatre from the 20th September until the 12th October.