The new comedy written by Al Smith and based on the classic novel by Jerome K. Jerome, will take to the Kingston-Upon- Thames based theatre from the 18th September until the 10th October.
The full cast and creative team has now been announced for the upcoming world premiere of Three Men in a Boat, directed by Rose Theatre’s Artistic Director Christopher Haydon and featuring original songs by Tony Award nominee Grant Olding (One Man, Two Guvnors).
The cast will consist of: Jonny Weldon (Disney+’s Rivals, Netflix’s One Day,and 101 Dalmatians at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) as Jerome, Bronté Barbé (Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder!,Disney’s Newsies: The Musical,and Oklahoma! at Chichester Festival Theatre) as Harris, Richard David-Caine (The Witches at the National Theatreand BBC’s Horrible Histories) as George and Calum Donald-Bruce as Montmorency.
Jerome, George and Harris are lifelong pals. Whenever one is in a spot of bother the others will always jump in to help him out. So what could possibly go wrong as they set out on a carefree boat trip up the Thames – from leafy Kingston to Oxford’s dreaming spires?
Nothing at all. Except torrential rain, alarmingly eccentric dogs and a bout of hallucination brought on by some of the most dangerously rancid cheese ever cultivated. This is a rollicking story of three men, one boat and three dozen angry swans.
The creative team joining Smith, Olding (who also serves as Musical Director and Sound Designer) and Haydon includes John Nicholson (Movement Director & Comedy Consultant), Simon Kenny (Set & Costume Designer), Simisola Majekodunmi (Lighting Designer), Juliet Horsley CDG (Casting Director), Chris Pirie (Puppetry Director), Claudette Williams (Voice & Dialect Coach) and Rebecca Wear (Associate Director – Drama League Rose Directing Fellow).
Talking about the news, Christopher Haydon, Rose Theatre’s ArtisticDirector and Director of Three Men in a Boat, said: “This beloved novel is over 130 years old, and when I first read it I genuinely couldn’t believe how much it made me laugh! We commissioned Al Smith who has written a wonderful new stage adaptation, and what he’s come up with is very, very funny; it’s a mixture of verbal wit and physical comedy, and it’s going to be very moving as well. It’s just so brilliant to be telling a story that begins right here in Kingston upon Thames.
We’ve brought on a brilliant composer in Grant Olding; whose work I loved on One Man, Two Guvnors. So, what had originally started out as a play has transformed into a play with songs. Grant is writing a series of comic musical numbers that also serve a key narrative purpose in the show.”
To book tickets visit: https://www.rosetheatre.org/whats-on/three-men-in-a-boat-nw7f