Full Casting Announced For A Christmas Carol, Starring Jim Broadbent
Posted on 22 October 2015
Adeel Akhtar, Amelia Bullmore, Keir Charles and Samantha Spiro will join Jim Broadbent in the cast of A Christmas Carol at the Noël Coward Theatre.
Adeel Akhtar is best known for his work in film and television. He was BAFTA-nominated for his role in Utopia, played hapless Fessal in Chris Morris’ Four Lions and played Maroush in Sacha Baron Cohen’s The Dictator. His work on-stage includes playing Guildenstern in Hamlet at the Young Vic.
Amelia Bullmore is known not only for her writing (Di and Viv and Rose) but also for her many appearances on television, in particular as one of the co-stars of the series Scott and Bailey and playing Kay Hope, Head of Sustainability in hit BBC comedy Twenty Twelve. Her stage credits include The Norman Conquests at the Old Vic, which subsequently transferred to Broadway.
Keir Charles’ recent stage appearances include The White Devil, The Arden of Faversham and The Roaring Girl (all for the RSC). He also appeared in the recent Simon Pegg film Man Up.
Double Olivier Award-winning actress Samantha Spiro recently appeared on stage in Di and Viv and Rose at the Vaudeville Theatre, as Lady Macbeth in Macbeth and as Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew both at Shakespeare’s Globe. She is known for playing Barbara Windsor in Cleo, Camping, Emmanuel and Dick at the National Theatre and won the Olivier Award Best Actress in a Musical for both Merrily We Roll Along at the Donmar Warehouse and Hello! Dolly at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. On television, she has recently appeared in The Tracey Ullman Show and won the Best Female Comedy Breakthrough Artist in the British Comedy Awards for her role in Grandma’s House.
Puppeteers Jack Parker and Kim Scopes complete the ensemble. Jack is currently working with Warner Brothers on the new film of The Jungle Book. His previous stage work includes War Horse for the National Theatre and A Dog’s Heart and The Magic Flute both for Complicité. Kim previously worked for Blunderbus Theatre Company, the New Wolsey Theatre, Flabbergast Theatre Company and Twice Shy Theatre. She has also taught puppetry in Peru, performed at Glastonbury festival 2014 and this year puppeteered on two music videos.
Academy Award-winning actor Jim Broadbent makes his long-awaited return to the stage to play Scrooge in a new version of A Christmas Carol adapted by Patrick Barlow from Charles Dickens' classic story of greed, grief, ghoulish ghosts and eleventh-hour redemption.
From Scrooge and Tiny Tim to Bob Cratchit and Mr. Fezziwig, Patrick Barlow's imaginative adaptation of A Christmas Carol will bring some of Dickens' most memorable characters to life at the Noël Coward Theatre this winter.
Coming together to create this innovative new work are some of our most loved and mischievous maverick theatre-makers. The play is written by the Olivier Award-winning and Tony nominated Patrick Barlow (The 39 Steps) with whom Jim Broadbent performed for many years in Barlow’s cult comedy troupe The National Theatre of Brent. A Christmas Carol is directed by Olivier award-winning Phelim McDermott, Artistic Director of Improbable, one of Britain’s most inventive theatre companies, who is responsible for the iconic production Shockheaded Peter. McDermott also directed Theatre of Blood at the National Theatre in which Broadbent last appeared on stage. Joining them is the critically-acclaimed designer Tom Pye (The Testament of Mary, The Death of Klinghoffer, The Low Road) and Toby Sedgwick (War Horse, The 39 Steps) as Director of Movement, Peter Mumford will design the lighting and Gareth Fry will design sound.
