Production images are today released for the world premiere of Harley Granville Barker’s Agnes Colander, revised by Richard Nelson. This newly discovered play is directed by multi-award winning director Trevor Nunn and opens tonight for press at the Ustinov Studio where it runs until Saturday 14 April.

Naomi Frederick plays the title role of Agnes Colander, with Sally Scott as Emmeline Marjoribanks, Matthew Flynn as Otho Kjoge, Freddy Carter as Alexander Flint and Cindy-Jane Armbruster as Martha / Suzon.

A thrilling new discovery from one of the great playwrights of the Edwardian era, Agnes Colander was written in 1900 and unearthed among Granville Barker’s papers in the British library a century later. Decades ahead of its time, the witty and compelling play reflects a female independence and a determination for change that still resonates today.

It is three years since Agnes, an artist, left her unfaithful husband Henry. Now he writes to her in her Kensington studio begging to reunite, but Agnes married young; her innocence gone and her ambition and independence is growing. As she travels from London to France, Agnes finds herself torn between Otho, a worldly Danish artist and Alec, an infatuated younger suitor, between longing to paint and be an independent woman and a yearning to be loved.

Trevor Nunn is former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. He has won multiple awards for his extensive and varied work which includes Les Miserables, Oklahoma!, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, The Merchant of Venice and Summerfolk.

Harley Granville Barker is considered to be one of the great playwrights of the Edwardian age and champion of contemporary realism. His work included The Voysey Inheritance and Waste.

Richard Nelson is a multi-award-winning playwright and librettist. He is an honorary associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company, recipient of the Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the PEN / Laura Pels ‘Master Playwright Award’.

Naomi Frederick (Agnes Colander) previously starred in The Mentor at the Ustinov Studio and its subsequent West End transfer. Her many stage credits include Hobson’s Choice (West End and UK Tour); The Heresy of Love (Shakespeare’s Globe); The Winslow Boy (Old Vic); The Odyssey, The Iliad (Almeida); Made in Dagenham (West End); Emil and the Detectives and Henry IV Part One and Part Two (National Theatre).
Sally Scott (Emmeline Marjoribanks) starred as Princess Diana in King Charles III (West End). Other theatre credits include Harvey (West End); King Lear (ATG/UK tour); As you Like It (Southwark Playhouse). Her screen credits include Samantha Cameron in Channel 4 drama Coalition, Silent Witness and Lewis.

Freddy Carter (Alexander Flint) recently starred in the British horror film Heretiks. He has also appeared in the Netflix series Free Rein as Pin, and in the blockbuster film Wonder Woman.

Matthew Flynn’s (Otho Kjoge) theatre credits Henry V (Shakespeare’s Globe) and Macduff in Macbeth at the Liverpool Everyman, where he also appeared in A Streetcar Named Desire and The Mayor of Zalamea. His film credits include Pride and Sahara.

Cindy-Jane Armbruster (Martha / Suzon) recently appeared in Pericles (Cornucopia Theatre) and as Titania and Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Unfolds Theatre). Other credits include Airswimming and Horu Froiä - Women on the Matterhorn (Playades); and Object Love (Dissolve Theatre).

Theatre Royal Bath, Sawclose, Bath, BA1 1ET
Box Office: 01225 448844
Website: www.theatreroyal.org.uk
Facebook: TheatreRoyalBath
Twitter: @TheatreRBath

Ustinov Studio

Agnes Colander
By Harley Granville Barker
Revised by Richard Nelson
Directed by Trevor Nunn
Dates: Thursday 15 March – Saturday 14 April 2018
Press Night: Wednesday 21 March, 7pm
Performance schedule: Mon – Sat 7.45pm, Matinees Thu & Sat 2.30pm (not 15 March)
Tickets: £22.50 / £17.50 discounts (Preview Perfs and Mondays, all seats £15)


LATEST NEWS