Orange Tree Theatre (OT) today announces full casting for Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night - OT’s Artistic Director Tom Littler directs. Joining the previously announced Jane Asher (Maria) and Oliver Ford Davies (Malvolio) are Patricia Allison (Viola), Stefan Bednarczyk (Feste), Clive Francis (Sir Toby Belch), Tom Kanji (Duke Orsino), Corey Montague-Sholay (Antonio), Robert Mountford (Sir Andrew Aguecheek), Dorothea Myer-Bennett (Olivia) and Tyler-Jo Richardson (Sebastian).
Twelfth Night opens at the Orange Tree Theatre on 29 November, with previews from 23 November, and runs until 25 January 2025.
OT Artistic Director Tom Littler said today: “There is a special pleasure to watching Shakespeare in an intimate setting, and I can't wait to discover the poetry, poignancy and wit of Twelfth Night at the Orange Tree. We are delighted to welcome back Jane, Oliver, Clive, Dorothea and Robert to the OT, where all five have given such extraordinary performances. And we are equally thrilled to see five actors making their OT debuts: Stefan Bednarczyk, Tom Kanji, Corey Montague-Sholay and Tyler-Jo Richardson, and the magnetic Patricia Allison as Viola.”
William Shakespeare’s
TWELFTH NIGHT
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Tom Littler
23 November 2024 – 25 January 2025
Press Night: Friday 29 November 2024 at 7pm
Cast: Jane Asher (Maria),Oliver Ford Davies (Malvolio), Patricia Allison (Viola), Stefan Bednarczyk (Feste), Clive Francis (Sir Toby Belch), Tom Kanji (Duke Orsino), Corey Montague-Sholay (Antonio), Robert Mountford (Sir Andrew Aguecheek), Dorothea Myer-Bennett (Olivia), Tyler-Jo Richardson (Sebastian).
Set and Costume Designers: Neil Irish, Anett Black; Lighting Designer: William Reynolds; Sound Designer and Composer: Matt Eaton; Movement Director: Julia Cave; Assistant Director: Rosie Tricks; Fight Director: Philip D’Orléans; Casting Director: Matilda James CDG
Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em.
Malvolio runs the Lady Olivia’s house with puritanical zeal. By day, strict order is maintained and repeated advances from Olivia’s many admirers are firmly rebuffed. But after dark, wine flows freely and Olivia’s lady-in-waiting Maria is planning to settle old scores. When a shipwreck washes up two strangers, the scene is set for a comedy of romantic chaos.
Olivier Award-winning Oliver Ford Davies is among the greatest Shakespearean actors of his generation. He returns to the OT to play Malvolio, alongside Jane Asher playing Maria, last seen at the OT in The Circle.
OT Artistic Director Tom Littler directs a 1940s-set production of Shakespeare’s heartrending and hilarious masterpiece of mistaken identities and secret desires.
Jane Asher returns to the OT to play Maria, having previously appeared in The Circle. Her other theatre credits include A Song at Twilight, Moon Tiger (Theatre Royal Bath), An American in Paris (Dominion Theatre), Great Expectations (West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Gathered Leaves (Park Theatre), Pride and Prejudice (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Charley’s Aunt (Menier Chocolate Factory), The Importance of Being Earnest, Farewell to the Theatre, Bedroom Farce (Rose Theatre, Kingston), Blithe Spirit (Vaudeville Theatre), To Those Born Later, The School for Scandal and House/ Garden (National Theatre). Her television credits include Holby City (as series regular Lady Byrne), Eve, Stella, Dancing on the Edge, The Old Guys, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Crossroads, Jackanory, Wish Me Luck and The Mistress; and for film: Death at a Funeral, Burn Burn Burn, Drunk on Love, I Give it a Year, Deep End, The Masque of Red Death and Alfie.
Oliver Ford Davies returns to the OT to play Malvolio, having previously performed in The Promise, Larkin with Women, The Linden Tree and King Cromwell. His other theatre credits include All’s Well That Ends Well, Much Ado About Nothing, Saint Joan, The Life of Galileo, Playing with Fire, Absence of War, Murmuring Judges, Racing Demon, The Shaughraun, Hamlet, The Shape of the Table, Peter Gynt (National Theatre), King Lear, Coriolanus, Richard II, King Lear, Naked, Ivanov (Almeida Theatre), Cressida, Henry IV Part 2, Written on the Heart, Hamlet, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (RSC), Richard II (Barbican, RSC, BAM), The Soldier’s Fortune (Young Vic), Absolutely! (Perhaps) (Wyndham’s Theatre) and Heartbreak House (Theatre Royal Haymarket). His television credits include Game of Thrones, Waking the Dead, The Way We Live Now, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, Kavanagh QC, Departure, Father Brown and Catastrophe; and for film, Star Wars Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Star Wars Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Atonement, Heidi, Johnny English, An Ideal Husband, Titanic Town, Mrs Brown and Sense and Sensibility.
Patricia Allison plays Viola. Her theatre credits include Jules and Jim (Jermyn Street Theatre), A Doll’s House Part 2 (Donmar Warehouse), Unprecedented: House Party (Headlong), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Sheffield Theatres), The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Our Town (Royal Exchange Theatre) and Henry V (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre). Her television credits include His Dark Materials, Extraordinary, Superworm, Sex Education, Behind the Filter, Fame Game, Alan Partridge Comic Relief, Les Misérables, Moving On and Thanks for The Memories; and for film, Recursive Dreams, By The Throat, Paradise and Tiny Cow.
Stefan Bednarczyk plays Feste. His theatre credits include Laughter on the 23rd Floor (Queen’s Theatre), Semi-Monde (Lyric Theatre), The Games of Love and Chance (National Theatre), The L.A. Plays (Almeida Theatre), Five O’ Clock Angel (Hampstead Theatre, King’s Head Theatre), The Killing of Mr Toad, The Grand Duke (Finborough Theatre) and Christmas Spirits (St James Theatre).
Clive Francis returns to the OT to play Sir Toby Belch, having previously appeared in The Circle. His other theatre credits include The Circle (Theatre Royal Bath), I’m Sorry Prime Minister I Can’t Quite Remember (UK tour), A Christmas Carol (Tabard Theatre), 84 Charing Cross Road (Cambridge Arts Theatre), Slaves of Solitude (Hampstead Theatre), An Inspector Calls (Playhouse Theatre), Les Blancs (National Theatre) and The Gathered Leaves (Park Theatre). His television credits include The Crown, Bridgerton, The Larkins, Back, Cursed, The Missing, The 10%ers and Lipstick on Your Collar.
Tom Kanji plays Duke Orsino. His theatre credits include Richard, My Richard (Shakespeare North Playhouse, Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds), Box of Delights, Julius Caesar (RSC), Pinocchio (Unicorn Theatre), Private Peaceful (Nottingham Playhouse), Home, I’m Darling (Stephen Joseph Scarborough, Octagon Theatre Bolton, Theatre by the Lake), A Christmas Carol (Liverpool Playhouse), Shoe Lady (Royal Court Theatre), Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Rose Theatre), Richard III (Bristol Old Vic), Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Winter’s Tale, Pericles, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, , Doctor Scroggy’s War, Eternal Love (The Shakespeare’s Globe), The Country Wife (Chichester Theatre), Fiddler on the Roof, Romeo and Juliet and The Sum (Liverpool Everyman). His television credits include Supercell, Tyrant, Fifty Ways to Kill Your Lover: Unlucky, Silent Witness, Hustle, Midnight Man and Saddam’s Tribe.
Corey Montague-Sholay plays Antonio. His theatre credits include Fanny (The Watermill Theatre), Bacon (Bristol Old Vic, Summerhall, Soho Playhouse New York), Dismissed (Soho Theatre), The Wind in the Wilton’s (Wilton’s Music Hall), The Prince (Southwark Playhouse), Wendy and Peter Pan (Leeds Playhouse), As You Like It, She Stoops to Conquer (Guildford Shakespeare Company), The Whip and King John (RSC).
Robert Mountford returns to the OT to play Sir Andrew Aguecheek, having previously appeared in She Stoops to Conquer. His other theatre credits include Much Ado About Nothing, Burnt at the Stake (Shakespeare’s Globe), The Habit of Art (59E59 Theatres), Spike (UK tour), Cancelling Socrates, Homer’s The Odyssey and Vagabonds – My Phil Lynott Odyssey (Jermyn Street Theatre). His television credits include Silent Witness, One Night, Torn and According to Bex; and for film, Into The Night and The Haunting of Alice Bowles.
Dorothea Myer-Bennett returns to the OT to play Olivia, having previously appeared in How He Lied To Her Husband, Overruled and While The Sun Shines. Her other theatre credits include Nachtland (Young Vic), Possession (Arcola Theatre), Leopoldstadt (Wyndham’s Theatre), Creditors, Miss Julie (Theatre by the Lake, Jermyn Street Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory), Holy Sh!t (Kiln Theatre) and Rosenbaum’s Rescue (Park Theatre). Her television credits include The Chelsea Detective, Before We Die and Dodger; and for film, The Honourable Rebel, The Payback and The Orchard.
Tyler-Jo Richardson makes his professional stage debut as Sebastian. He is a recent graduate from Guildhall School of Music and Drama. For television his credits include Sister Boniface Mysteries, SAS Rogue Heroes and Grace.
Artistic Director of the OT Tom Littler directs. At the OT, he has directed Suite in Three Keys (also Theatre Royal Bath), She Stoops to Conquer, and The Circle (later revived for a national tour by Theatre Royal Bath). Other theatre includes Saturday Night (Jermyn Street Theatre, Arts Theatre), A Little Night Music (Budapest), Good Grief (Theatre Royal Bath), Dances of Death (Gate Theatre), Martine (Finborough Theatre), Miss Julie and Creditors (Theatre by the Lake, Jermyn Street Theatre), Tonight at 8.30, Cancelling Socrates, The Tempest, The Odyssey, 15 Heroines (Jermyn Street Theatre), Cabaret (English Theatre Frankfurt, Deutsches Theater Munich) and Hamlet (Guildford Shakespeare Company). He was Artistic Director of Jermyn Street Theatre from 2017 to 2022, before moving to the OT.
