14 April 2025
Marco Gandolfi
The cast has been announced for Cul-de-Sac, the new play from esteemed playwright David Shopland (Saving Britney, 2022 The Other Palace/UK Tour; Raising Kane, 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Assembly Venues; Lessons Learned, 2017 National Theatre of China). Presented by Fake Escape, the acclaimed company behind the multi-five-star, sell-out Off Broadway hit Saving Britney, Cul-de-Sac is heading to Clapham’s Omnibus Theatre for its first ever performances from late May 2025.
Joining the cast in the role of Ruth Townsend is the star of Shopland’s WhatsOnStage Award-nominated international hit one-woman show Saving Britney and OffWestEnd Award nominated actress Shereen Roushbaiani (The Boy, Soho Theatre; Midsummer Murders, ITV; Doctors, BBC). Ellis J. Wells (A Midsummer’s Night Dream, 2008 - nominated for Best Actor at KCACTF; Edge, 2018 - nominated for Best Actor at the iFFIF awards; Last Chancers, 2021 - nominated for Best Actor at the MegaFlix Film Awards) will perform the character of Frank Townsend, with Lucy Farrett (Sally4Ever, HBO, Sky; Genuis: Einstein, National Geographic, Fox; Alice’s Adventures in Underground, Les Enfants Terribles) as Marie Gilchrist. Callum Patrick Hughes (Godspell, The Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch; THIRST, UK Tour; The Canterville Ghost, Southwark Playhouse) takes on the role of Simon Waller, with Behkam Salehani (Cleopatra's Antony, Theatre Peckham; Springboard Showcase, Lyric Hammersmith; Tales of Babylon, 2023) completing the cast as Hamza Al-Haytham.
Set in deep suburbia in Northwood Hills, Zone 6 London, we follow four characters across the course of one evening as a quiet night quickly dissolves into chaos. Ruth is questioning every decision she’s ever made; Simon is grappling with a personality he can’t quite define; Marie is keeping a secret that could shatter everything, and Frank just desperately wants his driveway back. In this wine-soaked post-mortem dissection of contemporary Britain, Shopland explores the broken millennial suburbanite experience, peeling back the layers of Millennial civility with unflinching honesty.
The cast is supported by a dynamic and diverse team of creatives. As well as writing the script, direction and design is led by David Shopland, with movement direction by Jahraine Lamb (founder of Lamb Lion Legacy) and the Dramaturg is Roann Hassani McCloskey (nominated for the BBC Popcorn Prize and the Vault Origins Award). Lexie Woodroof (University of East London, MFA Theatre Directing) joins Cul-de-Sac as Assistant Director & Intimacy Coordinator, with Ellie Holloway (Macbeth and Romeo & Juliet, Hong Kong and Singapore, Action to the Word; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, UK and Ireland Tour; The Unicorn Theatre) as Stage Manager, Luke John Emmett (Wizard of Oz – won a Rosebowl; Titanic, Zenith Youth Theatre Company) as Technical Director & Lighting Consultant and Bathseba Mahray (DreamArts) as Production Assistant.
Writer and Director David Shopland comments, This production has been a personal labour of love, and to be able to boast such a talented company ready to breathe life into these characters over 7 years in the making is truly humbling and exhilarating in equal measure. First and foremost, I am a collaborator, and I can barely contain my excitement at what this ridiculously talented group of performers are going to bring to the party, and how the play will evolve with this cast at the helm.
