3 October – 15 November
Brandon Thomas’ riotous farce Charley’s Aunt is given a glamorous glow-up in a new adaptation by Rob Madge, the award-winning creator of My Son’s a Queer (But what can you do?).
Two scheming students, Charley and Jack, must circumnavigate the curmudgeonly Spettigue to declare their feelings to love interests Amy and Kitty. The promised arrival of Charley’s Aunt gives them an opportunity and the best laid plans are set. One delayed arrival, one fortuitous arrival and lots of classic comic confusion later, the champagne is finally poured at a party to remember.
Mistaken identities, true identities and a sprinkling of queer joy, will love – old and new – triumph through it all?
Jonathan Case (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, West End, Our Last First and The Jungle, St Ann’s Warehouse) will play ‘Charley Wykeham’; alongside Richard Earl (Bang Bang! Exeter Northcott, Flat Out, Upstairs at The Gatehouse, Travels with my Aunt with Creative Cow) as ‘Spettigue’; Elijah Ferreira (The Mad Gay King, King’s Head Theatre, Romeo and Juliet and A Christmas Carol, Reading Rep Theatre) as ‘Eli Delahay’; Max Gill (Fangirls, Lyric Hammersmith, The Boy In The Dress, RSC, Fly More Than You Fall, Southwark Playhouse) as ‘Babbs’; Mae Munuo (Romeo and Juliet, New Wolsey Theatre, Rough Magic, Shakespeare’s Globe, Box Of Delights, RSC) as ‘Amy Spettigue’; Yasemin Özdemir (The Merry Wives of Windsor and School for Scandal, RSC, Hansel & Gretel, Shakespeare’s Globe) as ‘Kitty Verdun’; Maggie Service (A Hundred Feet Tall and A Flea In Her Ear, The Old Vic, The Witches, Rules For Living, National Theatre) as ‘Donna Lucia d’Alvadorez’; and Benjamin Westerby (Mrs Warren’s Profession, West End,Witness For The Prosecution, West End, Chariots of Fire, Sheffield Crucible) as ‘Jack Chesney’.
Charley’s Aunt will be directed by Sophie Drake with set & costume design by Alex Berry, lighting design by Ben Jacobs and sound design from Russell Ditchfield. The score will be composed by Lauryn Redding who returns to the Watermill after her composition work on Three Hens in a Boat. The stage management team are Cat Pewsey, CSM, Fern Bamber, DSM and Natalie Toney, ASM. Casting by Cydney Beech.
Watermill Theatre, Newbury RG20 8AE
