Prince and the Pauper at New Vic
The New Vic Theatre is set to captivate theatre audiences this Christmas as Artistic Director Theresa Heskins adapts and directs the theatre’s spellbinding new adaptation of Mark Twain’s enchanting tale The Prince and The Pauper.
Prepare for a tale full of heart, filled with imaginative storytelling, music, humour, swashbuckling derring-do and festive magic as the award-winning theatre-in-the-round stages a brand-new adaptation of Twain’s tale about a chance meeting between two boys that will change their lives forever.
Bringing together the same creative team who brought to life the theatre’s adaptations of The Borrowers, Treasure Island and the UK Theatre award-winning The Snow Queen, this year the New Vic Theatre will bring to life another classic adventure story in their stunning trademark style.
Returning to the New Vic for the first time since playing Patty Astley in Astley’s Astounding Adventures at the theatre last summer, Danielle Bird (The Worst Witch, West End, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Birmingham Rep) will appear alongside her twin sister, Nichole Bird (The Wits, Shakespeare’s’ Globe / Sam Wanamaker Playhouse; The Rakes Progress, Theatre de Complicité / DNO) in the roles of Tom and Edward, the Prince and the Pauper.
Theresa Heskins, Artistic Director of the New Vic Theatre said: “I’ve wanted to adapt this novel for a long time. The idea at the heart of it is a powerful one, that standing in someone else’s shoes, seeing the world from their perspective, can help us make a better world for children to grow up in. That’s what theatre is all about I think – compassion, empathy, and goodwill to all, and about making. That’s the definition of Christmas Spirit.”
Joining the real-life twins in the company are a host of familiar and new faces to the New Vic. David Ahmad (The Kite Runner, Playhouse Theatre, West End; Potted Potter, Little Shubert Theater, New York/Melbourne International Comedy Festival) will play The Hero; Kieran Buckeridge (The Wind In The Willows, New Vic; The Secret Adversary, Watermill Theatre) will play Player Manager; Gareth Cassidy (The 39 Steps, Treasure Island, both New Vic and We Are Three Sisters, Northern Broadsides) will play Mary Tudor; Matthew Ganley (Around The World In 80 Days, New Vic Theatre; Once – the Musical, Phoenix Theatre, London) will play Fool; Elliot Gooch (Once on This Island, Southwark Playhouse) will join the ensemble ; Jasmin Hinds (Summer and Smoke, Duke of Yorks) will play Player Princess; Sufia Manya (Miss Littlewood, Royal Shakespeare Company and 101 Dalmatians, Birmingham Repertory Theatre) will play Dame; Faz Shah (Astley’s Astounding Adventures, New Vic Theatre) will act as Show Musical Director and join the ensemble; Tom Richardson (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Storyhouse, Chester and Elton John’s Glasses ,Watford Palace Theatre) will play Player King; Margit van der Zwan (The Bacchae, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester and High Tea in Wonderland, Manchester International Festival) will be Cellist and Joss Wyre (Vassa Zheleznov, Southwark Playhouse) completes the ensemble company.
The Prince and the Pauper takes to the stage at the New Vic from Saturday 16 November 2019 to Saturday 25 January 2020. For more details got to Baba’s What’s ON.
