Casting announced for Joan of Leeds

30 October 2019

Breach Theatre announce casting for their first Christmas show - Joan of Leeds.

Following the news that It's True, It's True, It's True will transfer to the Barbican, we're delighted to announce the cast and creative team for Breach's next show at NDT.

Based on a fascinating and scandalous true story, Joan of Leeds adds a raucously funny seasonal twist to Breach’s signature combination of thrillingly incisive storytelling, theatrical invention and the deployment of history to comment on contemporary society.

In a 14th Century Yorkshire convent, Sister Joan is blessed with unholy visions. A seductive serpent and sinful saints exalt the earthly pleasures of forbidden sex.

Her visions – and ensuing actions- cause a scandal in the order, but Joan is determined to spread her new carnal creed... even if it means getting a little creative.

Sounds fun, right?

Joan of Leeds borrows its structure from the early medieval Mystery Plays, which mixed verse and choral music to tell stories from the bible, but Breach have given the genre a sharp contemporary reinvention, mixing verse and dialogue with a psychedelic 70s aesthetic and folk-rock soundtrack, feminist undertones, uproarious humour and a healthy does of festive spirit.

The show is co-written by Breach’s Billy Barrett and Ellice Stevens, with music by James Frewer – whose credits include Middle Child Theatre’s mega hits All We Ever Wanted Was Everything and The Canary and the Crow.

The cast includes Rachel Barnes and Laurie Jamieson, both of whom also starred as actor-musicians in The Canary and the Crow at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, alongside Bryony Davies (Macbeth, Royal Exchange, A Girl in School Uniform (Walked into a Bar), New Diorama), Olivia Hirst (Artistic Director of Lost Watch Theatre, star of Secret Life of Humans, and co-writer and star of The Incident Room – both New Diorama Theatre) and Alex Roberts (The Wardrobe Ensemble’s Rocky Shock).

Creative Team

Director: Billy Barrett
Composer and Musical Director: James Frewer
Co-Writers: Billy Barrett and Ellice Stevens
Designer: Lizzy Leech
Lighting Designer: Alex Fernandes
Sound Designer: Owen Crouch
Producer: Ellie Claughton

Cast (recent credits):

Rachel Barnes (The Canary and the Crow - Middle Child)
Bryony Davies (Macbeth - Royal Exchange, A Girl In School Uniform (Walks Into A Bar) - New Diorama)
Olivia Hirst (The Incident Room & Secret Life of Humans - New Diorama)
Laurie Jamieson (The Canary and the Crow - Middle Child)
Alex Roberts (Rocky Shock - Wardrobe Ensemble)

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