BIRDSONG Comes to Alexandra Palace Theatre Next Month
Performances run 27 February - 8 March 2025.
By: Stephi Wild Jan. 28, 2025
Marking the 30th anniversary of Sebastian Faulks's international best-selling novel, the new touring production of Birdsong will play a limited run this Spring at London's Alexandra Palace Theatre from Thursday 27 February to Saturday 8 March 2025.
This epic First World War story of love and loss, starring Max Bowden (EastEnders) as Jack Firebrace, alongside James Esler (Litvinenko) as Stephen Wraysford and Charlie Russell (The Goes Wrong Show, And Then There Were None (BBC)) as Isabelle Azaire, has been touring the UK to packed houses and resounding critical acclaim since September 2024. The tour coincides with Original Theatre's current 20th anniversary celebrations.
The Alexandra Palace Theatre run, which marks the culmination of Birdsong's tour, has particular significance; the 150-year-old London venue was requisitioned by the Government during WW1, becoming both a Belgian refugee camp and an internment camp for around 3,000 Germans, Austrians and Hungarians. There is also evidence that the auditorium was used as a wartime hospital. Cast members Max Bowden, Charlie Russell and James Esler visited the building to find out more about its history - watch a video of their visit here: youtu.be/screGLf1Mhs
Birdsong tells the story of one man's journey through an all-consuming love affair and into the horror of the First World War. In pre-war France, a young Englishman, Stephen Wraysford, embarks on a passionate and dangerous affair with the beautiful Isabelle Azaire that turns their world upside down. As the war breaks out over the idyll of his former life, Stephen must lead his men through the carnage of the Battle of the Somme and through the sprawling tunnels that lie deep underground. Faced with the unprecedented horror of the war, Stephen clings to the memory of Isabelle as his world explodes around him.
Alongside Max Bowden, James Esler and Charlie Russell, the production stars Joseph Benjamin Baker as Evans/Levi, Raif Clarke as Tipper, James Findlay as Brennan, Dave Fishley as Turner, Gracie Follows as Lisette, Sulin Hasso as Marguerite, Tama Phethean as Shaw/LeBrun, Natalie Radmall-Quirke as Jeanne, Roger Ringrose as Bérard/Barclay and Sargon Yelda as René Azaire/Gray.
Birdsong was adapted for the stage by Rachel Wagstaff, and is directed by Original Theatre's Artistic Director, Alastair Whatley. Design is by Richard Kent, Lighting by Jason Taylor, Music Composition by Sophie Cotton, Sound by Dominic Bilkey, Fight & Intimacy Direction by Yarit Dor and Enric Ortuño and with Casting by Ellie Collyer-Bristow (CDG).
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