Ian Bartholomew, Anna Carteret Among Cast of SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE World Premiere Production

Disney and Sonia Friedman Productions are delighted to announce casting for the forthcoming stage production of Shakespeare in Love. The announcement coincides with the 450th anniversary of William Shakespeare's birth.

Ian Bartholomew will play Tilney, Tony Bell will play Ralph, Anna Carteret will play Queen Elizabeth, Paul Chahidi will play Henslowe, David Ganley will play Burbage, Richard Howard will play Sir Robert De Lesseps, Harry Jardine will play Sam, Abigail McKern will play Nurse, David Oakeswill play Marlowe, Patrick Osborne will play Mr Wabash, Alistair Petrie will play Wessex, Doug Rao will play Ned Alleyn, Ferdy Roberts will play Fennyman and Colin Ryan will play John Webster. They are joined by an ensemble including Daisy Boulton, Ryan Donaldson, Janet Fullerlove,Sandy Murray, Timothy O'Hara, Thomas Padden, Elliott Rennie, Charlie Tighe and Tim Van Eyken who will also be musical director. Gaiety will play Crab the dog. Further casting is still to be announced.

They join the previously announced Tom Bateman who will play Will Shakespeare and Lucy Briggs-Owen who will play Viola De Lesseps.

Based on the Academy Award®-winning screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard, Shakespeare in Love has been adapted for the stage by Lee Hall (Billy Elliot). Featuring a company of 30 actors and musicians, this new play will be directed by Declan Donnellan and designed by Nick Ormerod, the driving force behind the world-renowned theatre company, Cheek by Jowl. Shakespeare in Love will be produced by Disney and Sonia Friedman Productions.

Shakespeare in Love has its world premiere at the Noël Coward Theatre on Wednesday 23 July 2014, with previews from 2 July.

Promising young playwright Will Shakespeare is tormented by writer's block until he finds his muse in the form of passionate noblewoman, Viola De Lesseps. Their forbidden love draws many others, including Queen Elizabeth, into the drama and inspires Will to write the greatest love story of all time, Romeo and Juliet.

This sweeping romantic comedy will transport you back to Shakespeare's London, teeming with vibrant colours, characters, music and life. Oh, and there's a bit with a dog!

Ian Bartholomew was most recently seen on stage in Oh, What A Lovely War! at Theatre Royal, Stratford East. His extensive theatre credits includeThe Iceman Cometh at the Almeida and Old Vic; The Front Page at the Donmar Warehouse; The Merchant of Venice with the Royal Shakespeare Company and, in the West End, Tommy, Dead Funny, Radio Times and Into the Woods.

Tom Bateman's theatre credits include 'Antonio' in The Duchess of Malfi at The Old Vic; 'Claudio' in Much Ado About Nothing at the Wyndham's Theatre; 'Richard' in The Lion in Winter at the Theatre Royal Haymarket and 'Dante Gabriel Rossetti' in Lizzie Siddal at the Arcola Theatre. He has played major roles in TV series Da Vinci's Demons and The Tunnel.

Tony Bell's extensive theatre credits include The Glee Club at the Cast Theatre, Doncaster; 39 Steps (UK tour); The Winter's Tale, Henry V, Richard III, The Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer Night's Dream with Propeller/ World Tour; Treasure Island, A Man for all Seasons at the Theatre Royal Haymarket; Twelfth Night, The Taming of the Shrew at The Old Vic, RSC and BAM New York; A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Comedy Theatre/ BAM NY; Red Demon at Tokyo Nodamap and Ghostward at the Almeida Theatre;

Daisy Boulton made her professional debut in Measure for Measure, directed by Michael Attenborough at the Almeida Theatre. Recent credits includeThe White Carnation at the Finborough Theatre/ Jermyn Street Theatre; Kingdom of Earth at the Rosemary Branch Theatre and Devil's Disciple, Love for Love, All's Well that Ends Well, Bloody Poetry and The Relapse at RADA.

Lucy Briggs-Owen's extensive theatre credits include: 'Maryna' in Boris Godunuv, 'Princess' in The Orphan of Zhao, 'Helena' in A Midsummer Night's Dream, 'Luscinda' in Cardenio and 'Anne' in The City Madam all for the Royal Shakespeare Company; 'Brooke Ashton' in Noises Off in the West End; 'Cressida' in Troilus and Cressida at the Barbican and on international tour; 'Vivie Warren' in Mrs Warren's Profession in the West End and on tour; and most recently as 'Olga' in Fortune's Fool at The Old Vic.

Anna Carteret joined Laurence Olivier's National Theatre Company at the Old Vic in 1967, and performed in over 20 of its productions. Additional theatre credits include Richard III with the Royal Shakespeare Company; Waste and King Lear at The Old Vic; I Do and Tom and Viv at the Almeida Theatre; Uncle Vanya at the Vaudeville Theatre and Absolutely! (Perhaps) at the Wyndham's Theatre.

Paul Chahidi's theatre credits include Twelfth Night & Richard III at Shakespeare's Globe, Broadway and West End (for which he received an Olivier Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Maria in Twelfth Night), Privacy at the Donmar Warehouse, Measure for Measure, Written on the Heart, As You Like It, The American Pilot, Cymbeline, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Taming of the Shrew and The Tamer Tamed with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Enron at the Noël Coward Theatre & UK tour.

Ryan Donaldson's theatre credits include numerous productions with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art including Pond Life, Much Ado About Nothing, The Accrington Pals, Platanov, The Orestia and The Provoked Wife.

Janet Fullerlove's theatre credits include Fortune's Fool at The Old Vic; The Taming of the Shrew with the Royal Shakespeare Company; The Beggar's Opera at the Open Air Theatre Regent's Park, Macbeth with Shakespeare's Globe Trust. Opera credits include Sweeney Todd, West Side Story, Facadeand The Marriage of Figaro with the Pimlico Opera and Shouting at Shadows with Cheltenham Everyman/Sixth Sense.

David Ganly's extensive credits include The Threepenny Opera at the Gate Theatre, Dublin; King Lear at the Theatre Royal Bath; Drum Belly at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin; Macbeth at the Sheffield Crucible; Of Mice & Men at the Watermill, Newbury; The Wizard Of Oz at the London Palladium;Beauty Queen of Leenane at The Young Vic; Chicago at the Cambridge Theatre London; The Weir at the Gate Theatre in Dublin; Uncle Vanya with the English Touring Theatre.

Richard Howard's theatre credits include The Marrying of Ann Leete, Self Portrait at the Orange Tree; Blues for Mr. Charlie at the Tricycle; Stanleywith the RNT; Jane Eyre at the Playhouse; Tom Kilroy's Double Cross at the Dublin/ Belfast/Royal Court; Macbeth at the Bristol Old Vic; Edward Bond'sLear at the Royal Court; Twelfth Night and As You Like It US Tour and a world-wide tour with the London Shakespeare Group.

Harry Jardine's theatre credits include Faster, Higher, Stronger, Straighter at the Dominion Studio; numerous productions with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art; Mary Poppins (rehearsed reading) for Cameron Mackintosh Ltd and Disney Theatrical Group and LES MISERABLES.

Abigail McKern's theatre credits include The Magistrate at the Savoy; Suddenly Last Summer at the Albery; Cat On A Hot Tin Roof and Death Of A Salesman at the Lyric; Tartuffe at the Almeida; Wild Honey at the National Theatre and A Midsummer Night's Dream and As You Like It at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre for which she won an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress.

David Oakes' theatre credits include Pride & Prejudice with the New Shakespeare Company; Much Ado About Nothing for the Royal Shakespeare Company; All The Little Things at the Almeida Theatre and Love's Labour's Lost at Shakespeare's Globe. Television credits include The Borgias, The Pillars of Earth and The White Queen.

Timothy O'Hara's theatre credits include include Scoop, Chair and Have I Non at the Lyric Hammersmith; London Wall at the St James' Theatre / Finborough Theatre; Coffin at the King's Head Theatre and There Will Be More and The Pope's Wedding at the The c*ckTavern. TV and Film credits include Clone, Casualty and Sherlock Holmes.

Patrick Osborne's theatre credits include Accolade, The Seagull, The Pearl, Clockheart Boy, The Soldier's Tale, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Mobius Strip.

Thomas Padden's theatre credits include All My Sons, Great Expectations, Merrily We Roll Along and Of Mice and Men at the Watermill, Newbury;Pocket Merchant, Pocket Henry V, Richard III, Comedy of Errors and Pocket Dream with Propeller; Huis Clos at the Trafalgar Studios; Oh What a Lovely War with Northern Stage and Andronicus, The Comedy Of Errors, Measure For Measure, Troilus and Cressida, A Winter's Tale at Shakespeare's Globe and The Lady in the Van at the Theatre Royal Bath.

Alistair Petrie's theatre credits include Brand and The Importance of Being Earnest in the West End; Henry IV Parts I & II, His Dark Materials, Playing With Fire, Time and the Conways with the Royal National Theatre; Brand and Troilus and Cressida with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Pravda at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Television and Film credits include Utopia I & II, Sherlock, Whitechapel, The Forsyte Saga, Cloud Atlas, Rush, The Duchess and the soon to be released Frankenstein, The Face of An Angel and A Little Chaos.

Doug Rao's theatre credits include A Lady of Little Sense, Don Gil of the Green Breeches and Punishment Without Revenge at Theatre Royal Bath and the Arcola Theatre, Dalston; The Prisoner's Dilemma, A Russian In The Woods and Love In A Wood with the RSC; Death of a Salesman with the Birmingham Rep and Amy's View at the Salisbury Playhouse.

Elliott Rennie's theatre credits include Jekyll and Hyde at the Southwark Playhouse; The One Hundred And One Dalmatians at the New Vic Stoke; Faustat the Greenwich Theatre; Sweet Charity at the MAC Belfast; The Trench with Les Enfants Terribles, UK Tour & Edinburgh Festival and The B.F.G. at the Derby Theatre.

Ferdy Roberts is the co-Artistic Director of Filter Theatre and an Associate Artist of the Lyric, Hammersmith. His theatre credits include A Midsummer Night's Dream and Three Sisters at the Lyric, Hammersmith; Water at the Lyric and BAM NYC; Twelfth Night at the Tricycle; The Caucasian Chalk Circle at the National Theatre; Faster, Open Court; If You Don't Let Us Dream We Won't Let You Sleep at the Royal Court; The Birthday Party and The Dumb Waiter at the Bristol Old Vic and Another Country with Background Productions (West End).

Colin Ryan's theatre credits include Wendy and Peter Pan with the RSC; Macbeth and The Lightning Child at Shakespeare's Globe; A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Northampton Royal & Derngate; Deadkidsongs at the Theatre Royal Bath; The Importance of Being Earnest at the Riverside Studios and I Was Looking At The Ceiling And Then I Saw The Sky at the Theatre Royal Stratford East.

Charlie Tighe's theatre credits include The Life of Galileo at the National Theatre; School for Scandal at the Park Theatre; Guys and Dolls (UK tour); Little Shop of Horrors and Rope at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre; Pygmalion (International Tour) and The Comedy of Errors (Globe Theatre, Germany).

Tim Van Eyken's theatre credits include War Horse at the National Theatre; Glengarry Glen Ross at the Landor Theatre; Aloysius in The Ballroom of Joys and Sorrows at the Watford Palace Theatre and Good at the Manchester Royal Exchange

Gaiety the Dog is a Champion and won at Crufts in 2010 before going on to win at the World Show in Bratislava. She then retired from the show ring to become a full time mum having several litters of puppies. She is really enjoying the training for Shakespeare in Love especially all of the treats and fuss that are involved with being a star on the stage. She is looking forward to meeting her co-stars.

Disney and Sonia Friedman Productions present
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE
Based on the screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard
Adapted for the stage by Lee Hall
Director Declan Donnellan Designer Nick Ormerod
Music Paddy Cunneen Choreography Jane Gibson
Lighting Neil Austin Sound Simon Baker