Meet the Full Company of Royal Court's THE CHILDREN, Opening Tonight on Broadway

Manhattan Theatre Club's American premiere of The Royal Court Theatre's production of The Children, the new play by Olivier Award winner Lucy Kirkwood (Chimerica), directed by James MacDonald (Top Girls at MTC), opens tonight, December 12, at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street). Scroll down to learn more about the company, plus hear from the stars in the video!

The production stars acclaimed London cast members BAFTA Award winner Francesca Annis (BBC's "Cranford"), Olivier Award nominee Ron Cook (Juno and the Paycock at The Donmar), and Olivier Award winner Deborah Findlay (The National Theatre's Stanley).

Direct from an acclaimed run in London, the powerful Royal Court Theatre production of Lucy Kirkwood's astonishing new play will make its American debut at MTC with the heralded original cast. In a remote cottage on the lonely British coast, a couple of retired nuclear engineers are living a very quiet life. Outside, the world is in utter chaos following a devastating series of events. When an old friend turns up at their door, they're shocked to discover the real reason for her visit.

Francesca Annis (Rose) - Theatre includes The Machine (MIF/NYC); Time and the Conways, A Month in the Country (National Theatre); Under Blue Sky, Ghosts, Epitaph for George Dillon, Lady Windermere's Fan, Three Sisters, The Heretic, The Passion Flower Hotel (all West End); Mrs. Klein (National Theatre); Shoreditch Madonna (Soho Theatre); Vortex, Henry IV, Versailles (Donmar Warehouse); Blood (Royal Court); Hedda Gabler (Chichester Festival/U.K. tour); Hamlet (Almeida/Broadway); Romersholm (Young Vic); Troilus and Cressida, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, The Comedy of Errors, Measure for Measure (RSC); Arms and the Man; and Hamlet(Broadway/U.S. tour). Television includes "Home Fires," "Loving Miss Hatto," "Little House," "Cranford," "Jane Eyre," "Copenhagen," "Deceit," "Wives & Daughters," "Deadly Summer" and "Reckless." Film includes Shifty, The Libertine, Under the Cherry Moon, Macbeth and Dune. Awards include BAFTA Award for Best Actress for "Lillie."

Ron Cook (Robin) - Select U.K. theatre credits: Girl From the North Country at the Old Vic; The Children, The Recruiting Officer, Our Country's Good at The Royal Court; Faith Healer, Trelawny of the "Wells", Richard II, King Lear (and BAM), Glengarry Glen Ross, Juno and the Paycock(Olivier Award nomination) at the Donmar; The Seafarer, Howard Katz, Black Snow at the National Theatre; The Homecoming, Henry V (Olivier award nomination), Hamlet (and Broadway), Twelfth Night, Art in the West End. Select television credits: "The City and the City," "Mr Selfridge," "The Mystery of Edwin Drood," "Little Dorrit," "The Diary of Anne Frank," "Dr. Who." Select film credits: Hot Fuzz, Confetti, The Merchant of Venice, Thunderbirds, 24 Hour Party People, Charlotte Gray, Chocolat, Topsy-Turvy, Secrets and Lies.

Deborah Findlay (Hazel) - New York theatre: original production of Top Girls (The Public Theater, Obie Award), Escaped Alone (BAM), Stanley (Outer Critics Circle Award). Select U.K. theatre: The Children, Escaped Alone and Top Girls, all at The Royal Court Theatre; Rules for Living, Timon of Athens, Mother Clap's Molly House, The Winter's Tale, Stanley(Olivier Award), all at the National Theatre; Coriolanus, Moonlight, John Gabriel Borkman, The Cut, The Vortex, all at the Donmar; The Glass Menagerie at The Young Vic; Like a Fishbone at the Bush Theatre; The School for Scandal, Twelfth Night at the RSC; Tongue of a Bird at the Almeida. Select TV: "Collateral," "Poirot," "Cranford," "State of Play," "Torchwood." Recent film credits: Hampstead, Kaleidoscope, The Ones Below, The Lady in the Van.