Cast Set For UK Tour of THE WATCH HOUSE

Papatango has announced the full cast of Chris Foxon’s adaptation of The Watch House, based on the novel by Robert Westall. George Turvey directs Donald McBride (Arthur/Geordie), Catherine Dryden (Fiona/Prudie/Da Souza/Timmo) and Aoife Kennan (Anne).

The 12-venue engagement opens at Alnwick Playhouse on 24 October, touring to Poole, Dorchester, Swanage, Lyme Regis, Plymouth, Exeter, Leeds, Marsden, Hexham and Middlesbrough before completing its run at Cullercoats Watch House on 16 November, with a special staged reading as a fundraiser for the Grade II listed life brigade look out, now community hub, part of the local Tyneside maritime network which inspired Westall's novel.

Published by Methuen, The Watch House premiered at Laurels in Westall’s native North Tyneside in December 2023, enjoying a sold-out run. The production was made with support from Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade – an iconic heritage centre and setting of the story, which has a significant place in the UK’s maritime history as the forerunner of today’s Coastguard.

Once a coastguard station renowned for daring rescues, the old Watch House is now all but abandoned. Just like Anne, dumped here while her parents sort their divorce. She’s never felt more alone. But she isn’t…

Sunk deep in the past is a secret which threatens everything. Only Anne can stop it. Catapulted on an adventure through graveyards, discos and shipwrecks, she and her eccentric crew must uncover the truth before it’s too late.

Olivier Award-winners Papatango present a funny, thrilling adaptation of Robert Westall’s classic ghost story.

Donald McBride plays Arthur/Geordie. His theatre credits include A Nightingale Sang in Eldon Square, Tales from the Back Yard, The Last Post, Twelve Tales of Tyneside, Laughter When We’re Dead, Oh What a Lovely War, Close the Coalhouse Door, A Proper Job, Kiddars Luck, Come Snow Come Blow, In Blackberry Time and Green Fingers (Live Theatre); The Pitmen Painters (Live Theatre/ National Tour); Romeo and Juliet, The Two Noble Kinsmen and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Royal Shakespeare Company); Keepers of the Flame (Live Theatre/RSC); A Nightingale Sang (Octagon Bolton); Aladdin, Get off at Gateshead, Beamish Boy, Talkin’ Heads and The Likely Lads (Gala Theatre, Durham); A Christmas Carol (Northern Stage); Beautiful Game (Theatre Royal, Newcastle); Between Two Worlds, Pericles, Nothing Like the Wooden Horse, Bobby Robson Saved My Life, Dan Dare, Tom and Catherine, Cuddy’s Miles, Sleeping Beauty, Mother Goose, Pickets and Pigs and Aladdin (Customs House, South Shields); and productions for Nottingham Playhouse, Harrogate Theatre, Leeds Playhouse, The Orchard Theatre and the Theatre Royal Plymouth. Film credits include Billy Elliott, Bliss, School for Seduction and The Old Oak. Television includesSpender, Auf Wiedersehen Pet, Casualty, Byker Grove, The Bill, Harry, Crocodile Shoes, Emmerdale, The Tide of Life, George Gentlyand Danny and Mick.

Aoife Kennan plays Anne. Her theatre credits include Scratches (Arcola Theatre), The 4th Country (Park Theatre) and For Services Rendered (Jermyn Street Theatre). Film credits include Blue Jean. Television includes Vera, The Dumping Ground and Victoria. Aoife is also a writer - her play Scratches premiered at VAULT Festival and was nominated for an OFFIE and VAULT Festival Award. She was also one of the winners of the Sky Comedy Rep writing scheme in 2023.

Catherine Dryden plays Fiona/Prudie/Da Souza/Timmo. Her theatre credits include Wor Bella (Newcastle Theatre Royal & Omnibus Theatre), The Pitmen Painters (National Tour), Mary Stuart (Almeida Theatre) and The Play That Goes Wrong (National Tour & West End). Her television credits include Vera and Traces; and for film, Some Rules, Love In The Time of Coronavirus and Make My Boyfriend Better.

Robert Westall (1929 – 1993) made his debut with The Machine Gunners in 1975 – winning the Carnegie Medal and establishing his name internationally. He won the Carnegie Medal for a second time in 1982 with The Scarecrows, becoming the first writer to win the award twice. He also won the Guardian Award in 1990 for The Kingdom by the Sea and a Smarties Prize in 1989 for Blitzcat. His books have been translated into many languages and adapted for television. The story of his childhood is told in his autobiographical writings The Making of Me.

Chris Foxon co-runs the multi-award-winning Papatango Theatre Company. In 2022 he was named in The Stage 25 list of leading theatre-makers; in the same year Papatango won the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre. As a writer, Foxon was published in the 2023 Crossing The Tees short story anthology, and is the co-author of the bestselling book Being A Playwright: A Career Guide For Writers (Nick Hern Books). As a producer, he has staged acclaimed world premières including Old Bridge - winner of Olivier, Critics’ Circle and two OffWestEnd Awards (Bush Theatre), Some Demon (Arcola Theatre & Bristol Old Vic), Some of Us Exist in the Future, The Silence and the Noise and Ghost Stories from an Old Country (UK tours), Shook (Southwark Playhouse/UK tour, also broadcast on Sky Arts), The Funeral Director(Southwark Playhouse/UK tour), Hanna (Arcola Theatre/UK tour), After Independence - winner of the Alfred Fagon Audience Award (Arcola Theatre/BBC Radio 4), The Transatlantic Commissions (Old Vic Theatre), Donkey Heart (Old Red Lion Theatre/West End), The Fear of Breathing (Finborough Theatre/Akasaka Red Theatre, Tokyo), The Keepers of Infinite Space (Park Theatre), and Happy New (West End). He has lectured at universities including Oxford and York. He is a trustee of November Club, a performing arts charity in his native Northumberland, and lives in North Tyneside, where The Watch House is set.

George Turvey co-founded Papatango in 2007 and became its sole Artistic Director in January 2013. In 2022 he was awarded the Genesis Foundation Prize and was also named in The Stage 25. As a dramaturg, he has led the development of all of Papatango’s productions, including the Olivier Award-winning Old Bridge. Direction for Papatango includes Some Demon (Arcola Theatre & Bristol Old Vic, for which he is currently nominated for the OffWestEnd Award for Best Director), Here (Southwark Playhouse, nominated for 3 OffWestEnd Awards), The Silence and the Noise (UK tour), Shook (Southwark Playhouse/UK tour, nominated for 7 OffWestEnd Awards including Best Director and Best Production, also broadcast on Sky Arts), Hanna (Arcola Theatre/UK tour), The Annihilation of Jessie Leadbeater (ALRA), After Independence, winner of the Alfred Fagon Audience Award (Arcola Theatre/BBC Radio 4), Leopoldville (Tristan Bates Theatre), and Angel (Pleasance London/Tristan Bates Theatre). He has appeared on stage and screen throughout the UK and internationally, including the lead roles in the world première of Arthur Miller’s No Villain (Old Red Lion Theatre/West End), and Batman Live World Arena Tour. He is the co-author of Being A Playwright: A Career Guide For Writers.

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