Casting Announced For FEVER PITCH at the Hope Theatre

Full casting has been announced for FEVER PITCH, a new theatrical adaptation of Nick Hornby's best-selling memoir about one man's utter obsession with Arsenal Football Club. FEVER PITCH will open at The Hope Theatre in Islington on 31 August, playing until 25 September, with a press night on 2 September. Arsenal Football Club have also committed to maintaining existing links with the theatre, and will bring some of the community groups it works with - who might not otherwise have access to arts and culture - into The Hope Theatre to see Fever Pitch. The Hope Theatre will also be releasing 10% of all tickets for FEVER PITCH free to residents of Islington.

Fever Pitch will star Ashley Gerlach as 'Pete/Ensemble', Gabrielle MacPherson as 'Sarah/Ensemble', Jack Trueman as 'Nick' and Louise Hoare as 'Louise/Ensemble'.

Ashley Gerlach's film and television credits include: Casualty, The Midnight Beast, Up!, The Manny Norte Show and Rock & Chips. Stage credits include: Romeo and Juliet / Macbeth (National Theatre) and Heather (Bush Theatre). Ashley has has been obsessed with Arsenal from the age of 5. If he put half as much effort into acting as he did following Arsenal and convincing Ian Wright to be his best mate, he would have won an Oscar by now.

Gabrielle MacPherson is an actor and writer. She is a proud founding member of Degenerate Fox Theatre and her debut show, Outside, premiered in February 2021. Gabrielle is always willing it to come home and vocalises her passion during any game she watches even those she has no stake in.

Jack Trueman is a recent graduate from Drama Centre London (2019). This will be his stage debut. Film credits include: Jetski, directed by James Nunn and The Uncertain Kingdom, directed by Lanre Malaolu. Jack is a proud Arsenal fan.

Louise Hoare is thrilled to return to The Hope Theatre where she performed her first professional show after graduating from LAMDA four years ago. Recent credits include; Grafting (The Rose Theatre); Women of Paradise (Trafalgar Studios) and Tacenda (The Vaults). After a year and a half of not performing live, she can't wait to get back on stage with a group of crazy Gooners.

Directed by Kennedy Bloomer, the outgoing Artistic Director whose tenure started just as the pandemic hit, Fever Pitch will be her first and last in-house production. She is also a proud Gooner.

"When you're in love nothing else matters. You become obsessed. And it can get pretty tricky if that obsessive love is directed towards eleven men wearing the same shirt and running around like idiots for ninety minutes every Saturday..."

An exhilarating, moving and brutally funny love letter that will appeal to football obsessives and football haters alike. FEVER PITCH charts over two decades of one man's total and utter obsession with Arsenal Football Club. A treatise on what it means to be a fanatic and what that means for everyone in our lives who isn't. From exhilarating, all-encompassing moments of joy and pleasure to totally debilitating and soul-destroying lows, Nick's obsession infects every aspect of his life. Is it really only a game?

Closed since March 2020, this acclaimed 50 seat pub theatre in the heart of Islington has recently reopened to 100% capacity, Fever Pitch is expected to open to full capacity, as per the government's roadmap. The Hope Theatre will also be releasing 10% of all tickets for the FEVER PITCH free to residents of Islington. Residents should email info@thehopetheatre.com to check availability and to reserve tickets. One ticket per audience member. Limited availability and first come, first served only.

Kennedy Bloomer said, "It's exhilarating to be back in a rehearsal room with an incredible team. This story will resonate with those who love the game and even those who don't. It's a pleasure to bring my two loves together and celebrate the rich history of Arsenal Football Club and Islington alongside it."

Opening in 2013, The Hope Theatre was originally a sister theatre of Islington's King's Head Theatre, renovated from a function room above the famous Hope & Anchor pub and music venue into a black box studio theatre. The Hope Theatre has transferred two productions to the West End (Ushers to the Charing Cross Theatre and the Snoo Wilson's Lovesong Of The Electric Bear to The Arts) and has been home to many world premieres. It also housed the professional world premiere of Joe Orton's Fred And Madge.

The Hope Theatre is a place for audiences and companies to explore BIG ideas. It nurtures and develops new producing models, working with exciting companies to present a mix of new writing, lost gems from well-known writers, re-polished classics and innovatively staged musicals.

Although The Hope Theatre has received no regular public subsidy since its 2013 opening, it was the first Off West End venue to open with a house agreement with Equity. This ensures a legal wage for all actors, stage managers and box office staff working at the theatre.

In 2020, Kennedy Bloomer became Artistic Director of the theatre and navigated the theatre through the global Covid-19 pandemic and total closure by taking The Hope Theatre online.

The Hope Theatre was successfully granted funds from the Arts Council England Emergency Response Fund, the ACE and DCMS Culture Recovery Fund 1 and 2, and Islington Council's Cultural and Evening Economy Support Fund. The Hope Theatre team would like to gratefully acknowledge the role that this funding has played in enabling the venue to survive and reopen this summer.

To post a comment, you must register and login.