Casting Announced For Socially Distanced Show THE BALLAD OF CORONA V at the Big House

Eleanor Wyld and Jermaine Freeman have been announced for The Big House's new, socially distanced show The Ballad of Corona V, opening 28th October.

Jermaine Freeman will play 'Drey' and started acting at The Big House as a company member in 2018, going onto perform in Nicholas Hytner's A Midsummer Night's Dream at The Bridge Theatre and Steve McQueen's A Small Axe less than a year later.

Eleanor Wyld joins him as 'Arabella', whose credits include Misfits, Lovesick, Thirteen, Johnny English Reborn and the RSC's Hamlet.

Eleanor Wyld said: "I'm thrilled to be working on the Ballad of Corona V with The Big House. David Watson's script is incredibly funny and moving and true and who better to shine a light on this pandemic than the young people who are living through it? I have seen a lot of The Big House's work and as well as the talent and bravery on show that always shines, I love how their productions use large open warehouse spaces so that the audience gets an immersive and stimulating theatrical experience. I have no doubt that audiences are going to receive a well deserved injection of inspiring, political, humane, important storytelling that we all are in need of at the moment."

Jermaine Freeman said: "The Big House is where I first started acting professionally, and led on to working at The Bridge Theatre with Sir Nicholas Hytner in 2018, which was a big year for me. I'm more than glad I'll be joining The Big House company for the new show."

The 19 person cast includes Taurean Steele (Hatton Garden, Obey), Stephan Wolf-Schönburg (The Bourne Supremacy, Antigone) and James Hogarth (Doctors, Casualty), alongside a host of exciting new talent from The Big House, including Nkechi Simms who has just been cast in the new season of a popular Netflix series.

Tony award-winner Mic Pool has also been announced as Video Designer, with a musical score from Jammz.

Written by David Watson and directed by Maggie Norris, The Ballad of Corona V is an immediate, darkly comic response to the COVID-19 crisis. Audiences are limited to six per scene with distant start times, with the play itself incorporating social distancing rules for both actors and the audience.

This is a free-wheeling, funny, angry, moving and musical show about the times we're living in - all at a two metre distance. With stories from the local community to across the globe, this show examines the comedy and tragedy of the pandemic and our response to it.

The Big House opened their venue in Islington in October 2018 and offers training and workshops for young people to unleash their creativity and build confidence through theatre. TBH members take part in weeks of workshops and rehearsals before eventually becoming the theatre company and producing a new show.

The Ballad of Corona V runs 28 October - 21 November 2020.

Book your tickets here or via the box office at 0333 666 4466

To post a comment, you must register and login.