Casting Announced For THE HISTORY BOYS At Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre has today announced the cast for the brand new in-house production of Alan Bennett's THE HISTORY BOYS from 7 - 22 February 2020.

Ian Redford will play Hector, Jeffrey Holland as Headmaster, Victoria Carling as Mrs Lintott and Lee Comley as Irwin.

The cast is completed by Thomas Grant as Posner, Jordan Scowen as Dakin, Frazer Hadfield as Scripps, Joe Wiltshire Smith as Rudge, James Schofield as Lockwood, Arun Bassi as Akthar, Dominic Treacy as Timms and Adonis Jenieco as Crowther.

Ian Redford is known for his TV roles including Keith Appleyard in Coronation Street and Ken Raynor in BBC's EastEnders. He has an extensive stage career. Jeffrey Holland played Danny in the Grand Theatre's 2017 production of Brassed Off and later this year will star in the theatre's upcoming pantomime Dick Whittington as Alderman Fitzwarren. Victoria Carling is known for her role as Mrs Goodman in The 4 O'clock Club for BBC. Her many TV appearances include Coronation Street, Doctors, EastEnders and her stage credits include Dancing At Lughnasa, Noises Off and Romeo & Juliet. Lee Comley was recently seen in Years And Years for BBC/HBO and can currently be seen presenting for ITV News Central across the Midlands.

Chief Executive & Artistic Director of the Grand Theatre, Adrian Jackson said; "I am delighted to announce our cast for The History Boys, which includes both familiar faces and introduces incredible new talent to the Grand Theatre stage. The History Boys will address a trilogy of heavyweight subjects, embrace the local community and include an innovative design giving the production both warmth and sentiment for a modern day audience."

An unruly bunch of bright, funny sixth-form boys in pursuit of sex, sport and a place at university. A maverick English teacher at odds with the young and shrewd supply teacher and a headmaster obsessed with results... In Alan Bennett's classic play, staff room rivalry and the anarchy of adolescence provoke insistent questions about history and how you teach it; about education and its purpose.

THE HISTORY BOYS will be directed by Jack Ryder.

Jack Ryder is a theatre & film director and an actor. Most recently, he directed Tim Firth's The Band, which became the fastest selling tour of all time before transferring to Theatre Royal Haymarket and a run in Germany.

Other theatre directing credits include: The Girls (associate director to Tim Firth, Phoenix Theatre); The Full Monty (director, UK Tour & associate director to Daniel Evans, Lyceum Theatre Sheffield/Noël Coward Theatre); Calendar Girls (director, UK Tour & assistant director, West End).

Film & TV directing credits include: Casualty (BBC); Dog (as writer/director); Act of Memory (Sky Arts, as writer/director).

As an actor, Jack is a household name, most loved for his portrayal of Jamie Mitchell in EastEnders from 1998 to 2002. Jack's acting career spans across theatre, television and film. He can currently be seen as Evan Crowhurst in Holby City.

Alan Bennett was born in 1934 in Leeds. He has been one of the UK's leading dramatists since the success of Beyond the Fringe in the 1960s. His television series Talking Heads has become a modern-day classic, as have many of his works for the stage including Forty Years On, The Lady in the Van (together with the screenplay), A Question of Attribution, The Madness of George III (together with the Oscar-nominated screenplay The Madness of King George), and an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows.

Alan wrote THE HISTORY BOYS which premiered at The National Theatre, London, in the Lyttelton Theatre in May 2004. The play transferred to Broadway in 2006 and having also toured the UK, returned to London opening in the West End in 2007. The History Boys (also a screenplay) won numerous awards including Evening Standard and Critics' Circle awards for Best Play, an Olivier for Best New Play and the South Bank Award. On Broadway, The History Boys won five New York Drama Desk Awards, four Outer Critics' Circle Awards, a New York Drama Critics' Award, a New York Drama League Award and six Tony Awards.

In addition to THE HISTORY BOYS, Alan's other work at The National Theatre includes The Habit of Art which opened in 2009; in 2012, People, as well as the two short plays Hymn and Cocktail Sticks, was also staged there.

Tickets for THE HISTORY BOYS from 7 - 22 February are on sale now online at grandtheatre.co.uk, by calling 01902 42 92 12 or in person at the Box Office.

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