Full Cast Announced for Theatre By The Lake and English Touring Theatre's World Premiere of WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

Theatre by the Lake today announces full cast for the world première of Nicholas Pierpan's play William Wordsworth. Michael Oakley directs Daniel Abelson (Coleridge), Amiera Darwish (Sara), Richard Evans (Atkinson/Elderly Man), Joseph Mydell (George Beaumont), Emma Pallant (Dorothy), Paul Ryan (Peter Garner/Lonsdale's Secretary), John Sackville (Wordsworth), Rosalind Steele (Mrs Coleridge) and Terence Wilton (Lord Lonsdale/Beggar Man). A co-production with English Touring Theatre, William Wordsworth opens at Theatre by the Lake on 4 April and runs until 22 April.

It's Spring 1812 and in the parlour of Grasmere Rectory amongst the piles of washing, smoking chimneys and children running riot, William Wordsworth writes.

It's been years since Lyrical Ballads and money is tight. Much to the dismay of his sister Dorothy, Wordsworth is not penning his long awaited next book of verse but a letter to his friend Coleridge attempting a reconciliation to their fractured relationship.

Coleridge has been busy trampling Wordsworth's reputation amongst the literary elite down in London, but the Wordsworth family have more pressing problems than protecting William's reputation. Conditions in the family home are so bad that his wife has fled for the health of their new-born baby. With no money coming in, the daily dilemma of having freedom to pursue his art while providing for his family is reaching breaking point.

Nicholas Pierpan's poignant new play looks at the man behind the name and explores how some of the most beautiful and startling poetry in history came to be created.

Nicholas Pierpan won the 2013 Off West End Award for Most Promising New Playwright and was nominated for an Evening Standard Award for his play You Can Still Make a Killing. He has also won the Cameron Mackintosh Award for New Writing twice, a Peggy Ramsay Award, was shortlisted for the Yale Drama Prize and has been on attachment with the National Theatre Studio. Other writing credits include The Problem with the Seventh Year, Too Much The Sun, The Maddening Rain and Devolution.

Daniel Abelson plays Coleridge. His recent theatre credits include Once in a Lifetime (Young Vic), The Mighty Waltzer (Manchester Royal Exchange), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Opera North), Me, As a Penguin (Arcola Theatre and national tour), Country Magic (Finborough Theatre), Goodbye My Love (Southwark Playhouse), 5/11, King Lear, The Government Inspector, Seven Doors, Thermidor, The Seagull Chichester Festival Theatre). His recent work for television includes The Rack Pack, Law & Order, Coronation Street and Robin Hood.

Amiera Darwish plays Sara. Her theatre includes The Iliad (Edinburgh Lyceum Theatre), The Divided (Arcola Theatre), Bakkhai (Almeida Theatre), The Absence of War (Headlong & Sheffield Theatres) Unfaithful (Traverse Theatre), Crime and Punishment (Liverpool Playhouse), and Glasgow Girls (National Theatre of Scotland / Theatre Royal Stratford East). Her recent work for television includes The Tunnel, Waterloo Road, Scot Squad and Clyde Valley Wars; and for film, The Pursuit and Kirk.

Richard Evans plays Atkinson/Elderly Man. Recent theatre includes The Prince and The Pauper (The Unicorn Theatre), Saturn Returns (Finborough Theatre), Burial At Thebes (Nottingham Theatre and US Tour), As You Like It (Derby Playhouse), Pickwick Papers, Unlawful Killing (Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich), Julius Caesar (Manchester Royal Exchange), Moll Flanders (Bristol Old Vic) and The Weavers (Gate Theatre). His recent work for television includes Being Human, The Trip, The Brief, North and South, The Inspector Linley Mysteries, One Foot In The Grave, Peak Practice and Between the Lines; and for film, Woman in Gold, The Pinocchio Effect and The Gathering.

Joseph Mydell plays George Beaumont. His theatre credits include Angels In America (Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role), The Comedy Of Errors, Edmond, Alice's Adventures Underground, Angels In America, Lyrics Of The Hearthside, Evening At The Talkhouse (National Theatre), Richard III (Almeida Theatre), The Crucible (West Yorkshire Playhouse), A Season In The Congo, Electra (Young Vic), Julius Caesar, Breakfast With Mugabe, Pericles, The Winter's Tale, Twelfth Night, The Prisoner's Dilemma, Everyman, The Mysteries, They Shoot Horses Don't They?, The Two Noble Kinsmen, Flight, Worlds Apart; Macbeth (RSC), and Hamlet, As You Like It, The Seagull, The Government Inspector (Sheffield Crucible). His recent work for television includes Homeland, The Missing, Julius Caesar, Death In Paradise, Born With Two Mothers, Trial And Retribution; and for film, Seven Dwarfs And Me, Woman In Gold, Tonight You're Mine, You Instead, Mammoth, Manderlay, and The March On Europe.

Emma Pallant plays Dorothy. Her theatre credits include The Wind in the Willows (Rose Theatre Kingston), Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo & Juliet, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth (Shakespeare's Globe), Bell, Book and Candle, Bleak House (New Vic Theatre), The Cherry Orchard (Birmingham Rep), The House of Bernarda Alba (Belgrade Theatre, Coventry), She Stoops To Conquer (Out of Joint / National Theatre). Her recent work for television includes Father Brown.

Paul Ryan plays Peter Garner/Lonsdale's Secretary. His theatre work includes Fog, The First Man (Jermyn Street Theatre), The Importance of Being Earnest (Stephen Joseph Theatre), Mamma Mia! (Prince of Wales Theatre), Timecode (Royal Opera House), Oliver Twist (Liverpool Playhouse). His recent work for television includes The Inspector Linley Mysteries.

John Sackville plays Wordsworth. His theatre includes An Inspector Calls (National Theatre), The Cage (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre), The Winslow Boy (Rose Theatre Kingston / tour), Three Men In a Boat (York Theatre Royal), A Man For All Seasons (Theatre Royal, Haymarket), A Cloud In Trousers, Othello (Southwark Playhouse), and Volpone, Edward III, Oedipus Rex (RSC). His work for television includes The Crown, Royal Wives at War, House of Anubis, The Secret of Crickley Hall and Young John Paul II; and for film, The Lost City of Z and The Hoarder.

Rosalind Steele returns to Theatre by the Lake to play Mrs Coleridge; she has previously appeared in Swallows and Amazons and Rogue Herries. Other theatre credits include Margaret Catchpole (Eastern Angles), Daisy Pulls it Off, Arabian Nights (Watermill Theatre, Newbury), On Our Street (King's Head Theatre), and Lost World (Bristol Old Vic).

Terence Wilton plays Lord Lonsdale/Beggar Man.His theatre credits include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Manchester Royal Exchange and Theatre Royal, Newcastle), The Sound of Music (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre) Taming of the Shrew (Royal Shakespeare Company), As You Like It, Pygmalion, The Bacchae, The Triumph of Love (Manchester Royal Exchange) and Never So Good (National Theatre). His recent work for television includes Revelations, The Crusades: The Crescent and The Cross, and The Forsyte Saga; and for film, Anne of the Thousand Days and Dear Rosie.

Michael Oakley directs. His recent theatre credits include The Invisible (Bush Theatre), The Life and Times of Fanny Hill (Bristol Old Vic), Variation on a Theme (Finborough Theatre), Playhouse Creatures and The Changeling (Southwark Playhouse). He was also the Associate Director for the Young Chekhov trilogy at the National Theatre, adapted by David Hare.

Box office: 017687 74411

www.theatrebythelake.com

THEATRE BY THE LAKE

Theatre by the Lake, hailed by The Independent as "the most beautifully located and friendly theatre in Britain", opened in 1999. It is a short stroll from Derwentwater on the edge of Keswick, amid the magnificent western fells of the Lake District. Comprising of two stages, a 400-seat Main House and 100-seat Studio, the theatre presents up to nine of its own productions throughout the year as well as hosting a variety of festivals and visiting companies, playing to over 130,000 people per year. It is the only Arts Council funded producing theatre in Cumbria and for three years running has been voted the Most Welcoming Theatre in the North West in the UK Theatre Awards.

ENGLISH TOURING THEATRE

English Touring Theatre is one of the UK's most successful and influential touring companies. The company works with leading artists to stage an eclectic mix of new and classic work for audiences throughout the UK and overseas; theatre that is thrilling, popular and engaged in the contemporary world. At the heart of everything ETT does is the passionately held belief that everyone, wherever they are in the country, deserves to have access to the very best work. Its production of Sandi Toksvig's Silver Lining is currently on tour and the Olivier Award winning Shakespeare's Globe production of Nell Gwynn, starring Laura Pitt-Pulford, opens at the Lowry, Salford in March.

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