Hampstead Theatre Announces Casts For MATCHBOX THEATRE AND DELUGE Including Esther Coles, Tim Downie, Anna Ledwich and Elaine Cassidy

Hampstead Theatre has announced that the cast for Michael Frayn's latest work MATCHBOX THEATRE will be Esther Coles, Tim Downie, Mark Hadfield, Chris Larner, Felicity Montagu and Nina Wadia.

Last autumn, dramatist and novelist Michael Frayn published his most unusual book, Matchbox Theatre - a series of conversations, sketches and meditations with the Michael Frayn twist - which takes a typically funny and ingenious look at how we live today.

"Michael Frayn has combined the best of both in Matchbox Theatre, a brilliantly quirky study of the human being in the everyday world" The Guardian

Blurring the boundaries between his work for page and for stage, stories drawn from the book will be brought to life on Hampstead Theatre's Main Stage in Frayn's first new work for the stage since 2008. Matchbox Theatre take us into a parallel universe that is almost - but not quite - the same as ours, both hilariously entertaining and absurdly familiar.

Lighting is by David Howe, sound by John Leonard and the composer is Chris Larner.

Multi award-winning Michael Frayn is one of the few authors to have had huge success both as a playwright and novelist. He returns to Hampstead Theatre for the first time since 2009 when Alphabetical Order was revived for the theatre's 50th Anniversary season, followed by a major tour. Alphabetical Order premiered at Hampstead in 1975 and transferred to the West End. Other Michael Frayn premieres at Hampstead include Now You Know and Clouds (which also transferred to the West End). His other plays include Noises Off, Copenhagen and Democracy and his books include Headlong, Benefactors, Spies and Skios. His films include Noises Off, Copenhagen, Clockwise and First and Last. He has also written a number of non-fiction books. Matchbox Theatre is his first new work for the theatre to be performed since Afterlife in 2008.

Director Hamish McColl is also an actor, comedian and writer. His directing credits include Calendar Girls, French and Saunders: Still Alive and Lenny Henry: Where You From? Acting work includes Blood Wedding (Young Vic), Foodstuff (Complicité),and A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (National Theatre). For his company The Right Size he co-wrote and performed in many productions including The Play What I Wrote (Olivier Award winner), Bewilderness and Do You Come Here Often? (Olivier Award winner). Films include Knit Your Own Karma, Morality Play and The Parent Trap, and screenwriting credits include Paddington Bear, Mr Bean's Holiday and The Twits.

Esther Coles stage work includes Kitchen Sink for Hull Truck. TV credits include Code of a Killer, House of Fools, Great Night Out, The Syndicate, Whose Baby andShameless.

Tim Downie's stage work includes The Curse of Elizabeth Faulkner (Edinburgh Festival and Charing Cross Theatre), and Respect and Cling to Me Like Ivy(Birmingham Rep). TV includes Wolf Hall, Toast of London, Miranda and Peep Show. Film includes Paddington Bear, Found, Les Miserables and The King's Speech.

Mark Hadfield has been seen on stage in Uncle Vanya (Vaudeville), The Tempestand Jeffrey Barnard is Unwell (Bath Theatre Royal), Into The Woods (Regents Park), Talent and Rookery Nook (Menier Chocolate Factory). TV includes Trollied, Wallander and Foyle's War.

Chris Larner writes, directs and acts. Writing and directing work includes The Frida Kahlo of Penge and Decomposed. Other stage work includes The Barber of Seville (Bristol Theatre Royal), Mother Goose (Oxford Playhouse), Dead Funny (Chichester Festival Theatre) and Bewilderness and Mr Puntila and His Man Matti for The Right Size. TV includes A Class Apart and Heartbeat.

Felicity Montagu's stage work includes Unsuitable for Adults (Bush), Susan's Breasts (Royal Court) and Macbeth (Nuffield Southampton). TV includes Mrs Bradley Mysteries, People Like Us and Nightly Night.

Nina Wadia's extensive TV credits include as a series regular in Eastenders, Goodness Gracious Me, Open All Hours, Would I Lie To You and Mongrels. Film includes I Can't Think Straight and Namastey London. She appeared on stage in The Vagina Monologues.

Hampstead Theatre has also announced the cast of DELUGE.

There's a furtive presence on Joe and Kitty's farm. Precious feed is mysteriously disappearing from the hayshed and prized livestock is being slaughtered at night whilst sinister shadows lurk in the darkness.

Fiona Doyle's provocative thriller will be performed by Elaine Cassidy, Gary Lilburn, Edward MacLiam and Charlotte Randle.

With fodder running out and no money left, Joe and Kitty, like their desperate neighbours, will stop at nothing to protect themselves and their cherished land. But at what cost?

Fiona Doyle presents a suspenseful mystery set in a blighted landscape, where nature is fiercely taking its course and it's becoming a question of survival of the fittest.

Lighting is by Elliot Griggs and sound by James Frewer.

DELUGE won the Eamon Keane Full-length Play Award in 2014 and is Irish writer Fiona Doyle's second play to be produced and following Coolatully (Finborough Theatre), which won the 2014 Paptango New Writing Prize. She has had numerous short plays produced including Rootbound and Rigor Mortis (Arcola Theatre), and Two Sisters (Southwark Playhouse).

Anna Ledwich returns to Hampstead following Four Minutes Twelve Seconds in 2014, which has been nominated for the 2015 Olivier Award Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre. Previous credits include Blue Remembered Hills (Chichester Festival Theatre), Lulu (The Gate/Headlong New Directions Award) and Dream Story also at The Gate.

Elaine Cassidy has recently been on stage in Fathers and Sons (Donmar), Les Parents Terribles (Donmar/Trafalgar Studios), There Came A Gypsy Riding (Almeida) and The Crucible (RSC). TV includes The Paradise - 2 series, The Garden and A Room With A View. Film includes Just Henry, And When Did You Last See Your Father and The Others.

Gary Lilburn's recent stage work includes The Cripple of Inishmaan (West End/Broadway), Dr Faustus (WYP), The Kingdom (Soho Theatre) and Calendar Girls (Chichester/West End). TV includes Catastrophe, a series regular in Mrs Brown's Boys and Doctors. Film includes Philomena, Eden and Garage.

Edward MacLiam's stage roles include Liberty and The Merry Wives of Windsor(The Globe) and I'll Be The Devil (RSC/Tricycle). TV includes Ordinary Lives, Cucumber, Citizen Charlie, series regular in DCI Banks and The Turn of The Screw. Film includes Run and Jump, Miss Conception and Angel.

Charlotte Randle has been on stage in Birdland and Muse and Poem (Royal Court),Public Enemy and King Lear (Young Vic) The Lyons (Menier Chocolate Factory), The King's Speech (Wyndhams) and Decade (Headlong). TV includes The Trials of Jimmy Rose, Legacy, Silent Witness and Holby City.

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