Mercury Theatre Announces Full Cast For THEY DON'T PAY? WE WON'T PAY!

Mercury Theatre has announced the full cast for their upcoming production They Don't Pay? We Won't Pay!, Deborah McAndrews' adaptation of Dario Fo and Franca Rame's Sottopaga? Non si paga!. Mercury Theatre Creative Director Ryan McBryde directs Joseph Alessi (Jack), Olatunji Ayofe (Lewis), Laura Doddington (Anthea), Tesni Kujore (Maggie) and Marc Pickering (Constable/ Sergeant/Undertaker/Pops). The production opens on 22 March, with previews from 17 March, and runs until 31 March.

Creative Director Ryan McBryde today said: "We've assembled a crack squad of comic actors to breathe life into Dario Fo's wild farce that not only shows you how to survive on a diet of dog food and bird seed but also guarantees a great night out. As supermarkets report a desperate shoplifting boom, this classic comedy about a spur of the moment looting feels more prescient than ever."

The cost of living is out of control - and so is Anthea. Sick of scrimping and scraping to pay her energy bills, she starts a riot in the local supermarket resulting in a group of raging housewives looting the building.

Now, with a pile of freshly "liberated" groceries, Anthea and her best friend Maggie embark on a ludicrous, laugh-a-minute adventure, trying to keep their law-abiding husbands in the dark whilst staying two steps ahead of the crime squad.

They Don't Pay? We Won't Pay! is the work of Dario Fo, Nobel Laureate and the master of farce, and his wife, Franca Rame. Deborah McAndrew's whip-smart adaptation mixes political satire, hilarious plot twists and wise-cracking dialogue to create a thrilling play about the lengths people will go to when they're desperate.

The theatre is a collecting point for Colchester Food Bank and will be holding collections after all performances.

Joseph Alessi plays Jack. His theatre credits include The Wicker Husband (Watermill Theatre), Moonlight and Magnolias (Nottingham Playhouse), The Lorax (Old Vic), Fatherland (Royal Exchange/ Lyric Hammersmith), The Plague (Arcola Theatre), Adding Machine (Finborough Theatre), Monster Raving Loony, The Hook, Brief Encounter, Tartuffe (UK tour), The One That Got Away (Ustinov Studio), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Royal and Derngate), Absurd Person Singular (Curve Theatre), Privates on Parade (West Yorkshire Playhouse/Birmingham Rep), The Drowsy Chaperone (Novello Theatre), Anthony and Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, The Tempest (RSC) and The Postman Always Rings Twice (West Yorkshire Playhouse/Playhouse Theatre).

Olatunji Ayofe plays Lewis. His theatre credits include After Life (National Theatre), The Living Newspaper: Edition 5 and Half Full (Royal Court). He was nominated for Best Supporting Male for Black British Theatre Awards for his role in After Life.

Laura Doddington plays Anthea. Her theatre credits include The Birds and the Bees (Norwich Playhouse/Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds), Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Educating Rita (The Mill at Sonning), Boeing Boeing, Bedroom Farce, Mansfield Park (UK tours), Man of the Moment, Private Fears in Public Places, Time of My Life (Royal & Derngate), Jack and the Beanstalk (Palace Theatre Watford), Alphabetical Order, Oleanna (New Vic), Noises Off (Liverpool Playhouse), Surprises, Absurd Person Singular, Communicating Doors, Life of Riley, Improbable Fiction, The Champion of Paribanou, Caution Trousers, Time and Time Again, For Starters, Her Slightest Touch, I Ought to Be in Pictures, Miranda's Magic Mirror and Miss Yesterday (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough).

Tesni Kujore plays Maggie. Her theatre credits include SPIKE (UK tour), Dance to the Bone (Sherman Theatre), Little Women in Black (The Wardrobe Theatre), Mission Control (National Theatre Wales), Arawelo (The Broadway Theatre), Red Baloon (Katzpace Theatre), Lemmata, PYNEAPPLE (Tristan Bates Theatre) and Dhagdheer (Stanley Hall).

Marc Pickering plays Constable/Sergeant/Undertaker/Pops, returning to Mercury Theatre following Baskerville. His other theatre credits include Zorro the Musical (Charing Cross Theatre), The Elephant Man, An Incident at the Border (Trafalgar Studios), Honeymoon Suite (Hull Truck Theatre), The Merchant of Venice (Arcola Theatre), The Return of the Soldier (Hope Mill Theatre), The Toxic Avenger, Seussical, Bananaman (Southwark Playhouse), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Wilton's Music Hall), The Wizard of Oz (Royal and Derngate), Mother Goose (Marlowe Theatre) and Night of the Living Dead: Live! (Pleasance Theatre). For television, his credits include All Creatures Great and Small, Borgia, Dalziel and Pascoe and Cricklewood Greats; and for film: Les Misérables, To Be Someone, Brothers of Italy, The Krays: Dead Man Walking, Kill Keith, The Task, The Queen of Sheba's Pearls, Calendar Girls, Secret Passage and Sleepy Hollow.

Ryan McBryde is the Creative Director of Mercury Theatre. His productions for the Mercury include The Comedy of Errors, Aladdin, Baskerville, Oliver!, Moll Flanders and Pieces of String (the latter was nominated for UK Theatre Award for Best Musical Production and won Best New Musical at the Stage Debut Awards). Other recent credits include Romeo and Juliet (Theatre Trier, Germany), Faust, 1984 (Alte Schauspielhaus Stuttgart), Love on the Links, Before the Party, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Aladdin, Jack and the Beanstalk (Salisbury Playhouse), The Invisible Man (Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch), Saturday Night Fever; Angus, Thongs and Even More Snogging (West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Who's Tommy (European tour), A Day at the Racists (Finborough Theatre/Barking Broadway), The House of Mirrors and Hearts (Arcola Theatre), Lia's Guide to Winning the Lottery (Bridewell Theatre), and Terie Vigen (Royal Concert Hall).

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