Olivier Award-Winning Goodnight Mister Tom Full Cast and Spring Tour 2016 Announced

The producers of Chichester Festival Theatre's production of Goodnight Mister Tom are delighted to announce today that the Oliver award-winning stage adaptation of Michelle Magorian's classic novel will embark on a UK Tour in 2016 after its strictly limited West End run at the Duke of York's Theatre this Christmas.

The production will open at Manchester Opera House and continue on to Milton Keynes Theatre, Glasgow Theatre Royal, Birmingham New Alexandra Theatre, Oxford New Theatre, York Grand Opera House, Richmond Theatre, Aylesbury Waterside, Woking New Victoria, Bath Theatre Royal, Cambridge, Cardiff New Theatre and Newcastle Theatre Royal.

The previously announced David Troughton will play the central role of Mister Oakley joined by an ensemble cast featuring Clark Devlin, Elisa de Grey, Guy Lewis, Simon Markey, Abigail Matthews, Jane Milligan, Martha Seignior, James Staddon, Melle Stewart, Georgina Sutton and Hollie Taylor.

Six talented young performers have been cast in the key roles of William and Zach. Joe Reynolds, Freddy Hawkins and Alex Taylor-McDowall will alternate the role of William and Sonny Kirby, Harrison Noble and Oliver Loades will alternate as Zach.

David Wood's stage adaptation enjoyed great critical acclaim in 2012/13, winning the Olivier Award for Best Entertainment and Family.

Angus Jackson leads a stellar creative team that includes designer Robert Innes Hopkins (Oppenheimer; RSC/ West End), lighting designer Tim Mitchell (King and Country: Henry IV Part I And Part II; RSC/ Barbican) and sound designer Gregory Clarke (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas; Chichester Festival Theatre & Children's Touring Partnership). They are joined by composer Matthew Scott (Taken at Midnight; Chichester Festival Theatre/ West End), puppet maker and director Toby Olié (associate puppetry director of War Horse; West End) and choreographer Lizzi Gee (Future Conditional; Old Vic).

The novel Goodnight Mister Tom is now a modern classic and is celebrating its 35th anniversary. Michelle Magorian's wonderfully uplifting tale is brought gloriously to life in this magical stage adaptation by David Wood. Set during the dangerous build up to the Second World War, Goodnight Mister Tom follows young William Beech, who is evacuated to the idyllic English countryside and forges a remarkable and heart-warming friendship with the elderly recluse, Tom Oakley.

Winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and commended for the Carnegie Medal, Goodnight Mister Tom is now a world-wide literary favourite and BAFTA award-winning TV film (starring John Thaw), and continues to inspire audiences and bring generations together.

David Troughton is currently playing the role of Tony Archer on BBC Radio 4's long-running British contemporary rural drama, The Archers (since 2014). He has performed numerous times with both the RSC (The Shoemaker's Holiday, Macbeth, Macbett, Henry IV: parts 1 and 2, Richard II and Richard III, The Cherry Orchard, The Tempest, King Lear, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Venetian Twins) and the National Theatre (Season's Greetings, Playing with Fire, Measure for Measure, Peter Pan and Fool For Love). He is also a regular on TV where his appearances include Grantchester, Unforgotten, The Hollow Crown and many more.

Goodnight Mister Tom is adapted for the stage by David Wood OBE, the country's leading writer and director of plays and musicals for children. This Christmas David also his Olivier nominated stage production of The Tiger Who Came to Tea running at the Lyric Theatre and The Witches running in Leicester.

Author Michelle Magorian was inspired to write Goodnight Mister Tom after hearing her mother's tales about her time as a nurse in the war. Published in 1981, it has been translated into 11 languages and won awards in the UK, America and Australia. Her novel Just Henry won the Costa Award for children's fiction in 2008, was adapted for television in 2011, and starred Sheila Hancock who appears briefly as her younger self in Michelle's latest novel, Impossible! Michelle is currently working with the composer Stephen Keeling on the musical Sea Change.

The production is directed by Angus Jackson, whose work includes Oppenheimer for the RSC Swan and Vaudeville Theatre, King Lear for Chichester and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Browning Version for Chichester and the Harold Pinter Theatre, Bingo for the Young Vic and Chichester, The Power Of Yes for the National's Lyttleton theatre, and Elmina's Kitchen for the National's Cottesloe theatre and the Garrick Theatre. Forthcoming work includes Don Quixote in a new version by James Fenton for the RSC's 400th anniversary season, starring David Threlfall and Rufus Hound.

CAST BIOGRAPHIES

Clark Devlin's recent stage credits include George's Marvellous Medicine (Exeter Northcott Theatre/ Birmingham Stage Company), Seussical The Musical (Arts Theatre), Horrid Henry: Live and Horrid (Watershed Theatre Company/ Sheffield Theatres/ West End/ National Tour) and the UK Tours of Glee: Live on Stage and The World According to Bertie.

Elisa de Grey returns as the puppeteer for the character of Sammy, having played the role in previous the West End/Touring production. Her other stage credits include the Theatre Delicatessen commission Puppet Poker Pit (Flabbergast), No Way Out (Southwark Playhouse) and The Water Babies (Northern Broadsides). She has performed with Fevered Sleep in their productions Little Universe and Brilliant, as well as several productions for Wimbledon Polka Theatre including Cinderella, Robin Hood, and The Lottie Project (which then embarked on a European Tour). Her television credits include the BBC's The Lost World of Mitchell and Kenyon and Harbour Lights.

Guy Lewis has most recently appeared in the National Theatre Wales production of The Iliad. His work with Clywyd Theatr Cymru includes Hamlet, Write to Rock, Pygmalion, Mary Stewart, Measure for Measure and Romeo and Juliet. Further credits for the stage include One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (West End), Twelfth Night (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), She Stoops to Conquer (Northern Broadsides), A Christmas Carol (Birmingham Rep), Dr Faustus (National Theatre) and Spring Awakening (Theatre Royal Bath). His screen credits include Torchwood and Casualty for the BBC, and feature film Telstar.

Simon Markey's numerous credits at the National Theatre include Man and Superman, Season's Greetings, Time and the Conways, Her Naked Skin, and Much Ado About Nothing. His work for the stage also includes Fortune's Fool (Old Vic), Chariots of Fire and The Invention of Love (both West End), The Madness of George III (Theatre Royal Bath/ West End), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (RSC) and The Importance of Being Earnest (English Touring Theatre). On television he has appeared in The Bill, Hear the Silence, Peak Practice, The Jury and Hornblower: The Even Chance. His film work includes the soon to be released The Hippopotamus, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers and Conspiracy: The Meeting at Wannsee.

Abigail Matthews most recently appeared in The White Feather (Union Theatre). Other theatre credits include War Horse (National Theatre/ West End), Evita (UK and European Tours), Dick Whittington (White Rock Theatre/ Qdos Pantomimes), The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (Threesixty Theatre/ Kensington Gardens); Peter Pan (Beck Theatre/ Qdos Pantomimes); A Winter's Tale and The Hired Man (both Landor Theatre). Her cabaret work has included Sing But Don't Tell - The Songs of Carner and Gregor (Leicester Square Hippodrome Casino) and Songs I Shouldn't Sing - Stephen Carlile (The Pheasantry).

Jane Milligan's previous stage credits include Mrs Henderson Presents (Theatre Royal Bath); Mamma Mia (West End); Hansel and Gretl (Lyric Theatre, Belfast), Spend, Spend, Spend (Watermill Theatre), Judy in Punch - The Musical (Greenwich Theatre), Stella in Three Steps To Heaven (Watford Palace), Animal Farm and The Grapes of Wrath (Theatr Clwyd), Return To The Forbidden Planet (National Tour/ West End). Jane has worked extensively at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch, where her credits include The Hot Mikado, Return To The Forbidden Planet, Face, Ladies Day, A Servant Of Two Masters, The Importance of Being Earnest and What The Butler Saw. Her film credits include The Life and Death of Peter Sellers and Puckoon.

Martha Seignior has recently graduated from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Her professional credits include Living Quarters and The Grand Gesture at the Tobacco Factory Theatre. As a student she appeared in productions at the Bristol Old Vic Studio including The Heresy of Love, The Last Days of Judas Escariot, Twelfth Night and Speaking in Tongues.

James Staddon played Colston in the original West Yorkshire Playhouse production of The Go Between which won Best Musical Production at the 2012 TMA Awards, was nominated for the 2012 WhatsOnStage Awards for Best Regional Production, and which then went on to Tour the UK. His other notable stage credits include Birdsong (West End/ UK/ National Tour), Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens 'Take My Time' (UK Stadium Tour), Macbeth (West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Crucible (RSC/ West End), Journey's End (West End/ UK Tour), Gone to Earth (UK Tour/ Lyric Hammersmith), The Beggar's Opera (ENO/ Bridewell), LES MISERABLES (RSC/ West End), Yarico (Sadler's Wells), Miss Saigon (West End) and Sweeney Todd (Bristol Old Vic). His BBC Television credits include Upstairs Downstairs, The Cut, Doctors, My Family, Casualty, and Eastenders. His film work includes Franco Zefferelli's Hamlet.

Melle Stewart originated the role of Amber Murray in The Hatpin (Whitebox and Neil Gooding Productions) she has also appeared onstage in A Damsel In Distress (Chichester Festival Theatre), Assassins (Menier Chocolate Factory), Kiss Me Kate with the John Wilson Orchestra (BBC Proms, televised on BBC2), Fiddler on the Roof and Jekyll and Hyde (TML Enterprises), Mamma Mia! (Australasian tour), She received the Best Actress award at the Short and Sweet Festival in Sydney for Keeping Annabelle. Her television credits include Home and Away.

Georgina Sutton returns to play the role of Miss Thorne, having performed previously in the National Tour, West End and Chichester Festival Theatre runs. Her previous theatre credits include Blood & Ice (Young Vic), Spike (Battersea Arts Centre) Broken Glass, Hayfever, Popcorn, Dancing at Lughnasa and Habeas Corpus (Civic Theatre Chelmsford) and Stepping Out (Devonshire Park Eastbourne). Her touring credits include Funny Money and Private Lives (Eastbourne Theatres) and Dangerous Corner (Ian Dickens Productions). Her film work includes The Gallery (Channel 4).

Hollie Taylor's stage credits include Matilda the Musical (RSC/ West End), Betty Blue Eyes (West End), Fame the Musical (Ireland Tour), Oliver! (West End), High School Musical (Hammersmith Apollo), High Society (UK Tour) and the title roles in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (Mansfield Palace) and Cinderella (Camberley Theatre). Her film and television credits include The Life and Adventures of Nick Nickleby for BBC1, and The Bloody Mary Show.

UK TOUR LISTINGS:

23 - 27 February 2016
Manchester Opera House
3 Quay St, Manchester, Lancashire M3 3HP
www.atgtickets.com/venues/opera-house-manchester/

1 - 5 March 2016
Milton Keynes Theatre
500 Marlborough Gate, Buckinghamshire MK9 3NZ
www.atgtickets.com/venues/milton-keynes-theatre/

8 - 12 March 2016
Glasgow Theatre Royal
282 Hope St, Glasgow G2 3QA
www.atgtickets.com/venues/theatre-royal-glasgow/

15 - 19 March 2016
Birmingham New Alexandra Theatre
Suffolk Street Queensway, Birmingham, West Midlands B5 4DS
www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-alexandra-theatre-birmingham/

22 - 26 March 2016
Oxford New Theatre
George St, Oxford OX1 2AG
www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-theatre-oxford/

29 March - 2 April 2016
York Grand Opera House
Cumberland St, York YO1 9SW
www.atgtickets.com/venues/grand-opera-house-york/

5 - 9 April 2016
Richmond Theatre
Little Green, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1QJ
www.atgtickets.com/venues/richmond-theatre/

12 - 16 April 2016
Aylesbury Waterside Theatre
Exchange St, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP20 1UG
www.atgtickets.com/venues/aylesbury-waterside-theatre/

19 - 23 April 2016
Woking New Victoria Theatre
The Ambassadors, Peacocks Centre, Woking, Surrey GU21 6GQ
www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-victoria-theatre/

Booking line for all ATG venues: 0844 871 3051

26 - 30 April 2016
Bath Theatre Royal
Theatre Royal Bath, Saw Cl, Bath BA1 1ET
www.theatreroyal.org.uk/
01225 448844
*Will go on sale on December 2015 - check website for details

3 - 7 May 2016
Cambridge Arts Theatre
6 St Edward's Passage, Cambridge CB2 3PJ
www.cambridgeartstheatre.com/
01223 503333
*Will go on sale on 14 December 2015 - check website for details

10 - 14 May 2016
Cardiff New Theatre
Park Pl, Cardiff CF10 3LN
www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk/
029 2087 8889

17 - 21 May 2016
Newcastle Theatre Royal
100 Grey St, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 6BR
www.theatreroyal.co.uk/
0844 811 2121
*Will go on sale on 13 November 2015 - check website for details

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