Sian Phillips to Lead PLAYING FOR TIME at Sheffield Theatres

To mark the Centenary of Arthur Miller's birth and the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Richard Beecham will direct a revival of Miller'sPlaying for Time in the Crucible. Beecham directs Kate Adams (Helene), Noa Bodner (Esther), Pascale Burgess (Elzvieta), Imogen Daines (Etalina),Emma Darlow (Liesl), Holly De Jong (Schmidt), James Duke (Mengele / Kapo / Cellist / Paul), Amanda Hadingue (Alma Rose), Melanie Heslop(Marianne), Rebecca Jenkins (Varya), Kate Lynn-Evans (Mandel), Maeve O'Sullivan (Greta / Olga), Siân Phillips (Fania), Danny Scheinmann (Schmuel / Captain Heinz / Second Chess Player / First Trooper), Augustina Seymour (Paulette/ Music Captain), Christopher Staines (Commandant Kramer / 1st Chess Player / SS Guard / Kapo / Pianist) and Alexia Traverse-Healy (Mala / Tchaikowska). Completing the cast are 17 members of Sheffield People's Theatre - the theatre's intergenerational acting company from across the region.

Arrested by the Nazis and transported east to Auschwitz, Fania's tragic fate seems sealed. But amidst the horrors of the death camp, there is one small glimmer of hope: an orchestra of women prisoners kept alive to make music for their Nazi captors. Can Fania sing for her survival?

Based upon Fania Fénelon's autobiographical memoir, Arthur Miller's masterful stage adaptation is a life-affirming story of the survival of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable horror.

Marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the Centenary of Arthur Miller's birth, Sheffield Theatres brings this extraordinary story to life on the Crucible stage.

Arthur Miller (1915 - 2005) is one of America's greatest playwrights. His major works include All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), A View From the Bridge (1955), After the Fall (1964), The Price (1968), The Last Yankee (1991) and Broken Glass (1994).

Amanda Hadingue plays Alma Rose. Her theatre work includes The Gamblers (Dundee Rep/Greyscale), Small Family Business (National Theatre),Rising Damp (No.1 tour), The Master and Margarita (Complicite), Hamlet (Shakespeare's Globe), Get Santa! (Royal Court), The Seagull, Hamlet (The Factory), The Merchant of Venice, Taming of the Shrew, The Tragedy of Thomas Hobbes (RSC), Office Party (Barbican), The Wonderful World of Dissocia(National Theatre of Scotland/Royal Court), and many productions for IOU Theatre, People Show, and as a core member of Stan's Cafe. Her television work includes Jonathan Creek and Lead Balloon; and for film Black Pond and The Queen.

Melanie Heslop plays Marianne. She is the founding director of Go People theatre company; productions including Almost, Maine (Park Theatre), andWin,Lose,Draw (Waterloo East ). Her other credits include Bash - The Latterday Plays (Rag Factory) and See What I See (Eyestrings Theatre Company).

Kate Lynn-Evans plays Mandel. Her theatre credits include Helver's Night (York Theatre), The Handyman Chronicles (Chichester Festival Theatre),Getting On (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Uncle Vanya, The Master Builder, Miss Julie, Richard II (Bristol Old Vic) and The Brave (Bush Theatre). For television, her work includes Silent Witness, Sugar Rush, Messiah, Murphy's Law, Prime Suspect, Imogen's Face, Beck, Intensive Care and Campaign; and for film, Aberdeen, Stuart's First Day, Birthday Girl and Mojo.

Siân Phillips returns to Sheffield Theatres to play Fania. She previously appeared in This is My Family (winning the UK Theatre Award for Best Supporting Performance). Her other recent theatre credits include The Importance Of Being Earnest (Harold Pinter Theatre / UK Tour), People(National Theatre / UK Tour), Cabaret (Savoy Theatre & UK Tour), Little Dogs (Frantic Assembly / National Theatre of Wales), Lovesong (Frantic Assembly, UK Tour & Lyric Hammersmith), Juliet and Her Romeo (Bristol Old Vic), A Little Night Music (Opera Theatre of St Louis), Calendar Girls (UK tour & West End), Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Regrets Only (New York), Rockaby (Dublin/Barbican Centre), Great Expectations (Cheek By Jowl and Royal Shakespeare Company), and The Dark, Maxibules, Eccentricities of a Nightingale, Man and Superman, Night of the Iguana, Vanilla, Thursday' s Ladiesand Hedda Gabler (National Theatre). Her television credits include Lewis, New Tricks, La Femme Nikita, The Murder Room, Aristocrats, Crime & Punishment, The Oresteia, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Smiley' s People, How Green Was My Valley, I, Claudius, The Magician's House, Ballykissangel, Summer Silence and Snow Spider; and for film, Gigolos, Goodbye Mr Chips, Coming and Going, Dune, Murphy's War, Valmont, The Age of Innocence, House of America, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Under Milk Wood.

Christopher Staines plays Commandant Kramer. For theatre his credits include Our Town (Almeida Theatre), Doctor Faustus (Rise Bankside), Duck, Death and the Tulip (Orange Tree Theatre), for the National Theatre - She Stoops to Conquer, A Laughing Matter (also Out of Joint), Hamlet (US tour),Amy's View (also Wyndham's Theatre), and King Lear/A Midsummer Night's Dream (Tobacco Factory). His television work includes Wolf Hall, Handel's Messiah at the Foundling Hospital, Garrow's Law, On Expenses, Survivors, Judge John Deed, Foyle's War, The Student Prince, Highlander, This Life, The Queen's Nose, The Ruby Ring, Good Friday 1663 and Pride and Prejudice; and for film, Mrs Dalloway.

Richard Beecham directs. His theatre credits include Dancing at Lughnasa, In Praise of Love, Humble Boy (Royal & Derngate, Northampton),Rutherford & Son (Northern Stage), Red Light Winter, In A Garden, Henry IV Part 1 (Theatre Royal Bath), The Invention of Love, The School for Scandal, The Miser, Side by Side by Sondheim (Salisbury Playhouse), A Taste of Honey, Neville's Island, How The Other Half Loves (Watford Palace Theatre), The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Private Lives, Charley's Aunt, Black Comedy/Real Inspector Hound (Northcott Theatre Exeter) and Entertaining Mr Sloane, Early One Morning (Octagon Theatre Bolton). Beecham also curates large cultural events including the National Commemorative Event for Holocaust Memorial Day (Newcastle Theatre Royal), and The Human Cost (Young Vic London). He is an Associate Artist of HighTide Festival Theatre.

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