Southwark Playhouse Sets Full All-Female 'CYRANO' Cast

Lauren Brown and Chloe Courtney today announce the full cast for Russell Bolam's production of Cyrano de Bergerac. Kathryn Hunter plays the title role of Cyrano and is joined by Sabrina Bartlett as Roxane, Ellie Kendrick as Christian and by Holly Burn, Tina Chiang, Penelope Dimond, Tamzin Griffin and Kiran Sonia Sawar. The production opens on 22 February at Southwark Playhouse, with previews from 18 February, and runs until 19 March.

Swordsman, Philosopher, Poet - Cyrano de Bergerac is all these things, but none of them makes him happy. What he longs for is the love of the beautiful Roxane. But his problem is as plain as the nose on his face. Surely he is too ugly to be loved?

Edmond Rostand (1868 - 1918) was a French poet and playwright. His principal works include Les Romanesques (which was to form the basis for the musical The Fantasticks), La Samaritaine, L'Aiglon and Chantecler.

Glyn Maxwell's adaptation of Rostand's classic tale of true love and false identity - first seen at Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre in 2013 and later broadcast on BBC Radio 4 - receives its London première in a new version at Southwark Playhouse. Many of Maxwell's plays have been staged in London and New York, including Liberty at Shakespeare's Globe, The Lifeblood at Riverside Studios, and The Only Girl in the World at the Arcola, as well as work at the Almeida, Theatre 503, Oxford Playhouse, the Hen and Chickens, and RADA. He has written extensively for the Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre in Chester. His opera libretti include The Firework Maker's Daughter (composer David Bruce), which was shortlisted for 'Best New Opera' at the Oliviers in 2014, and The Lion's Face (Elena Langer), a study of dementia, both of which were staged at the Royal Opera House and toured the UK. Other libretti include Seven Angels (Luke Bedford) inspired by Paradise Lost. His nine volumes of poetry include The Breakage, Hide Now, and Pluto, all of which were shortlisted for either the Forward or T. S. Eliot Prizes, and The Nerve, which won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize.

Award-winning actress and director Kathryn Hunter plays Cyrano. As an actress she has worked with leading companies in the UK, USA, Paris and worldwide including National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Globe Theatre and Peter Brook's renowned CICT Centre International de Recherches Theatrales in Paris as well as being an associate member of Complicite. Her stage work includes title roles in Richard III, King Lear (subsequently also playing the Fool), Antony and Cleopatra, Celestina, Yerma, Donna Rosita, Spoonface Steinberg, The Skriker (Time Out Best Actress Award), Mother Courage and the acclaimed solo performance Kafka's Monkey. For The Visit (National Theatre/Complicite) she received an Olivier Award for Best Actress. Recent theatre includes: The Valley of Astonishment, (Peter Brook), Cards (Robert LePage), Fragments (Peter Brook), A Tender Thing (Helena Kaut-Howson), The Bee (Hideki Noda) and Julie Taymor's New York production of A Midsummer Night's Dream (as Puck). Film and television credits include: A Midsummer Night's Dream (as Puck - Toronto/London Film Festivals), Harry Potter and the Order the Phoenix, Mike Leigh's All or Nothing, Orlando (Sally Potter), The Baby of Macon (Peter Greenaway), Rome, Silent Witness, Grushko, Maria's Child and The Tale of Tales.

Sabrina Bartlett plays Roxane. Most recent theatre work includes The Seagull (Regents Park Open Air Theatre) and for television includes Virtuoso, Da Vinci's Demons Season III, Poldark, Midsummer Murders, The Passing Bells, Doctor Who, Suspects and Game of Thrones. Her film credits include The Crossing, Respite and The Barre.

Ellie Kendrick plays Christian. Her recent stage credits for The Royal Court Theatre include Pests, The Low Road and In the Republic of Happiness, other theatre includes Romeo and Juliet (The Globe). For television her credits include Game of Thrones, Misfits, Being Human, Chickens, Upstairs, Downstairs, The Diary of Anne Frank, Lewis, Prime Suspect, Doctors, In 2 Minds and Waking The Dead. For film her work includes Love Is Thicker Than Water, Native, and Cheerful Weather For The Wedding.

Holly Burn is an actor, writer, stand up and character comic. Her one - woman comedy shows include I am Kirsty K, Holly Burn's Hoo-Hah: H Club Christmas Spectacyule, Holly Burn: The H Club, Living and Dying at Just the Tonic Caves, At Home with Holly; and for theatre, The Office Party and The Hotel. Her television work includes Bad Bridesmaid, The Dr Brown Show, Lee Kern's Celebrity Bedlam, The Wall and Comedy Cuts; and for film, Thin the Herd and Are You Ready for Love?.

Tina Chiang's theatre credits include Chimerica (Almeida), Dim Sum Nights 3, Why The Lion Danced, Boom and Wave (Yellow Arts Theatre), Fox Attack (National Theatre of Scotland), Girls' Nite (Royal Court YPT) and Othello (Theatreworks Lab). For television her credits include Coronation Street (guest), Billionaire Boy, Tyrant, Run, Risk - Kim Goes Undercover; and for film, Hell Hath No Fury, Healthy, High Stakes, Seven Dials, and Cut Sleeve Boys.

Penelope Dimond's extensive theatre credits include The Inspector Call (No-Notice Production) The Last Days of Limehouse (Yellow Earth), Too Clever by Half (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester), Shakespeare Shuffle (Bard On a Barge) Behind the Scenes at Holly Lodge (Gatehouse Theatre) Electronic City (Soho Theatre) The Romanian Complex (New Diorama) The Wedding (Pushkin House) and To Moscow To Moscow (The New Factory of the Eccentric Actor). Film credits include Anna Karenina.

Tamzin Griffin's theatre credits include Emil and the Detectives, Greenland, Our Class, A Matter of Life and Death, Measure for Measure (all National Theatre), The Hudsucker Proxy (Nuffield Southampton/Liverpool Everyman), Far Away (Young Vic), Jedermann (Salzburger Festspiele), The Empress, Othello, Rough Magyck (RSC), The Master and Margarita (Complicite/Barbican), Brief Encounter (Kneehigh tour& West End), Tonight at 8.30 (Chichester Festival Theatre), Shockheaded Peter (New York), Red Demon (Tokyo Bunkamura), The Berlioz Project (Complicite) and Witness (The Gate). Her television credits include Casanova and Road Runner. Her film credits include Some Candid Observations on the Eve of the End of the World, The Fantastic Fear of Everything, Alice, The Calcium Kid and Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Ghan.?

Kiran Sonia Sawar's recent theatre works include Aladdin (Oxford Playhouse), The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Unicorn Theatre), My Name Is... (Arcola Theatre and UK Tour) Fallujah (Cockpit Theatre) Defining Moments of Truth and Deception (Soho Theatre). For television her credits include Salma, Holby City and Legends. Her film work includes Turn Me Alone, Pardes and Forced Marriages.

Russell Bolam returns to Southwark Playhouse to direct - he previously directed Crushed Shells and Mud, Three Sisters, The Seagull and Shivered. His other directing credits include The Titanic Orchestra, Marriage (Edinburgh Festival), Uncle Vanya (St James Theatre), Ghosts from a Perfect Place, In Skagway, The Road to Mecca, The Roman Bath (Arcola Theatre) and Somersaults (Finborough Theatre).

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