Theatr Clwyd Sets 40th Anniversary Season

In Theatr Clwyd's 40th anniversary year, Artistic Director Tamara Harvey, today announces full casting for her Theatr Clwyd directorial debut production of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Harvey directs Lisa Palfrey in the role of Beatrice and John Ramm as Benedict. They are joined by David Bark-Jones, Jonathan Harden, Siân Howard, Nakay Kpaka, Steven Meo, Catherin Morris, Lowri Palfrey, Kerry Peers, and Sion Pritchard.

Much Ado About Nothing opens on 14 June, with previews from 9 June and runs until 2 July. Having never been produced before at Theatr Clwyd, this will be the theatre's 400th production, in the 400th anniversary year of Shakespeare's death.

The lives of lovers, young and old, intertwine in a story of betrayal, trickery and love conquering all. Benedick doesn't love Beatrice and Beatrice definitely doesn't love Benedick, but their friends are determined to unlock the desire that lies buried in their hearts. Can Cupid's arrows fly true?

Will Claudio ever marry Hero?

Will the villain Don John be found out?

Will friendship be sacrificed for love?

The course of love has never run smooth!

The hilarious Much Ado About Nothing is the perfect Shakespearean Richard Curtis rom com. This fast-paced production will transform the Anthony Hopkins Theatre into the gardens of Portmeirion.

Before Four Weddings and a Funeral, Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally there was the unmissable Much Ado About Nothing.

Tamara Harvey commented:

'I'm thrilled to be directing my first production at Theatr Clwyd and working with such a wonderful company. Much Ado About Nothing is a play about love and laughter and that moment when you fall in love with the last person in the world you expect to fall in love with. Also, the fact that women have the right to choose who they spend their lives with. For this production we've brought the stage into the centre of the Anthony Hopkins Theatre and the audience are seated around it to add intimacy to the space and ensure that everyone feels they're part of the celebration. We've set the play in Portmeirion to create the feeling of being by the seaside, of summer - dancing and making merry.'

David Bark-Jones plays Don Pedro. Recent theatre credits include 39 Steps (Criterion Theatre), 66 Books, Contingency Plan (Bush Theatre), Arcadia (Nottingham Playhouse), Noises Off (Old Vic tour), Plenty, The Village Bike (Sheffield Crucible), The Way of the World (Theatre Royal and Derngate, Northampton), and The Forest, Machinal, Arcadia (National Theatre). For television, his credits include Jekyll and Hyde, 24, Pillars of Earth, New Tricks, Slings and Arrows, Wilson, No Angels, Life for Daniel, Rough Treatment, Oliver Twist, Bramwell, A Wing and a Prayer, The Legacy of Reggie Perrin, Pride and Prejudice, Press Gang and Trainer; and for film, include Macbeth, Expatriate, The Calling, RocknRolla, Sixty Six and The Da Vinci Code.

Jonathan Harden plays Borachio. His recent theatre credits include Children of The Sun (National Theatre) and Northern Star (Finborough Theatre). For television, his work includes The Secret, Unforgotten, Humans, Small Island, The Life & Adventure of Nicholas Nickelby, Peep Show, Boy, The Mimic and Titanic: Blood & Steel. His film credits include The Invisible Woman, The Ones Below, Another Mother's Son, The Truth, Rise of The Footsoldier 2, Halo: Nightfall, The Good Man, Whole Lotta Sole, Five Minutes of Heaven.

Associate at Theatr Clwyd, Siân Howard plays Leonata. For the company, her work includes All My Sons, Ghosts, Arms and the Man, Copenhagen, The Winslow Boy, Pygmalion, Two Princes, Suddenly Last Summer and Blithe Spirit. Other theatre credits include Julius Caesar, Desire Under The Elms, Love in a Wood (RSC), The Taming of the Shrew (Bristol Old Vic), and The Way of The World and Talley's Folly, (Royal Theatre, Northampton).

Nakay Kpaka plays Claudio. His theatre credits include Rachel (Finborough Theatre), Arcadia (English Touring Theatre) and The Chaplain (Yard Theatre). Television credits include Whitechapel, Grantchester and Broadchurch.

Associate at Theatr Clwyd, Steven Meo plays Don John. For the company, his work includes Arden of Faversham, Great Expectations, Under Milk Wood, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog, and Dealer's Choice. Other theatre credits include Under Milk Wood, Boeing Boeing, The Taming of the Shrew, Pieces (Mold and New York), Up'n'Under (Bristol Old Vic), Amgen:Broken, Flesh and Blood (Sherman Cymru), Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco (Paines Plough/Lyric Hammersmith), and The Distance (Sheffield Crucible and Orange Tree Theatre). For television his work includes Drifters, Twisted Tails, Spine Chillers, Grownups, The Right Hand Man, Nice Girl, Torchwood, Without Motive, Score, Belonging, Roger Roger, The Trouble With George, Gavin and Stacey, High Hopes, Innovations, Uncle Mike, Good Arrows, and Doctor Who: The Infinite Quest; and for film Viking Siege and Canaries.

Catherine Morris plays Margaret. Her recent theatre credits include One Man, Two Guvnors (National Theatre, UK tour), The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (UK tour), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Hoxton Hall), Sherman Swingers (Sherman Cymru), Cappucino Girls (Grand Slam Theatre, Swansea), The Trojan Women (Riverfront Theatre, Newport), and The Hired Man (Torch Theatre). For television, her work includes Torchwood, and The Slammer Returns.

Lisa Palfrey play Beatrice. Her theatre credits include The Seagull (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), Carthage (Finborough Theatre), The World of Work (Difficult Stage), Before It Rains (Bristol Old Vic & Sherman Cymru), Canvas (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Kitchen Sink (Bush Theatre), Under The Blue Sky, Red Bud and Ingredient X (Royal Court), Small Change (Sherman Cymru), Gathered Dust & Dead Skin (Live Theatre Co), Festen (Lyric Theatre and Almeida Theatre), The Iceman Cometh (Almeida Theatre), Cardiff East, and Under Milk Wood (National Theatre), Yerma (National Studio) and Ghosts (Sherman Theatre). Her television credits include Line of Duty, Hinterland, The Bastard Executioner, Family Tree, Blodau, Armadillo, Mind Games and Split Second. Her film credits include Pride, Under Milk Wood, Visiting Mr Keats, 360, Hunky Dory, Maybe Baby, Guest House Paradiso, House of America, The Deadness of Dad and The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill But Came Down A Mountain.

Lowri Palfrey plays Hero. Her recent theatre credits include Parallel Lines (Dirty Protest), Cardiff East (National Theatre) and Keep Smiling & Play 11 (PLAYtheatre at Vault festival). Her television credits include Gwaith Cartref.

Kerry Peers returns to Theatr Clwyd to play Friar Frances. She previously appeared in Jumpy, A Streetcar Named Desire and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Other theatre credits include Sherlock Holmes: The Best Kept Secret (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Absent Friends, Dead Funny, Brighton Beach Memoirs (Oldham Coliseum), Paradise Bound (Liverpool Everyman), Billy Liar and At 50 She Discovered the Sea (Liverpool Playhouse), The Touch (Bush Theatre), Pond Life (Royal National Studio), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (RSC Tour), Bloody Poetry (Serious Rascals Co.). For television her credits include Open Doors, The Case, Unnatural Pursuits, We Are Seven, The Marshall, Chimera and September Song.

Sion Pritchard returns to Theatr Clwyd to play Dogberry. His previous work for the company includes Cyrano De Bergerac, Hamlet, Copenhagen, Rape of the Fair Country, Glengarry Glen Ross, Bruised, As You Like It, Taking Steps, Roots, The Taming of the Shrew, A Small Family Business, The Way It Was, The Druid's Rest and Hobson's Choice. Other theatre credits include Silly Kings (National Theatre Wales), Y Storm, Bobi A Sami (Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru), Muscle (Hull Truck Theatre and Bristol Old Vic), Blink (FAB Theatre/Brits Off Broadway Festival, New York), Fuddy Meers (Arts Theatre), and Woyzeck (ELAN Wales). His television credits include Dim ond y Gwir, Tir, Ysbyty Hospital, The Indian Doctor, Ddoe Am Ddeg, Phoneshop, Tati's Hotel, Pen Talar, Caerdydd and Treflan; and for film Ar y Tracs, Ar y Tracs 2, Cowbois ac Injans , Talcen Caled, and The Good Catch.

John Ramm plays Benedict. His recent theatre credits include As You Like It (National Theatre) Merry Wives of Windsor, Pedro The Great Pretender, Hamlet and Have (RSC), The Physicists, Good, (Donmar Warehouse), The Low Road (Royal Court), Much Ado About Nothing, (Wyndham's Theatre), The Machine (Bush Theatre), The Deep Blue Sea (West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Cherry Orchard (Birmingham REP), The Goat (Traverse Theatre) Breakfast At Tiffany's (Haymarket Theatre), Tartuffe (Liverpool Playhouse), Nicholas Nickleby and King Lear (Chichester Festival Theatre). His television credits include 20/12 and Foyles War; and for film, The Love Punch and Shakespeare in Love.

Before joining Theatr Clwyd as Artistic Director, Tamara Harvey was a freelance director for fifteen years, directing in the West End, throughout the UK and abroad.

Beginning her career at Shakespeare's Globe, her first major productions as director were the all-female Much Ado About Nothing, the first UK tour of The Graduate and as co-director with Terry Johnson of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Her most recent directing credits include Pride and Prejudice at the Sheffield Crucible, the world premiere of Tim Rice's musical From Here To Eternity in the West End and the award-winning The Kitchen Sink at the Bush Theatre. She directed the premières of Elephants by Rose Heiney, Hello/Goodbye by Peter Souter and In the Vale of Health, a cycle of four plays by Simon Gray, all for Hampstead Theatre. Other world premières include Breeders (St James' Theatre), The Contingency Plan and tHe dYsFUnCKshOnalZ! (Bush Theatre), Who's the Daddy? (King's Head) and Plague Over England (Finborough Theatre & Duchess Theatre).

Other West End productions include Bash (Trafalgar Studios) and Whipping it Up (New Ambassadors). Further theatre work includes Educating Rita and Smash (both Menier Chocolate Factory/Theatre Royal Bath and on tour), Romeo and Juliet (Theatre of Memory at Middle Temple Hall), Dancing at Lughnasa (Birmingham REP), Bedroom Farce (West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Importance of Being Earnest (Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey), Closer (Theatre Royal Northampton) and Tell Me On a Sunday (UK tour).

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