Alice Bailey-Johnson, Ian Bartholomew and More Set for OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR - Full Cast Announced!

Casting is announced for OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR, a Theatre Royal Stratford East Production:

• Caroline Quentin will join the ensemble cast of the 2014 Theatre Royal Stratford East production of Oh What A Lovely War.
• Alice Bailey-Johnson, Ian Bartholomew, Oliver J. Hembrough, Rebecca Howell, Tom Lorcan, Shaun Prendergast, Zoe Rainey, Kyle Redmond-Jones and Michael Simkins will also appear in this cast.
• Joan Littlewood's satirical musical about World War I will be revived in 2014, 100 years after the start of World War I, in the 50th anniversary year of the original production at Theatre Royal Stratford East.
• Production will run from 1st February - 15th March 2014

Cast includes: Alice Bailey-Johnson, Ian Bartholomew, Oliver J. Hembrough, Rebecca Howell, Tom Lorcan, Shaun Prendergast, Caroline Quentin, Zoe Rainey, Kyle Redmond-Jones and Michael Simkins.

It was announced today that Caroline Quentin will perform in the 2014 Theatre Royal Stratford East production of Oh What A Lovely War. Directed by Terry Johnson and designed by Lez Brotherston, the ensemble cast will also include Alice Bailey-Johnson, Ian Bartholomew, Oliver J. Hembrough, Rebecca Howell, Tom Lorcan, Shaun Prendergast, Zoe Rainey, Kyle Redmond-Jones and Michael Simkins. The musical, which premiered at Theatre Royal Stratford East on 19th March 1963, will coincide with the 100th Anniversary of World War I.

This reimagined production of the musical about World War I is packed full of familiar songs from the World War I era, juxtaposing with shocking statistics from conflict and the harsh realities of war. Oh What A Lovely War is a powerful comment against war in general and its message remains relevant to modern audiences.

Alice Bailey-Johnson has recently been working on the untitled Mike Leigh film. Her theatre credits include Solid Air (Plymouth Theatre Royal), The Three Lions (Pleasance, Edinburgh) Stepping Out (Salisbury Playhouse) and Noises Off (West End).

Ian Bartholomew has had an extensive career as an actor spanning over 35 years. He recently took the lead role in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Liverpool & Nottingham Playhouse). He spent three years at The National Theatre where he performed in Pravda,The Government Inspector and the award-winning Guys and Dolls. Other theatre credits include The Merchant of Venice (RSC), The Front Page (Donmar Warehouse), The Iceman Cometh (Almeida Theatre & Old Vic) and Dead Funny (West End). His television work includes Thieves Like Us, Spooks, South Riding, New Tricks and Foyle's War. On film he has appeared in Shiner, Breakout andEisenstein. In 2010 he won the Manchester Evening News award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Doolittle in Pygmalion(Royal Exchange).

Oliver J. Hembrough previous theatre credits include Friday Night Sex (Royal Court), Mamma Mia (West End), No Wit Like a Woman's (Shakespeare's Globe) and The Wind in the Willows (Birmingham Rep). Television credits include Criminal Justice, Northanger Abbey (BBC) and City of Vice (Channel 4).

Rebecca Howell has had an extensive career as a choreographer and has worked on musicals including We Will Rock You (UK Tour),Little Shop of Horrors (UK Tour) and La Cage Aux Folles (West End). She also worked on the Pet Shop Boys 2010 tour and the musical video for Ellie Goulding's Starry Eyed. Howell was also the choreographer for The Disney Channel's hit show, Hannah Montana.

Tom Lorcan has performed in a number of West End Musicals, including Jersey Boys, Billy Elliot, Fiddler on the Roof and Blood Brothers. He also appeared in the award-winning production of One Man, Two Guvnors both at The National Theatre and on the West End. His television credits include Waterloo Road and Dalziel & Pascoe.

Shaun Prendergast is currently starring in Waterloo Road as Robert Bain. He last worked with Terry Johnson playing Mr Boo in the West End production of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. London theatre includes Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, Hamlet, The Glee Club, A Going Concern and Twelfth Night. Other television credits include Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Hotel Babylonand New Tricks. His film work includes Frozen, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and The Stepdad. Prendergast is also a writer for stage, screen and radio, whose work has been translated into six languages.

Caroline Quentin is best known for her roles in the popular television series Men Behaving Badly and Jonathan Creek. She recently performed in Relative Values directed by Trevor Nunn for Theatre Royal Bath and new comedy series, Big Bad World. Other recent television credits include Dancing on The Edge, Switch and Restoration Home for the BBC, and ITV documentaries Cornwall andNational Parks. Quentin's extensive theatre credits include Pippin, Terrible Advice (Menier Chocolate Factory), Life After Scandal(Hampstead Theatre & The Drum), The London Cuckolds, Roots (National Theatre) Our Country's Good (West End), Low Level Panicand Sugar and Spice (Royal Court). She won the 2004 British Comedy Actress Award for her performance in Life Begins, which she had previously won in 1995 for Men Behaving Badly.

Zoe Rainey has performed in a number of London productions including She Stoops to Conquer (National Theatre), Parade (Donmar Warehouse) and Little Women (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane). West End musicals include Wicked and Hairspray. Other theatre credits include Dancing at Lughnasa (Royal & Derngate & Oxford Playhouse), Finding Neverland (Leicester Curve) and The School for Scandal(Theatre Royal Bath).

Kyle Redmond-Jones previous theatre credits include The Great Gatsby (Wilton's Music Hall) and The History Boys (West Yorkshire Playhouse, UK Tour). He recently appeared in the feature film World War Z and television credits include Misfits (E4), Parade's End(HBO) and Merlin (BBC).

Michael Simkins has had a prolific acting career spanning theatre, film and television. He is also a published author and Associate Member of RADA. His recent West End theatre credits include Company, Chicago, Donkey's Years, Mary Stuart and The Old Master's. Other recently theatre credits include Yes Prime Minister (Chichester, UK Tour), King Lear, 'Tis A Pity She's A Whore, A View From A Bridge (National Theatre) and Loyalty (Hampstead Theatre). His television credits include Eastenders, A Touch of Cloth and Foyle's War. His numerous feature film credits include The Iron Lady, V for Vendetta and Topsy-Turvy.

Alongside the production Theatre Royal Stratford East has launched an exciting and innovative national schools' programme working with secondary schools and colleges across England. It offers young people the opportunity to make their own work and respond to Oh What A Lovely War in a contemporary context. During the run at Theatre Royal Stratford East there will be 15 curtain raisers and two schools' events showcasing the young people and their work. The project aims to inspire the next generation of artists and critical thinkers.

About Theatre Royal Stratford East:
Theatre Royal Stratford East is a prolific developer of new work, attracting artists and audiences often not represented in many other venues. An important aspect of its work is the development of new musical theatre. The Theatre's vision is to break new ground with musicals that bring contemporary and urban music into the mainstream of British theatre. This has led to the production of a broad spectrum of acclaimed sell-out musicals with its work transferring nationally and internationally. These include Baiju Bawra, Da Boyz, The Big Life, The Harder They Come, The Blacks, Come Dancing, Takeaway, Clockwork Orange, Reasons to be Cheerful(with Graeae Theatre Company and New Wolsey Theatre), Britain's Got Bhangra (with Rifco Arts & Warwick Arts Centre), the Olivier Award winning Pied Piper (with Boy Blue Ents), Wah! Wah! Girls (with Sadler's Wells and Kneehigh) and most recently Glasgow Girls(with National Theatre Scotland, Citizens Theatre and Richard Jordan Productions). This famous producing theatre, located in the heart of London's East End on The Edge of the new Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, prides itself on creating world class work that reflects the concerns, hopes and dreams of its community. Through a continuous loop it inspires and is inspired by its vibrant, young and diverse audience.

Terry Johnson (Director) has won nine British theatre awards including Olivier Awards for Best Comedy and Playwright of the Year. In 2010 he won the Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical for La Cage aux Folles. His theatre credits as both director and writer are prolific including End of the Rainbow (2010-11) which was nominated for three Olivier Awards, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice(2009) and most recently Hysteria (2012) with Antony Sher.

Lez Brotherston (Designer) is a long-time collaborator of Matthew Bourne. Lez has worked on most of Matthew's productions including Swan Lake, Play Without Words, Edward Scissorhands, Car Man and most recently The Sleeping Beauty. Lez's other work includes Sister Act, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Acorn Antiques, Into The Woods and The Far Pavilions all in the West End, and The Little Mermaid on Broadway.

Joan Littlewood (born in 1914) was a pioneering theatre director who developed the left-wing Theatre Workshop, which became permanently based at Theatre Royal Stratford East in 1953. She championed working-class people, providing a stage for their stories and voices through ground-breaking new work. Landmark productions followed including the British premiere of Bertolt Brecht'sMother Courage and Her Children (1955), Shelagh Delaney's A Taste of Honey (1958), Brendan Behan's The Hostage (1958), Frank Norman's Fings Ain't What They Used T' Be (1959) and the musical Oh What A Lovely War (1963).

Littlewood, who died in 2002, is widely-recognised for leading an extraordinary revolution in British Theatre. Peter Hall said she was the "greatest revolutionary of the British theatre. Where the passion is, where the emotion is, where the entertainment is, is where Joan Littlewood is".

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