Cast Set For PRINCESS ESSEX at Shakespeare's Globe

Shakespeare’s Globe has announced the cast of Princess Essex, directed by Robin Belfield (Twelfth Night, RSC), written by and starring Anne Odeke (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Globe). The cast comprises of Matthew Ashforde as Mr Bacon / Ensemble, Nigel Barrett as Colonel Harris / Ensemble / Cover, Janai Bartlett as Eve, John Cummins as King Edward / Ensemble, Alison Halstead as Batwa / Ensemble, Lizzie Hopley as Mrs Bugle / Ensemble, Tyreke Leslie as Mayor Pepper / Counsellor Bernard / Ensemble, Sophie Mercell as Mr Southend Standard / Ensemble / Cover, Syakira Moeladi as Counsellor Geoffrey / Elise / Ensemble, Jamie-Rose Monk as Mrs Bacon / Ensemble, Anne Odeke as Princess Dinubolu, Eloise Secker as Violet / Ensemble, Kyla Semper as Eve, Simon Startin as Mayor Ingram / Ensemble, and Yasmin Taheri as Harriet / Ensemble. 

Writer Anne Odeke says: “I'm aware, it's not every day you get asked to write a play for the Globe's main stage and to be in it. Though a daunting task, it's above all else, an exciting one, with the greatest privilege of all being able to share with audiences Princess Dinubolu's incredible story; a story that for over a hundred years remained hidden - a story of beauty, of belonging, and of authenticity.”

Director Robin Belfield says: “With Anne’s play we have an opportunity to shine a light on a little-known piece of British history. The story of a woman of colour, in Essex, in 1908, swimming against the tide. It’s a story we need to hear, from a voice we haven’t heard. I’m thrilled that we have such an extraordinary, brilliant, and diverse company to bring this hidden history to life for our modern ears.”

Princess Essex is designed by Hayley Grindle, with music composed by Simon Slater, with Bethan Clark as Fight Director, and Priya Patel Appleby as Resident Assistant Director. Ingrid Mackinnon is Movement & Intimacy Director, Ellen Hartley is Voice Coach, Tess Dignan is Head of Voice, and Sarah Dickenson is Dramaturg.

Princess Essex was cast by Becky Paris.

Biographies

Matthew Ashforde will play Mr Bacon / Ensemble. Matthew’s TV and theatre credits are many and varied. His most recent theatre credit was the role of Natty Hemworth in Distinguised Villa (Finborough Theatre), for which he received an OFFIE nomination for Best Actor. Previous work at the Globe includes: Taming of the Shrew. Other theatre credits include: Oliver! (Aberystwyth Theatre); Graham Price Superstar (Birmingham Rep / Soho Theatre); The Web (Young Vic); Scrooge in A Christmas Carol (The Birmingham Rep); Clench (Vertical Line / Greenwich Theatre); The Spring Tide, Isfhan Calling (The Old Red Lion); The Roar of the Greasepaint the Smell of the Crowd (Finborough Theatre); The Good Woman of Setzuan (National / Cottesloe and Tour); Oliver! (London Palladium); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Relatively Speaking (Eye Theatre). Matthew has also appeared in several pantomimes across the UK. Regular TV credits include: Hetty Feather (CBBC); Never Better, Grass (BBC); Wonderful You (Hartswood Films / ITV); Is it Legal (Hartswood Films / ITV / Channel 4). Other TV credits include: Man of Letters, The Robinsons, Doctors, Eastenders, Call the Midwife, Josh, Cradle to Grave, Casualty, Father Brown, Silent Witness, My Family, Harry Enfield and Chums (BBC); Never Let Me Go (Hulu) The Larkins, Mr Selfridge (ITV); Sliced (Dave Channel); Banged Up Abroad (Raw TV Ltd); Snatch (Crackle) Derek, Phone Shop, Greenwing (Channel 4); Up the Women (Baby Cow / BBC); Mayday (Qdos / BBC); Being Human (BBC3); The Bill (Talkback Thames); Jekyll (Hartswood Film / BBC); Mr Bean (Tiger Aspect / ITV); An Ungentlemanly Act (Union Pictures / BBC). 

Nigel Barrett will play Colonel Harris / Ensemble / Cover. Previous work at the Globe includes: Taming of the Shrew. Theatre credits include: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead (Complicite); Julius Caesar, Kingdom Come, Richard III - An Arab Tragedy (RSC); Kidstown (National Theatre Wales); Little Bits of Ruined Beauty (Pentabus); Britannicus (Lyric Hammersmith); I Am Kevin, 100:Unearthed (Wildworks); Living Newspaper (Royal Court); Pops (Edinburgh / High Tide Festival); The Mysteries (Royal Exchange Manchester); Party Skills for the End of the World (Manchester International Festival / Shoreditch Town Hall); Margate / Dreamland (National Theatre / Shoreditch Town Hall); Get Stuff Break Free, The Eye Test (National Theatre); Attack of the Wolfdogs, The Show In Which Hopefully Nothing Happens, Baddies the Musical (Unicorn); Blasted (Barrel Organ / Styx); Everyone (Battersea Arts Centre); The Iphigenia Quartet (The Gate); The Body (The Barbican); Cyrano de Bergerac (Northern Stage Co); The Passion, Praxis Makes Perfect, Shelflife (National Theatre Wales / Berlin Festspiele); Madman (Theatre Royal Plymouth); There Has Possibly Been An Incident (Soho Theatre / Royal Exchange Manchester); A Speakers Progress (Peter Brook’s Bouffes du Nord Paris / Brooklyn Academy of Music); The Mirror for Princes ( Barbican / Peter Brook’s Bouffes du Nord Paris / Brooklyn Academy of Music ); Pericles (Regents Park Open Air Theatre); The Tennis Show, Tropicana, Amato Saltone, The Architects, The Boy Who Climbed Out Of His Face, The Shunt Lounge (Shunt / National Theatre). Film and TV credits include: One Hundred & Eighty (Dark Avenue Film Ltd); Doctors, Casualty, The Mysteries, Coast, The Lens, Crimewatch (BBC); Dream Agency (Forest Fringe / Arthaus); Cycles (Toynbee Films); The Gospel of Us (Welsh Film Council); Meet the Piltdowns (Kane Productions); Hairy Eyeball (Channel 4); England My England (Film 4); Robin Hood (Squint Opera); Better Than Life (Telecaster / Coney). Radio credits include: A Song For Edmond Shakespeare, The Influence, How To Survive The Roman Empire, Richard Tyrone Jones’ Big Heart, The Liberty Cap (BBC Radio 4).

Janai Bartlett will play Eve. Janai is delighted to be joining the cast of Princess Essex. Janai attends the Anna Fiorentini Theatre & Film School and Spotlight Stage School. Theatre credits include: Tina, The Tina Turner Musical (West End); Annie (UK Tour); Once on this Island (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre). TV credits include: Get Millie Black (Motive Pictures). Modelling & commercial credits include: Peloton; Historical Palaces 2023 Campaigns; and Merlin Entertainment. Janai has also been a Cocoa Girl Magazine cover model and interviewed numerous celebrities for Disney studio releases. 

John Cummins will play King Edward / Ensemble. Previous work at the Globe includes Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Eternal Love UK Tour; Anne Boleyn UK Tour; All’s Well That Ends Well; Anne Boleyn; Henry VIII. Theatre credits include: Romeo & Juliet (Regent’s Park Theatre); The Whip, King John, Doctor Faustus, The Alchemist, Don Quixote (RSC); Don Quixote (The Garrick); Great Apes (The Arcola); Anna Karenina (Royal Exchange Manchester); Stuart: A Life Backwards (The Crucible Sheffield); The Vortex (The Rose Kingston); Much Ado About Nothing (Ludlow Festival); 66 Books: In The Land of Uz, Eigengrau (The Bush); The Good Soul of Szechuan (Library Theatre Manchester); A Stab In The Dark (The Kings Head / Latitude Festival); Our Country’s Good (The Watermill); Edward II, Romeo & Juliet (The BAC); The Pains Of Youth (The Belgrade); The Reporter, The Alchemist (The National Theatre); The Beaver Coat (The Finborough). TV credits include: The Franchise (HBO); The Following Events Are Based on A Pack of Lies, Doctor Who, The Hour, EastEnders, Holby City, Doctors (BBC); Invasion (Apple TV+); CODE 404, Temple (Sky); The Witcher (Netflix); Midsomer Murders (ITV); 24: Live Another Day (FOX); Banged Up Abroad (National Geographic). Film credits include: Blitz (Apple TV+); Havoc (Netflix); Suffragette (Focus Features / Ruby Films). 

Alison Halstead will play Batwa / Ensemble. Alison recently made her feature film debut as Maker Keeper in Dune: Part Two directed by Denis Villeneuve. Onstage, Alison was in Hamlet (Royal Windsor Theatre) led by Sir Ian McKellan; and in The Cherry Orchard, led by Francesca Annis. Further theatre credits include: Venus Preserved, The Provoked Wife (RSC); Dior S/S 2019 (Christian Dior / Mimbre Acrobatic Theatre); Hole (Royal Court); Aida (ENO / Mimbre Acrobatic Theatre); Future Bodies (HOME / Rash Dash / Unlimited); Julius Caesar (Sheffield Theatre); Hamlet (National Theatre Schools); The House of Bernarda Alba (Manchester Royal Exchange); Wondrous Strange (RSC / Mimbre Acrobatic Theatre); Blood Wedding (Dundee Rep); Exhibit B (Barbican); Prometheus Awakes (Graeae / La Fura dels Baus); Falling Up (National / Mimbre Acrobatic Theatres); Macbeth, As You Like It, King John (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); Antigone, No Place Like Home (Steppenwolf Theatre Chicago). TV credits include: Citadel (Amazon Prime). Alison is an Associate Performer with Mimbre Acrobatic Theatre. 

Lizzie Hopley will play Mrs Bugle / Ensemble. Lizzie was born in Liverpool and trained at RADA. This is her debut season at the Globe, which includes work on Taming of the Shrew. Other theatre credits include: Roaring Girls (RSC); Tis Pity She’s a Whore (International Tour with Cheek by Jowl); The Taming of the Shrew (USA Tour with AFTLS); Mike Leigh’s Abigail’s Party; The Audience (Southampton Nuffield). TV and film credits include: Testament (Angel Studios); The Crown (Netflix); Time 2, Luther, The Day of the Triffids (BBC); The Devil’s Hour (Amazon Studios); Soulmates (Amazon AMC); The Long Song (BBC / Heyday Films); Little Boy Blue, The Suspicions of Mr Whicher (ITV); Cary Fukunaga’s Jane Eyre; Pierrepoint with Timothy Spall; The Thirteenth Tale with Vanessa Redgrave; Any Human Heart (C4); Randall & Hopkirk Deceased. As a writer, Lizzie was a winner of Pozzitive TV’s Funny Dot Comp in 2021. She has a comedy series in development with Showem Entertainment and is a prolific writer of Doctor Who audios for Big Finish, winning her first Scribe Award for The Curse of Lady Macbeth. Lizzie took a year out in 2017 to work full-time as a comedian to create popular blog: Diary of a Stand Up Virgin.

Tyreke Leslie will play Mayor Pepper / Counsellor Bernard / Ensemble. Tyreke trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Previous work at the Globe includes Taming of the Shrew. His theatre credits include: First Encounters: Romeo & Juliet; As You Like It; First Encounters: Twelfth Night (RSC); Dead Poets Live: Nonsense Show (Dead Poets Live); Dennis Of Penge, Anna Karenina, Julius Caesar, Intimate Apparel (GSMD); Liter-Airy (My Aerial Home). Film includes: Watcher, Everybody Alive Wants Answers, Heartband (for Royal Court). Tyreke has been nominated for an Ian Charleson Award for his performance in Omar Elerian’s RSC production of As You Like It. He is also a director and theatre-maker and recently directed the play Last Goal Wins. 

Sophie Mercell will play Mr Southend Standard / Ensemble / Cover. Sophie trained at the Guilford School of Acting. Previous work at the Globe includes Taming of the Shrew. Theatre credits include: Cyrano De Bergerac (The Jamie Lloyd Company at the Harold Pinter Theatre & Brooklyn Academy of Music); A Meal (Southwark Playhouse); Home I’m Darling (Theatre by the Lake, Bolton Octagon & Stephen Joseph); Get Happy (Told by an Idiot); Quality Street (Northern Broadsides UK Tour); One Hundred Trillion (Old Vic Workrooms); The Ugly Duckling (The Herd at Hull Truck Theatre); All You Need is LSD (Told by an Idiot at Birmingham Rep and UK Tour); Bread and Roses (Oldham Coliseum); Let me Play the Lion too (Told by an Idiot at the Barbican); The Importance of Being Earnest (Brockley Jack Studio Theatre). TV credits include: Eastenders (BBC); Coronation Street (ITV). Film credits include: The Radleys (Sky). Sophie is a trustee for Told by an Idiot.

Syakira Moeladi will play Counsellor Geoffrey / Elise / Ensemble. Syakira Moeladi trained at Drama Centre London. Previous work at the Globe includes Taming of the Shrew. Theatre credits include: Dear Octopus (National Theatre); As You Like It (Soho Place); Rage Room (Why Can’t I say I Love You?) (Arcola); Husbands and Sons, The Seagull, Rage, Twelfth Night, The Cherry Orchard, Yerma (Drama Centre); Billy Elliot the Musical (West End / Live recording); Matilda The Musical (RSC). TV and Film credits include: A Long Time Quiet (Short).

Jamie-Rose Monk will play Mrs Bacon / Ensemble. Jamie-Rose Monk trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Previous work at the Globe includes Taming of the Shrew. Theatre credits include: Christmas Actually (The Southbank Centre); Greatest Days the Musical (National Tour); The Witch Finder’s Sister (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch); Talent (Sheffield Crucible); Dick Whittington (National Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bridge Theatre); The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (Park Theatre); Yap Yap Yap (Royal Festival Hall and Soho Theatre); Fat – A One Woman Show (Hackney Showrooms / Gaggle Productions); The Poisoners’ Pact (Stuff of Dreams Tour); Monologue Slam Winner’s Edition (Theatre Royal Stratford East / Triforce Promotions). TV credits include: My Lady Jane (Amazon Studios); Gangsta Granny Strikes Again, Holby City (BBC); Doctors (Semi Regular, BBC); Class Dismissed (Series Regular, CBBC); Gameface (Objective Fiction). Film credits include: Holmes & Watson (Columbia Pictures Corporation). Comedy credits include: Buttery Brown Monk (Leicester Square Theatre); The Gag Show (Gaggle Productions). Radio credits include: Sketchtopia (BBC Radio 4); Athena’s Cancel Culture (BBC Radio 4).

Anne Odeke will play Princess Dinubolu. Anne is an actor, playwright and teacher. Anne trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Previous work at Shakespeare’s Globe includes: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It (CBeebies), The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Comedy of Errors, and Bartholomew Fair. Other theatre credits include: The Winter’s Tale (RSC); Macbeth (AFTLS, USA Tour); A Midsummer Night’s Dream & Julius Caesar (Storyhouse); Notes from a Small Island (Watermill Theatre); Princess Essex (Essex Tour); Killing Jack, The Witchfinder’s Sister & Misfits (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch); The Crucible (Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh); Women in Power (Nuffield Theatre); The Secret Keeper & Snow White and the Happy Ever After Beauty Salon (Oval House); Next Lesson (Pleasance Theatre); Winnie & Wilbur (Birmingham Rep). Audio work credits include: Megamonster (Harper Collins); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (RSC / Harper Collins); Blackwater Mermaid (BBC Sounds); United Kingdoms (BBC Radio 4). As a playwright, Anne’s credits include: Little Women (Storyhouse); Misfits (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch). Anne is also a member of The Orange Tree Writers Collective for 23/24, and has written a new family play for the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch entitled, ‘A place for me?’ - a tribute to the Windrush Generation.

Eloise Secker will play Violet / Ensemble. Eloise trained at Rose Bruford College and was a finalist for the BBC Carlton Hobbs Competition. Previous work at the Globe includes Measure for Measure and Taming of the Shrew. Other theatre credits include: Imperium (West End / RSC); Merchant of Venice, All’s Well that Ends Well, Richard III, The Rover, Two Noble Kinsmen, 7 Acts Of Mercy (RSC); Snow White and The Happy Ever After Beauty Salon (The Wrong Crowd / Plymouth Drum); The Santa Trap, There Will Be Monsters (Southampton Mayflower / Rose Kingston / National Tour); Match (Sherman Cymru / National Tour); The Events (Young Vic); Enduring Song (Southwark Playhouse); Pants On Fire’s Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Flea Theatre, New York / UK Tour); Splosh (Salisbury Playhouse / Prime Theatre). TV credits include: Phoenix Rise (BBC). Radio credits include: Murder By Proxy, The Gift (BBC Radio 4); Chain Gang (BBC Radio 7 Series); Heathrow (Theatre 503 / Urban Scrawl).

Kyla Semper will play Eve. Kyla is eleven years old and lives with her mum and sister. Kyla is very excited to be joining the cast of Princess Essex and make her West End debut. Kyla is represented by DDs Casting and trains at the Spotlight Stage School. Theatre credits include: Annie (UK tour).

Simon Startin will play Mayor Ingram / Ensemble. Previous work at the Globe includes: Taming of the Shrew and Ralegh: The Treason Trial. Simon’s theatre credits include: Hir (Park Theatre); The Tempest (Royal Shakespeare Company); Afterlife, The Visit (National Theatre); Romeo and Juliet, Richard III (Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre / Blenheim Palace); The Plague (Arcola Theatre); The Government Inspector (Birmingham Rep); Islands (The Bush Theatre / Edinburgh Festival); Beyond Midnight (Trestle Theatre Company); Sherlock Holmes in Trouble (Manchester Royal Exchange); The Tempest (Theatre Royal Bury St. Edmunds / Theatre Setup); Revolting (which he also wrote for Jacksons Lane / The Ministry of Clowns); Pericles, Spangleguts, Tales From The Arabian Nights (London Bubble); The Fly (Oldham Coliseum); Now You Know (Hampstead Theatre); Hamlet, Bartleby (Red Shift); Tartuffe (Mappa Mundi); Fanny Hill (Duke’s Theatre, Lancaster); Waiting For Godot (Tottering Bipeds); The Fall of the House of Usher, Volpone, Into The Mystic, UBU (Graeae); Collateral Damage, Subterranean (Traverse Theatre); The Changeling (Battersea Arts Centre). Film credits include Battery (BBC); Keen Eddie (Paramount); Preserve (Channel Four). TV credits include: The Musketeers, Doctors, Mapp and Lucia, Holby City, Tag, Criminal Justice, Everytime I Look At You, Dunkirk, Are You Looking At Me?, Rhyming Criplets (BBC). 

Yasmin Taheri will play Harriet / Ensemble. Yasmin trained at RADA. Previous work at the Globe includes: Taming of the Shrew. Her theatre credits include: Tartuffe, Tamburlaine, Merchant of Venice, Henry VI Parts II & III (RSC); and £1 Thursdays (Finborough Theatre).  Her screen credits include: The Long Shadow (ITV); Murder in Provence (ITV / Britbox); and Ladhood (BBC).

Creative team: 

Becky Paris – Casting Director

Simon Slater – Composer 

Hayley Grindle – Designer

Robin Belfield – Director

Sarah Dickenson – Dramaturg 

Bethan Clark – Fight Director

Tess Dignan – Head of Voice

Ingrid Mackinnon – Movement & Intimacy Director

Priya Patel Appleby – Resident Assistant Director

Anne Odeke – Writer 

Ellen Hartley – Voice Coach

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