Donmar Warehouse To Present 'Piaf' Starring Attwooll, Roger and More

The Donmar Warehouse will present Piaf by Pam Gems. The cast will feature Shane Attwooll, Phillip Browne, Lorraine Bruce, Luke Evans, Michael Hadley, Katherine Kingsley, Leon Lopez, Stuart Neal, Elena Roger, Steve John Shepher. The director is Jamie Lloyd with set design by Soutra Gilmour, lighting design by Neil Austin, sound design by Christopher Shutt and original composition by Ben and Max Ringham. Nigel Lilley is the musical director. The show will run from August 8th – September 20th with an official opening on Wednesday August 13th .

From the streets of Paris to worldwide fame, Edith Piaf continues to be remembered and revered for her exceptional voice and her equally extraordinary life. In this new production of Piaf, Pam Gems has reworked her 1978 play vividly capturing the glamour and squalor, the rise and fall, of this complex, fragile and enigmatic performer. Newly appointed Donmar Associate Director Jamie Lloyd is reunited with Elena Roger ‐ following his role as Associate Director to Michael Grandage on the recent revival of Evita at the Adelphi Theatre in which Elena Roger played Eva Peron. English playwright Pam Gems was born in 1925. Her principal works include Franz Into April (1977), Queen Christina (1977), The Blue Angel (1991), the book for the musical Marlene (1996) and Stanley (1996).

Shane Attwooll plays Bruno/Jacques Pills. His theatre credits include The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Almeida Theatre), Glengarry Glen Ross (Apollo Theatre) and Death of a Salesman (Lyric Theatre). For television, his credits include Foyle's War, Aberfan, The Commander, The Brief and Spooks; and for film, Kingdom of Heaven, This Filthy Earth and Porgy and Bess. Phillip Browne plays Marcel/Inspector. This theatre credits include Carmen Jones (Royal Festival Hall), The Lion King (Lyceum Theatre), Anything Goes (Theatre Royal Drury Lane) and Porgy and Bess (Savoy Theatre). Browne's television credits include Love Soup, According to Bex and Roger Roger.

Lorraine Bruce plays Toine. Bruce's theatre credits include Vernon God Little (Young Vic), A Model Girl (Greenwich Theatre), Scuffer (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and Bad Girls The Musical (Garrick Theatre). For television, her work includes Me and All Other Mothers, Dalziel and Pascoe, 11th Hour, Holby City and Party Animals; and for film, Eden Lake, Dark Corners and Provoked. Luke Evans returns to the Donmar ‐ following his role as Vincent in the recent production of SmallChange – to play Yves/Raymond/Jacques.  ' theatre work includes Rent Remixed (Duke of York's Theatre), Dickens Unplugged (Edinburgh Festival), Avenue Q (Noel Coward Theatre) and Minor Irritations (White Bear Theatre).

Michael Hadley returns to the Donmar, where he appeared in Othello and The Vortex, to play the Leplee/Vaimbert. His other theatre credits include Coriolanus and The Canterbury Tales (RSC), The Seagull (Mercury Theatre Colchester), and Don Carlos (Sheffield Crucible and West End). His television credits include Churchill at War, Strange, Paradise Heights and Rough Justice; and for film, Three Blind Mice and An Unsuitable Job for a Woman. Katherine Kingsley plays Marlene/Madeleine. Her theatre credits include Black and White Ball (The King's Head), Hobson's Choice (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Trojan Trilogy (Tristan Bates Theatre) and High Society (Shaftesbury Theatre and national tour).

For television her credits include Hollyoaks, Jane Hall and Operation Good Guys; and for film, Weekend, Days of the Siren, and 100 Second Marriage. Leon Lopez plays Theo/Lucien. His theatre credits include Rent Remixed (Duke of York's), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (national tour) and Macbeth (Liverpool Everyman); and for television, Hollyoaks in the City and Brookside.

Stuart Neal returns to the Donmar to play Charles/Georges/Little Louis – he previously appeared in Nine. His theatre credits include Lord of the Rings (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Evita (Adelphi Theatre), Aladdin (Old Vic), Mary Poppins (Prince Edward Theatre) and Cats (national tour). Elena Roger plays Edith Piaf. As well as Evita, her other theatre work in the UK includes Boeing, Boeing (Comedy Theatre). In her native Buenos Aires, Elena Roger's credits include the original productions of Nine, Beauty and the Beast, Les Miserables and Saturday Night Fever. 

In 2003 Elena Roger and director Valeria Ambrosio devised Mina, che cosa sei. This musical, based on the life of the Italian singer, won five awards including the ACE (Critics' Award) for Best Actress for Elena Roger. Steve John Shepherd plays Louis Barrier. His theatre credits include Five Wives of Maurice Pinder and Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads (National Theatre). 

For television his credits include Plus One, Cold Blood, Bad Mother's Handbook, Bonkers, Lilies, Real Men, The Knock, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, Maisie Raine and This Life; and for film, Too Much Too Young, Layer Cake, Boudicca, Star Wars Episode II, Me Without You and From Hell. Jamie Lloyd's credits include The Lover and The Collection (Comedy Theatre), The Caretaker (Sheffield Crucible and Tricycle Theatre), Guys and Dolls (Michael Grandage's Donmar production currently running in Australia, and as Associate Director for the run at the Piccadilly Theatre) and Elegies Elegies: A Song Cycle (Arts Theatre).

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