Full Cast Set For THE CHERRY ORCHARD at the Donmar Warehouse

The Donmar Warehouse has announced the full cast for Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, in a new version and directed by Benedict Andrews. Joining the previously announced Nina Hoss (Liubov Ranevskaya), and Adeel Akhtar (Ermolai Lopakhin), are Sarah Amankwah (Charlotta), Nathan Armarkwei Laryea (Yasha), David Ganly (Boris Simeonov-Pishchik), Michael Gould (Gaev), Éanna Hardwicke (Semyon Epikhodov), Daniel Monks (Pyotr Trofimov), Marli Siu (Varya), Sadie Soverall (Anya), Posy Sterling (Dunyasha), and June Watson (Firs).

Director: Benedict Andrews; Designer: Magda Willi; Costume Designer: Merle Hensel; Lighting Designer: James Farncombe; Sound Designer: Dan Balfour; Composer: May Kershaw of Black Country, New Road; Voice Coach: William Conacher; Assistant Director: Neetu Singh; Casting Director: Anna Cooper CDG

Can anyone persuade Ranevskaya and her aristocratic household that the world is changing, and they must too?

Following internationally acclaimed productions of The Seagull (Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney) and Three Sisters (Young Vic, London), director Benedict Andrews has a reputation as one of the world's leading interpreters of Chekhov.

For The Donmar Warehouse he stages the great writer's final play. It's a work that predicted and captured the end of an era, but is timeless in its humanity, prescience, humour and pathos. The Cherry Orchard is Chekhov's masterpiece.

Adeel Akhtar plays Ermolai Lopakhin. His theatre credits include A Christmas Carol (West End), Hamlet (Young Vic), Satyagraha (Improbable), Wuthering Heights (Tamasha), In My Name (Old Red Lion/Trafalgar Studios) and Zero (Theatre Absolute). His television credits include Showtrial, Sweet Tooth, Sherwood, Killing Eve, Back to Life, Les Misérables, Ghosted, Counterpart, Fairy Job, Unforgotten, Apple Tree Yard, The Night Manager, Capital, River, The Job Lot, Utopia, Trollied, and Angelos Epithemiou's Moving On; and for film Murder Mystery 2, Enola Holmes 2, Save The Cinema, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, Ali & Ava, Everybody's Talking About Jamie, Enola Holmes, The Nest, The Show, Murder Mystery, Swimming with Men, Victoria and Abdul, Hampstead, The Big Sick, Pan, War Book, Convenience, Jadoo, The Dictator, Stranger Things, Four Lions, Traitor, The Last Dragonslayer, The Circuit, Murdered by My Father and Let's Roll: The Story of Flight 93.

Sarah Amankwah plays Charlotta. Her theatre credits include Possession (Arcola Theatre), Henry V, Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2, Richard III, Doctor Faustus (Shakespeare's Globe), Amadeus, The Threepenny Opera, Death and the King's Horsemen (National Theatre), The Crucible, Skriker (Royal Exchange Theatre), The Lion King (Lyceum Theatre), De Gabay (National Theatre of Wales), Tiata Tamba Tamba (Tiata Fahodzi), Shakespeare 365 (Orange Tree Theatre), Six Characters in Search of an Author, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Aquila Festival/US tour), Fair Trade (Latitude/Rich Mix) and 24 Hour Plays (The Old Vic). For television, her work includes Doctor Who, Black Earth Rising and Marcella; and for film, Dungeons and Dragons and World War Z.

Nathan Armarkwei Laryea plays Yasha. His theatre work includes A Strange Loop (Barbican), Women, Beware the Devil, Spring Awakening (Almeida Theatre), Hamlet, Faith, Hope and Charity, Tartuffe (National Theatre), Homo Sacer (The Old Vic 12), Her Naked Skin (Salisbury Playhouse), The 306 (National Theatre of Scotland), Vernon God Little (The Space/Burn Bright Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Exeter Northcote), The Lion King (Lyceum Theatre), and Whistle Down the Wind (West End). For television, his work includes The Witcher and Doctor Who; and for film, In Darkness.

David Ganly returns to the Donmar to play Boris Simeonov-Pishchik, having previously appeared in Aristocrats. His other theatre includes On Blueberry Hill (Trafalgar/59E59 Theatre), Girl from the North Country (Toronto, Gielgud Theatre/Noël Coward Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream, Cinderella (Lyric Hammersmith), The Velveteen Rabbit (Unicorn Theatre), Lonesome West (Tron Theatre), The Plough & the Stars (Abbey Theatre/US tour), Once (Landmark Productions), Shadow of a Gunman (Abbey Theatre/Lyric Theatre, Belfast), Uncle Vanya (West Yorkshire Playhouse/ETT), Shakespeare in Love (Noël Coward Theatre), Drum Belly; The Cavalcaders, Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, Philadelphia Here I Come (Abbey Theatre, Dublin), King Lear (Theatre Royal Bath), The Threepenny Opera; The Weir (Gate Theatre, Dublin), Macbeth (Sheffield Theatres), Of Mice and Men (The Watermill Theatre, Newbury), The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The End of the Beginning (Young Vic), The Wizard of Oz (West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Field; John Bull's Other Island; The Cavalcaders (Tricycle Theatre), Translations (National Theatre),The Quare Fellow; Americans The Contractor (Oxford Stage Company), The Lonesome West (Broadway Lyceum Theatre), Dancing at Lughnasa (Salisbury Playhouse), Chicago (Cambridge Theatre), The Full Monty (Prince of Wales Theatre)The Talented Mr Ripley (Watford Palace Theatre), The Leenane Trilday - The Lonesome West (Royal Court Theatre); The Merchant of Venice (Belfast Lyric Theatre), and The Risen People (Dublin Gaiety Theatre). For television, his work includes Say Nothing; Breathtaking, Moon Knight, The Crown, Ridley Road Citizen Charlie and Upwardly Mobile; and for film, The Dead from the Sea, Gladiator 2, Body of Lies, Dorothy Mills, Hippie Hippie Shake and Spacetruckers.

Michael Gould plays Gaev. His theatre credits includes King Lear, The Writer, Vassa (Almeida), Pygmalion (The Old Vic),  A View from the Bridge, Hamlet, The Jungle; A Midsummer Night's Dream (Young Vic), Kerry Jackson,  All of Us, Anna, Our Class, Women of Troy, Attempts on Her Life, Waves, The Seagull, Earthquakes in London, The Oresteia, Pillars of the Community (National Theatre), The Audience (West End), The Merchant of Venice, Swive, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, King Lear, The Winter's Tale, In Extremis (Shakespeare's Globe), The Ugly One (Royal Court), Othello (ETT/ Great Theatre of China, Shanghai/ Dubai Opera House), Dealing with Clair (Orange Tree Theatre), Othello, The Phoenician Women, Hamlet, The Theban Trilogy (RSC), Pericles (Lyric Hammersmith), Pressure Drop (Wellcome Collection), The Lesson (Arcola), Other Hands (Soho), Cruel and Tender (Young Vic and tour), The Crucible (Sheffield Crucible). Television includes: There She Goes, I Am Maria; Showtrial, You Don't Know Me, Sister Boniface, Manhunt, Black Earth Rising, Man Down, Into the Badlands, The Trial: A Murder in the Family, Decline and Fall, The Conversation, Lucan, Silk, Silent Witness, Mr Sloane, Coup, The Bletchley Circle, Secret State, Getting On, Wallander, Free Agents, Ashes to Ashes, Grandma's House, The Long Walk to Finchley, Waking the Dead, David Kelly, Green Wing, Wire in the Blood, EastEnders, State of Play. Film includes One Life, Darkest Hour,  Jitterbug, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Undergods, The Duke, Room 8 (BAFTA for Best Short Film).

Éanna Hardwicke plays Semyon Epikhodov. His theatre work includes Attachment (Dublin Theatre Festival), Druid Debuts: The Mouth of the Birch (Druid Theatre Company), The Misfit Mythology (Cork Arts Theatre), and Macbeth (Mill Productions). His television work includes A Very Royal Scandal, The Doll Factory, The Sixth Commandment, Smother, Fate: The Winx Saga, and Normal People.

Nina Hoss plays Liubov Ranevskaya. Her theatre credits include Notes from the Underground (Ruhrtriennale), Returning to Reims (Manchester International Festival/Schaubühne Berlin/St Ann‘s Warehouse, New York), Bella Figura, The Little Foxes (Schaubühne Berlin), at the Deutsches Theater Berlin: Tape, Children of the Sun, Der Einsame Weg, Die Präsidentinnen, Die Fledermaus, Groß und Klein, Medea (she won the prestigious Eysoldt Ring prize for her performance), Faust II, Minna Von Barnhelm, Emilia Galotti, Don Carlos, Verratenes Volk, Twelfth Night or what you will (Schauspielhaus Zürich); and at the Berliner Ensemble: Leonce und Lena/Robert Wilson, Unerwartete Rückkehr, Zigarren Jedermann (Salzburg Festival). TV includes: Jack Ryan, The Defeated, Shadow Play, Criminal: Germany, Homeland (Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series), Bloch, Leonce und Lena, Something to Remind Me, A Girl Called Rosemary. Films include:  Langue Etrangere, Tár, My Little Sister, Barbara, Phoenix, A Most Wanted Man, Yella (Berlin International Film Festival Silver Bear Award for Best Actress), The Contractor, Violence of Action, Pelican Blood, The Audition, Return to Montauk, Gold, Summer Window, We Are the Night, Jerichow, The Downfall of Berlin: Anonyma, The Anarchist's Wife, The Heart is a Dark Forest, The White Massai, Wolfsburg, Naked, Der Vulkan. Nina Hoss received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2013) and was also appointed a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France (2015).

Daniel Monks returns to the Donmar to play Pyotr Trofimov – he previously appeared in Teenage Dick - Winner of Best Performer in a Play at The Stage Debut Awards 2020. His other theatre credits include The Seagull (Harold Pinter Theatre), The Normal Heart (National Theatre), Teenage Dick (Donmar Warehouse), Lord of the Flies (Sydney Theatre Company) and The Real and Imagined History of The Elephant Man (Malthouse Theatre, Sydney – for which he was nominated for a Helpmann Award and Green Room Award for Best Lead Actor in a Play). His television work includes Dead Hot, Kaos, Silent Witness and The Split; and for film, Ricky Stanicky, In the Room Where He Waits, Sissy, Marley, and Someone. Also for film, he wrote, produced, edited and starred in Pulse - which won the Busan Bank Award at the Busan International Film Festival 2017 and for which he was nominated for the Australian Academy Award (AACTA) for Best Lead Actor in a Film.

Marli Siu plays Varya. Her theatre work includes The Ocean at the End of the Lane (National Theatre), Misalliance (Orange Tree Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing, Little Red and the Wolf, and The Witness for the Prosecution (Dundee Rep Theatre). For television, her work  includes Everything I Know About Love, Alex Rider – as series regular Kyra, The Irregulars, Grantchester and Still Game; and for film, Apartment 7A, Our Ladies, Run and Anna and the Apocalypse.

Sadie Soverall plays Anya. Her theatre credits include Still Life (Edinburgh Fringe). Her television credits include Fate: The Winx Saga and The Gathering; and for film, Saltburn, Arcadian, and Little Bone Lodge.

Posy Sterling plays Dunyasha. Her theatre work includes Dixon and Daughters, Faith, Hope and Charity (National Theatre), The Taxidermist's Daughter (Chichester Festival Theatre), Sweatbox (Royal Court Theatre), and Belong (Arcola Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith). For television her work includes World on Fire; and for film, Lollipop and The Outrun.

Veteran of the stage and screen, June Watson returns to the Donmar to play Firs – she previously appeared in A Doll's House, Part 2. Her extensive theatre credits include Sea Creatures, Uncle Vanya, Good People (Hampstead Theatre); As You Like It (@Sohoplace); After Life, The Welkin, John, Scenes from the Big Picture, The Good Hope, Our Lady of Sligo, Cardiff East, The Prince's Play, Le Cid, Rutherford and Son, Machinal, Billy Liar, Whale, Garden of England, As I Lay Dying, The Beggar's Opera, Lark Rise, The Passion, The World Turned Upside Down, The Long Voyage Home, Il Campiello, State of the Revolution (National Theatre); Road, Kosher Harry, Beside Herself, Saved, Small Change, Life Price, Glasshouses (Royal Court Theatre); Escaped Alone (Royal Court Theatre/ BAM/ UK tour); The Father, Mrs Lowry and Son (Trafalgar Studios); The Cripple of Inishmaan – Clarence Derwent Award (Noël Coward Theatre/ Broadway); Before the Party, Hippolytus (Almeida Theatre); Uncle Vanya (Vaudeville Theatre); Calendar Girls (UK tour); Another Door Closed (Theatre Royal Bath); Aristo (Chichester Festival Theatre); The Children's Hour (Royal Exchange Theatre); Smaller, Middle Aged Spread (Lyric West End) and Mary Stuart (Apollo Theatre). Her television work includes Whitstable Pearl, The Cockfields, All Creatures Great and Small, The Midnight Gang, Chernobyl, Call the Midwife, To Walk Invisible, Agatha Raisin, Thirteen, Unforgotten, A Song for Jenny, The Café, Wallander, Coming Up and Above Suspicion; and for film, Your Christmas or Mine, The Bike Thief, The Death of Stalin, The Lady in the Van, Ghost Hunter, 102 Dalmatians, Highlander IV: Endgame, The Last Yellow, The Knowledge and Bloody Kids.

Benedict Andrews is a multi-award winning playwright, director, filmmaker and poet. His directing work includes: Ellen B / Ex (Þjóðleikhúsið, Reykjavik), Cosi fan Tutte (Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Young Vic), Medea (Komische Oper Berlin), A Streetcar Named Desire (Young Vic and St Ann's Warehouse), The Maids (Sydney Theatre Company and Lincoln Centre), Fiery Angel (Komische Oper, Berlin), Macbeth (Þjóðleikhúsið, Reykjavik), Three Sisters (Young Vic), La bohème (ENO and Dutch National Opera), Every Breath (Belvoir Street Theatre), Groß und Klein (Sydney Theatre Company and Barbican), The Seagull (Belvoir Street Theatre), King Lear (Þjóðleikhúsið, Reykjavik), Measure for Measure (Belvoir Street Theatre), Saved (Schaubühne, Berlin), The City (Sydney Theatre Company), The War of the Roses (Sydney Theatre Company), Moving Target (Sydney Opera House), Drunk Enough to Say I Love You (Schaubühne, Berlin), The Ugly One (Schaubühne, Berlin), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Belvoir Street Theatre), Blackbird (Schaubühne, Berlin), Cleansed (Schaubühne, Berlin), Julius Caesar (Sydney Theatre Company), Fireface (Sydney Theatre Company), La Dispute (Sydney Theatre Company.) Plays include Like a Sun, Every Breath, The Stars, Geronimo and Gloria. He has written new versions of The Seagull and Three Sisters, and a version of Jean Genet's The Maids, with Andrew Upton. Film work includes Una and Seberg. In 2012 Benedict won the London Critics' Circle Best Director Award for his production of Three Sisters at the Young Vic. His directing work over the years has won him several Gríman Awards, Helpmann Awards, Sydney Theatre Awards and Melbourne Green Room Awards, amongst others.

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