Jermyn Street Theatre's Temptation Season Kicks Off With Dorothy L. Sayers' LOVE ALL

It's all change at Jermyn Street Theatre this autumn. The theatre's departing Artistic Director Tom Littler directs his final production before he takes over the helm of the Orange Tree Theatre this October, current Deputy Director, Ebenezer Bamgboye, leaves on a high note following his acclaimed production of Karina Wiedman's prize winning The Anarchist and the theatre is joined by Anna Ryder, who steps into Ebenezer's shoes to become the new Carne Deputy Director.

Littler directs Love All, written by Dorothy L. Sayers, the creator of best selling literary detectives Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane, which runs from 8 September to 8 October. This significant rediscovery tells the story of actress Lydia, who has abandoned the stage to elope to Venice with Godfrey, a writer of romantic fiction. The pair soon quarrel and when Lydia hears of a mysterious female playwright taking the West End by storm, the stage is set for a hilarious comedy of misunderstanding and misbehaviour. Sayers' 1939 comedy was very briefly staged as war broke out, and here it receives its first major production.

With casting to be announced, Sayers' little performed play is set to get Jermyn Street Theatre's Temptation Season off to a flying start.

Tom Littler says - "Love All wasn't planned as my last production for Jermyn Street Theatre, but it feels an apt farewell. It reflects our commitment to unearthing treasures from the archives - it's a treat to discover a 1930s play by a woman playwright at the top of her form. For readers of Sayers' detective fiction - and indeed fans of her contemporaries Rattigan and Coward - this is a must-see. It asks serious and still-relevant questions about marriage, careers and creativity, but it's a great night out packed with big laughs."

Littler's final production for JST reunites a crack team of creatives including set designs by Louie Whitemore (Tonight at 8.30, Miss Julie), costumes by Anett Black (All's Well That Ends Well, The Tempest), lighting by Chris McDonnell (Thrill Me) and sound by Tom Attwood (Tonight at 8.30), with assistant direction from Abbey Creative Associate Imy Wyatt Corner.

Following Love All, The Temptation Season, continues with the previously announced world premiere of Peter Gill's Something in the Air, which runs 13 October to 12 November and concludes with John Nicholson's adaptation of Gustave Flaubert's The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary! directed by Marieke Audsley which runs 17 November to 17 December.

Anna Ryder, who joins the theatre as Carne Deputy Director in August, is an Associate Artist of Live Theatre, Newcastle and has previously directed with the RSC, Paines Plough, Northern Stage and the Royal Exchange. Alongside directing, she has worked as a script reader and dramaturg, developing numerous new plays for the stage.

Littler says - "Anna's passion for new writing, her commitment to artists, and the breadth of her experience all make her the perfect choice to be our fourth Carne Deputy Director. Her predecessor Ebenezer Bamgboye has transformed our artistic development programmes and his productions of Two Horsemen and The Anarchist have shown his directorial flair. Cat Robey, who led many of our most exciting lockdown projects, is newly appointed as Entertainment Development Manager for Cunard. And Stella Powell-Jones, who did so much to create JST's new identity as a producing theatre, is about to take over as Artistic Director. All three Deputy Directors in my tenure have done amazing work, and Anna is a worthy new incumbent."

Jermyn Street Theatre is the West End's smallest producing theatre. The Stage's Fringe Theatre of the Year 2021, it is led by Artistic and Executive Directors Tom Littler and Penny Horner. In autumn 2022, when Littler leaves to become Artistic Director of the Orange Tree Theatre, David Doyle becomes Executive Producer and Stella Powell-Jones becomes Artistic Director. The theatre won a 2022 Critics' Circle Award for its lockdown theatre, and Littler won the 2022 OffWestEnd Award for Best Artistic Director. The programme includes outstanding new plays, rare revivals, new versions of European classics, and high-quality musicals, alongside one-off musical and literary events. It collaborates with theatres across the world, and its productions have transferred to the West End and Broadway. During closure, the theatre responded with its Brave New World season of digital work, including the acclaimed 15 Heroines with DigitalTheatre. Since reopening, the theatre has produced two Footprints Festivals of new work alongside acclaimed productions by Samuel Beckett, Sarah Ruhl and Howard Brenton.

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