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Produced by Bill Kenwright and Thelma Holt, Noel Coward's Volcano, starring Jenny Seagrove, Dawn Steele, and Jason Durr, ends its strictly limited West End run at the Vaudeville Theatre today, Saturday 29th September, 2012.
Never performed in the author's lifetime due to the climate at the time, this is the first major production of a work which gives a fascinating insight into the glamorous and sometimes scandalous island lifestyle which Coward himself enjoyed.
Recently widowed Adela Shelly finds herself being seduced by the suave Guy Littleton, a visitor to her elegant Pacific house on the side of an island volcano. When Guy's acid-tongued wife Melissa decides to fly in to see off the competition, she hasn't contemplated that Adela's best friend, Ellen, might also be falling for her husband… and as tensions bubble up from under the surface and begin to erupt, so does the volcano, all with explosive consequences…
Jenny Seagrove has played leading roles in almost every West End play house. Her most recent performances were in Rufus Norris's production of Clifford Odets' The Country Girl and Peter Hall's production of Alan Ayckbourn's Bedroom Farce. Jenny's illustrious career has also included roles in films such as Local Hero and Don't Go Breaking My Heart, and as 'Emma Harte' in the Emmy Nominated series A Woman of Substance. She is also known to television viewers as barrister 'Jo Mills' in BBC TV's flagship legal series Judge John Deed - the Bafta award winning drama which ran for 6 years, and in which Jenny starred alongside Martin Shaw.
Dawn Steele is perhaps best known for her role as Alice Trevanion in the popular ITV series Wild at Heart and as Alexandra "Lexie" MacDonald in BBC drama Monarch of the Glen. Her extensive TV credits also include Sea of Souls and Haywire. Jason Durr played the lead role ofPC/DC Michael "Mike" Bradley in the British Series Heartbeat from 1997 to 2003. He recently guest starred in the two-part television drama Above Suspicion, appeared in ITV's Lewis, and played Tony Blair on stage. Finty Williams' film and TV credits include Gosford Park and The Cranford Chronicles. Stage credits include appearances at the Donmar, National Theatre and Shakespeare's Globe. Other cast members are Perdita Avery who performed in Swimming with Sharks at the Vaudeville Theatre with Christian Slater and in E4's Skins. Robin Sebastian, who starred as 'Kenneth Williams' in Stop Messing About, in stage musical The Producers, and on TV in Sherlock. Tim Daish, who played alongside Russell Crowe in Ridley Scott's feature film Robin Hood.
Roy Marsden, who also directed Jenny Seagrove in the acclaimed A Daughter's a Daughter at Trafalgar Studios, directs. With design by Simon Scullion, lighting by Mike Robertson, sound by Matthew Bugg.
Photo Credit: Keith Patterson
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