Photo Flash: In Rehearsal with Bertie Carvel & Cast of The Old Vic's THE HAIRY APE

The Old Vic announces the full cast joining Bertie Carvel inRichard Jones' new production of THE HAIRY APE, the second production in Matthew Warchus' opening season as Artistic Director. THE HAIRY APE opens on 29 October, with previews from 17 October, and will see The Old Vic theatre transformed back to its original proscenium arch layout.

A classic expressionist masterpiece by Nobel prize-winner Eugene O'Neill, THE HAIRY APE tells the story of Yank (Bertie Carvel), a labourer who revels in his status as the strongest stoker on a transatlantic ocean liner. But when Yank is called a 'filthy beast' by the overbred daughter of a steel merchant, he experiences an awakening of consciousness that leads him on a journey through the wealthy neighbourhoods and disenfranchised underbelly of New York society. Searching for a way to belong, Yank is forced to confront primal questions about his true place in the world.

Directed by the acclaimed, multi award-winning director Richard Jones, THE HAIRY APE is an iconic piece of American drama brought to the stage by a visionary of British theatre.

Adam Burton plays Secretary. Adam returns to The Old Vic stage having performed alongside Eve Best in The Duchess of Malfi. His extensive theatre credits include Everyman (National Theatre), The Drowned Man (Punchdrunk), A Life of Galileo, Julius Caesar, King Lear and The Winter's Tale (RSC), and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare's Globe). His film credits include Other Side of the Game, and the upcoming film Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass.

Bertie Carvel plays Robert Smith 'Yank'. Bertie recently starred in the BBC television drama Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, and he will soon be seen in the five-part BBC One drama Doctor Foster. On stage, he is best known for creating the role of 'Miss Trunchbull' in Matilda The Musical (RSC, West End, Broadway) for which he won an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical, a Drama Desk Award, a Theatre World Award and was nominated for a Tony Award. His other theatre credits include Bakkhai (Almeida Theatre),Revelations (Hampstead Theatre), The Life of Galileo, The Man of Mode (National Theatre) and Parade (Donmar Warehouse). Other recent television work includes the role of Nick Clegg in Coalition, Babylon and The Wrong Mans.

Buffy Davis plays Aunt. Buffy's extensive credits for the theatre include Uncle Vanya (St James' Theatre), School for Scandal (Park Theatre), Hedda Gabler (Old Vic), The Government Inspector and Annie Get Your Gun (Young Vic), and The Rose Tattoo (National Theatre). Television credits include What Remains, Doc Martin, Silk, and Mutual Friends. She has also appeared on film in Anna Karenina, Hyde Park on Hudson, and in Stephen Frears' feature filmFlorence Foster Jenkins.

Callum Dixon plays Long. Callum's recent theatre credits include Between Us (Arcola), The Complaint (Hampstead Theatre), Hamlet and The Government Inspector (Young Vic), The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other, Market Boy and Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads (National Theatre), Mojo (Royal Court), and Edward II and Richard III (RSC). On television he has appeared in A Touch of Cloth, Random, and The Armando Iannucci Show, and on film, credits include The Kid and Telstar.

Steffan Rhodri plays Paddy. His recent theatre credits include The Mentalists (Wyndham's), Posh (Duke of York's), Absent Friends (Harold Pinter), Abigail's Party (Hampstead Theatre), The Kitchen Sink (Bush), Clybourne Park (Royal Court Theatre), and It's A Mad World My Masters and Candide (RSC). Steffan's extensive television credits include Henry IV The Hollow Crown: Henry IV, part 2, Under Milk Wood, Cucumber, and Gavin and Stacey; and on film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Rosie Sheehy plays Mildred. THE HAIRY APE marks Rosie's professional stage debut. She is a recent graduate from RADA, where her theatre credits include As You Like It, Sweet Charity and Mrs Warren's Profession.

Nicholas Karimi plays Second Engineer. He is currently playing in Everyman at the National Theatre. Other recent theatre credits include Lardo (Old Red Lion), The Kite Runner (Nottingham Playhouse / Liverpool Playhouse), Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare's Globe), Game of Life (The Yard Theatre), Outward Bound, The Fear of Breathing (Finborough Theatre), The Double, (Theatre Royal Bath), and Macbeth (National Theatre).

Also joining the cast are Christopher Akrill, Charlie Cameron, Okorie Chukwu, Phil Hill, Ben Lee, Oliver Llewellyn-Jenkins, Luke Murphy and Elan James.

Richard Jones is a theatre and opera director. Theatre credits include Too Clever By Half (Olivier Award), The Illusion, and A Flea in Her Ear (The Old Vic), Six Characters Looking for an Author, Hobson's Choice, The Good Soul of Szechuan, Annie Get Your Gun, The Government Inspector, and Public Enemy - a version of The Enemy of the People (all Young Vic), Into the Woods (Phoenix Theatre, West End - Oliver Award), Tales from the Vienna Woods (National Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Royal Shakespeare Company, Yale and Salamanca Festival) and Holy Mothers (Ambassadors Theatre / Royal Court London), Rumpelstiltskin - David Sawer (Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Spitalfields Festival London). In New York - La Bete (Eugene O'Neill Theater - Tony nominated), Titanic (Lunt Fontaine Theater), Black Snow (American Repertory Theatre), All's Well that Ends Well (Public Theater).

Opera credits include Der Ring des Nibelungen, Anna Nicole (world premiere), Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, L'Heure espagnole/Gianni Schicchi, The Gambler, Il trittico and Gloriana (all Royal Opera House), The Girl of the Golden West, Rodelinda, Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, The Trojans, Lulu, and Julietta (English National Opera), Wozzeck, Ha?nsel und Gretel, Die Meistersinger von Nu?rnberg (Welsh National Opera, the latter a South Bank Show Award winner), Der Rosenkavalier (Glyndebourne Festival). Opera credits outside the UK include Ariodante (Aix-en-Provence Festival), Lohengrin (Munich Opera), Billy Budd (Frankfurt Opera), Peter Grimes (La Scala, Milan), Un Ballo in Maschera, La bohe?me (Bregenz Festival), L'enfant et les Sortile?ges, Der Zwerg, Julietta (Paris Opera), Mazeppa, Der Fliegende Holla?nder, Jenufa, The Cunning little Vixen, Billy Budd (Amsterdam Opera), Wozzeck (Komische Opera Berlin). He has won Olivier awards for The Trojans, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Hansel and Gretel. In 2015 he was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), and also won 2 Olivier Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Opera and best New Opera production for The Mastersingers at ENO.

Photos by Manuel Harlan

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