Photo Flash: In Rehearsal with Gemma Arterton & More for NELL GWYNN's West End Transfer

Full casting has been announced for the West End transfer of Jessica Swale's new play Nell Gwynn, directed by Christopher Luscombe. The production stars Gemma Arterton in the title role, with the full cast including Paige Carter, Michele Dotrice, Matthew Durkan, Michael Garner, Greg Haiste, George Jennings, Ellie Leah, Peter McGovern, David Rintoul, Anneika Rose, Nicholas Shaw, David Sturzaker, Jay Taylor, Sasha Waddell and Sarah Woodward. Check out a first look at the full company in rehearsal below!

Following its critical acclaim and a sell-out run at Shakespeare's Globe, Nell Gwynn will be on in the West End for a strictly limited season from Thursday 4 February 2016.

It is 1660. The Puritans have run away with their drab grey tails between their legs. Charles II has exploded onto the scene with a love of all things loud, French and sexy. And at Drury Lane, a young Nell Gwynn (Gemma Arterton) is selling oranges for sixpence. Little does she know who's watching.

Award-winning Gemma Arterton (The Duchess of Malfi, Made in Dagenham, Quantum of Solace) stars as cheeky, charming and clever Nell Gwynn, one of the first, and most acclaimed, women to appear on the London stage.

Jessica Swale's blissfully entertaining new play, Nell Gwynn, charts the rise of an unlikely heroine, from her roots in Coal Yard Alley to her success as Britain's most celebrated actress, and her hard-won place in the heart of the King. But at a time when women are second-class citizens, can her charm and spirit protect her from the dangers of the court? And at what cost?

Photos by Tristram Kenton