Theatre Royal Bath Productions Presents MY COUSIN RACHEL

Theatre Royal Bath Productions today announces full casting and tour dates for a new production of Daphne Du Maurier's psychological thriller My Cousin Rachel, adapted by Joseph O'Connor and directed by Anthony Banks.

Helen George (Trixie Franklin in Call The Midwife) stars in the title role, as previously announced, and will be joined by Simon Shepherd, Jack Holden, Christopher Hollis, John Lumsden, Sean Murray and Aruhan Galieva. The production opens at Theatre Royal Bath in the Main House from 13 to 23 November with opening night for press on 20 November. It will then tour to Eden Court, Inverness from 26 November to 30 November, Malvern Theatres from 3 December to 7 December 2019, Cambridge Arts Theatre from 13 to 18 January 2020, Sheffield Lyceum from 20 to 25 January, Chichester Festival Theatre from 28 January - 1 February and Richmond Theatre from 3 to 8 February 2020.

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier, author of Rebecca and Don't Look Now, enthralled readers when it was first published in 1951 and went on to become an international bestseller. This acclaimed stage adaptation by Joseph O'Connor premiered at Dublin's Gate Theatre in 2012 and now returns to the stage in a brand new production. The novel was also adapted for film in 2017.

Murderess, seducer, thief, enchantress - or merely a woman intent on survival? Alluring, exotic and unconventional, Countess Rachel Sangalletti travels from Florence to the Ashley Estate in Cornwall, home of her recently deceased husband. Her presence in the house arouses dark suspicions and uncontrollable desires, not least in young Philip, cousin and heir to the Ashley home. Feverish passion battles reason in this classic Gothic romance set in the wild landscape of the rock-ribbed Cornish coast.

Helen George (Rachel) is best known for playing the lead role of Trixie Franklin in the BAFTA-winning BBC One series Call the Midwife. Further credits include Paul W S Anderson's The Three Musketeers and 7 Lives. On radio, Helen appeared alongside Toby Jones in BBC Radio 4's dramatisation of Penelope Fitzgerald's Human Voices and in Colin Bytheway's drama Departure. Helen has received critical acclaim for her varied stage credits, including Trevor Nunn's revival of Terrance Rattigan's Love in Idleness and in the title role of Patrick Marber's After Miss Julie, also directed by Anthony Banks. Helen also appeared on BBC1's Strictly Come Dancing in 2015 where she reached the semi-finals.

Simon Shepherd (Nicholas Kendall) has appeared in the West End in Hay Fever, Duck House and Posh. Other stage credits include Betrayal (Bristol Old Vic), Anatol (Gate Theatre), Dracula, Romeo and Juliet (Lyric Hammersmith) and Bent (Royal Court). His screen credits include Peak Practice, Shakespeare and Hathaway, Casualty, Father Brown and Riviera for television, and Wuthering Heights and Kenneth Branagh's Henry V for film.

Jack Holden's (Philip Ashley) stage credits include Ink (Almeida Theatre and West End), The National Theatre's War Horse, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Shoemakers Holiday (RSC), Oppenheimer (RSC and West End), What the Butler Saw (Leicester Curve), The Crucible (The Yard). For TV he has starred in Outlander, Carnage and Lewis.

Christopher Hollis (Guido Rainaldi) recently completed filming as Captain Ricketts in season 2 of Das Boot. Other TV credits include The Bill, EastEnders, A Touch of Frost and Brookside. For stage, he has appeared in Mamma Mia! (West End and UK tour), The Nightingales (Theatre Royal Bath), Hamlet, Henry V, Taming of the Shrew (PSF).

John Lumsden (Thomas Connors) is a recent graduate from Mountview Academy. His West End credits include Les Misérables (Queen's Theatre) and Heathers (Theatre Royal Haymarket), and film credits include Kingsman: The Great Game.

Sean Murray's (John Seecombe) stage credits include The Weir (English Touring Theatre), Holy Warriors (Shakespeare's Globe), A Tale of Two Cities, The Hook (Theatre Royal Northampton), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Northern Stage Company), The Soft of Her Palm (Finborough Theatre). TV includes Casualty, Lewis, Holby City and Robin Hood.

Aruhan Galieva (Louise) most recently appeared on stage in Twelfth Night at Southwark Playhouse, and previously The Comedy of Errors with the RSC, and Paradise Lost and Much Ado About Nothing with Shakespeare's Globe. Television includes Doctors, Black Mirror and Glasgow Girls.

Joseph O'Connor (Adapter) is a novelist, screenwriter, playwright and broadcaster. His novels include the international number one best-seller Star of the Sea, Ghost Light and Shadowplay. He has received the Prix Zepter for European Novel of the Year, France's Prix Millepages, Italy's Premio Acerbi, an American Library Association Award and the Irish Pen Award for Outstanding Achievement in Literature. His work has been translated into 40 languages across the world.

Anthony Banks (Director) was Associate Director at The National Theatre from 2004 - 2014. His many directing credits include The Girl on the Train (National Tour), Hogarth's Progress (Rose Kingston), Strangers On A Train (ATG/Smith&Brant), Twilight Song (Park Theatre), Gaslight (ATG/Smith&Brant), After Miss Julie (Theatre Royal Bath & National Tour), Raz (Trafalgar Studios, Assembly Edinburgh & National Tour), More Light, The Eternal Not and Prince Of Denmark (National Theatre), Pignight (Menier Chocolate Factory), The Experiment (Soho Theatre & Berliner Ensemble); Herding Cats (Theatre Royal Bath & Hampstead Theatre), Bassett (Bristol Old Vic), DNA (National Tour).

Richard Kent (Designer) trained at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and was awarded the Phillip Holt Trust Commendation Award on graduation. Designs include Wife (Kiln Theatre), The Mirror Crack'd (Wales Millennium Centre), Disco Pigs (Trafalgar Studios), The Country Girls (Chichester Fesitval Theatre), Dead Funny (West End).

David Plater (Lighting Designer) trained at RADA and was Head of Lighting at The Donmar Warehouse for 17 years. His nominations include: Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk nominee for Best Lighting Design for Bring Up The Bodies (Broadway and West End); Knight of Illumination Award for Richard II (Best Play Lighting) in 2012 and for This is my Family (Best Musical Lighting) in 2013.

Max Pappenheim (Sound Designer) is a composer and sound designer for live performance who has trained in Radio Drama with the BBC. His credits include Macbeth (Chichester Festival Theatre), Amsterdam (Orange Tree), Night of the Iguana (Noël Coward), Crooked Dances (RSC).

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