Tom Bateman, Daniel Crossley and More Join Emma West in LIZZIE SIDDAL - Full Cast Announced!

Full casting is announced today for Lizzie Siddal, a new play about the woman who was 'Ophelia' in Millais' famous painting, which will open at the Arcola Theatre on Wednesday 20 November 2013 (press night Friday 22 November).

Joining the previously announced Emma West as Lizzie Siddal are Tom Bateman (Dante's Demon, Much Ado About Nothing, Wyndham's) asDante Gabriel Rosseti, Daniel Crossley (Singin' in the Rain) as John Ruskin/Charles Howell, Simon Darwen (Mad about the Boy, Young Vic) asWilliam Holman Hunt, James Northcote (The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Chichester) as John Everett Millais and Jayne Wisener (Tim Burton'sSweeney Todd) as Annie Miller.

Tom Bateman's theatre credits include The Duchess of Malfi at The Old Vic, The Lion in Winter at the Theatre Royal Haymarket and Claudio inMuch Ado About Nothing starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate at the Wyndham's Theatre. Television includes The Tunnel for Sky Atlantic, Da Vinci's Demons for BBC Worldwide and Parades End and Spooks for the BBC.

Daniel Crossley recently starred alongside Adam Cooper and Scarlett Strallen in the Chichester Festival Theatre production of Singin' in The Rain at the Palace Theatre. Other recent credits include Bill Snibson in Me and My Girl at Sheffield Crucible, Cornelius Hackl in Hello Dolly at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre and Bert in the UK Tour of Mary Poppins.

Simon Darwen's recent credits include Virgin at Watford Palace Theatre, King Lear at Theatre Royal Bath, Mad about the Boy at the Young Vic, the UK Tour of Love Love Love by Mike Bartlett and Accolade at the Finborough Theatre.

James Northcote's recent stage work includes The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at Chichester Festival Theatre, 66 Books at the Bush Theatre,Rosencrantz and Guildernstern are Dead at the Theatre Royal Haymarket and The Changeling at Southwark Playhouse. Film credits includeNymphomaniac and Anna Karenina.

Jayne Wisener is best known for playing Johanna in the film adaptation of Sweeney Todd starring Johnny Depp. Stage work includes Mary Phagan in Parade at the Donmar Warehouse and Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden at West Yorkshire Playhouse. Recent television work includes London Irish, Misfits and The Inbetweeners, all for Channel 4.

Emma West's recent stage credits include Improbable Fiction at Buxton Opera House and UK Tour, TwoThousandAndSex at Drill Hall, Recipe for a Perfect Wife at King's Head Theatre and She Stoops to Conquer at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre and UK Tour. Film credits include The Other Boleyn Girl.

London,1849. Lizzie is plucked from the obscurity of a bonnet shop to model for the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood - an intoxicating group of young painters bent on revolutionising the Victorian art world. Inspired by their passion, Lizzie throws herself headlong into their lives and their art. She nearly dies in the creation of 'Ophelia', but the painting is a triumph. Lizzie wants more and dares to dream of being an artist in her own right. Falling in love with the charismatic Dante Gabriel Rossetti, she becomes his muse, and finally fulfils her dream of being an independent artist. But independence isn't always what it seems, love can be fickle and all art is a kind of deception. Lizzie is betrayed, and her response sparks a devastating denouement that still stirs debate to this day.

An enigmatic cult figure, Lizzie's life continues to inspire books, blogs and articles. Lizzie Siddal charts her true and dazzling trajectory from model to lover to artist, to a tragic figure in her own right, bringing her story to life on stage for the very first time.

'Ophelia', by British artist Sir John Everett Millais, is one of the world's most popular and recognisable paintings. Currently on display in Tate Britain's Permanent Collection, it depicts the tragic drowning of Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet. It has an estimated market value of around £30 million.

Jeremy Green's plays include Snakes at the Young Vic Theatre; The Wolfgang Chase for BBC radio (described by The Times as "something quite remarkable, done with extraordinary delicacy") and Fairy Tale at the Pleasance Theatre.

Lizzie Siddal will be directed by Lotte Wakeham, currently Associate Director of Matilda in the West End and on Broadway. Recent credits include The Other School for NYMT at St James Theatre, The Kissing-Dance at Jermyn Street Theatre (for which she was nominated for Best Director at the Off West-End Awards) and comedy show Before They Were Famous for BBC Radio 4.

Lizzie Siddal is written by Jeremy Green and directed by Lotte Wakeham with design by David Woodhead, lighting design by Howard Hudson and sound design by Andy Graham. It is produced by Copperhead Productions and Peter Huntley Productions.

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