Marylebone Theatre has announced the cast for their realisation of an unfinished, visionary work by Friedrich Schiller. Dmitry (based on the peerless dramatist’s incomplete play Demetrius), will launch the bold new venue’s inaugural season and will star The Crown’s Tom Byrne (The Crown, Netflix; Twelfth Night, RSC; Black Mirror, Netflix) in the title role.
Alongside him, Poppy Miller (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Palace Theatre) will also lead as Dmitry’s mother, Tsarina Maria; Globe Associate Artist James Garnon (As You Like It, Shakespeare’s Globe; The American Clock, Old Vic; Hamlet, Shakespeare’s Globe) will take on the role of Cardinal Odowalsky with rising star Aurora Dawson-Hunte (The Mirror and the Light, RSC; Queens, Almeida Theatre) as Marina. Joining this dynamic cast will be Piotr Baumann (Coronation Street, ITV; Eastenders, BBC) as Korela and Mark Hadfield (Pinocchio, National Theatre; Richard III, Almeida Theatre) as Prince Mnishek.
Schiller’s prescient play, unfinished at the time of his death, offers a revelatory perspective on the current crisis on Europe’s eastern borders making Peter Oswald’s (resident playwright at Shakespeare’s Globe under Mark Rylance) endeavour to pick up the baton timelier than ever. This world premiere will be directed by the world-renowned former Artistic Director of the Young Vic Tim Supple, (National Theatre; Royal Shakespeare Company; Donmar Warehouse), who returns to the London theatre scene after 15 years of international work to bring this urgently relevant piece to life.
The cast is completed by: Ammar Haj Ahmad (The Jungle, Young Vic; Love, National Theatre), Daniel Hawksford (Troilus and Cressida, RSC; Macbeth, Shakespeare’s Globe), Oleg Mirochnikov (The Crown, Netflix; The Flash, Warner Brothers), Daniel York Loh (Dr Semmelweis, Bristol Old Vic; Pah-La, Royal Court Theatre), Lev Levermore, Jonathan Oliver, Clifford Samuel and Phoebe Strickland.
In 1605 in Moscow, ruthless tsar Boris Gudonov, former chief of Ivan the Terrible’s secret police, rules through fear and oppression. In Poland, a formidable young opponent – Dmitry – appears claiming to be the missing son of Ivan the Terrible and the rightful tsar of Russia. The Polish army, fuelled by the fear of the Russian threat, takes up Dmitry’s cause to march on the Kremlin to capture the throne. This poetic drama cuts to the heart of 21st century politics through a rich imagining of Eastern Europe and Russia’s shared history.
Marylebone Theatre, originally known as Steiner Hall, has recently been beautifully refurbished. A short walk from Baker Street, the theatre will produce its own work as well as receive incoming companies. The theatre intends to carve out a special place on the London cultural scene as a beautiful and grand but intimate setting. Patrons of Marylebone Theatre include Academy Award-winning actor Sir Mark Rylance, director of the English National Opera Martyn Brabbins, and the esteemed cross-bench peer Baroness Usha Prasher.
