First Look: Brief Encounter at The Royal Exchange Theatre in Rehearsal

Royal Exchange Theatre release rehearsal images for Brief Encounter, a huge beating heart of a musical for incurable romantics. This unique and timely version of Emma Rice’s smash hit stage adaptation of Noël Coward’s iconic original, marks the 50^th anniversary since the playwright’s death and showcases his remarkable talent as a writer, composer and songwriter.

Musical theatre performers Baker Mukasa, fresh from his role in the acclaimed hit musical STANDING AT THE SKY’S EDGE, and Hannah Azuonye who appeared in the West-End transfer of GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY, will star opposite each other as the hopeless lovers Alec and Laura, supported by a five-strong multi-rolling cast of characters.

This new production, spanning 6 weeks from 2 December until 13 January 2024, will be directed by the Royal Exchange Theatre’s former Artistic Director Sarah Frankcom (WEST SIDE STORY Royal Exchange Theatre; THEY MIF; THE BREACH Hampstead Theatre) and showcases for the first time a full complement of musical numbers drawn from Coward’s extraordinary songbook, accompanied by live Jazz on stage arranged by Musical Director Matthew Malone (STANDING AT THE SKY’s EDGE Sheffield Crucible; CAROUSEL Regents Park Open Air Theatre). The brand-new set design will be by 2019 Linbury Prize for Stage Design winner Rose Revitt.

Sarah Frankcom says of this show: “Remembering Noël Coward in this 50^th anniversary year allows us to really foreground his mastery as a remarkable songwriter responsible for delivering and performing some of the most iconic songs of the last 100 years. I’m really looking forward to creating a production that allows these enduring characters to inhabit the world of the song and lets us understand the inside of their hearts.”

She adds: “This is an iconic story that takes place in a railway station, the most public of spaces, and as the audience watch the most extreme and intimate moments of a relationship played out in front of them, in a theatre, in the round, in a huge public space that is the Royal Exchange, there’s an exciting synergy that I can’t wait for audiences to experience.”