The full cast for a new stage adaptation of Nobel Prize winning author Kazuo Ishiguro’s best-selling novel Never Let Me Go includes Amelie Abbott (Hannah/Chrissi), Susan Aderin (Miss Emily), Matilda Bailes (Ruth), Nell Barlow (Kathy), Maximus Evans (Philip), Angus Imrie (Tommy), Princess Khumalo (Laura), Emile Patry (Miss Lucy/Madame), and Tristan Waterson (Rodney/Alfie).
Rehearsals start today before performances begin at the Rose Theatre in Kingston on Friday, 20 September before moving to Royal & Derngate, Malvern Theatres, Bristol Old Vic, and Chichester Festival Theatre through late November. Press night is Wednesday, 25 September.
The previously announced creative team includes Suzanne Heathcote (Adapter), Christopher Haydon (Director), Tom Piper (Set and Costume Designer), Ayse Tashkiran (Movement Director), Joshua Carr (Lighting Designer), Eamonn O’Dwyer (Composer), Carolyn Downing (Sound Designer), Sam Jones CDG (Casting Director), Haruka Kuroda (Fight Director), and Emma Denson (Assistant Director).
As announced last week, Olivier Award nominee Marisha Wallace (Guys & Dolls) has recorded the title song for the production. Wallace does not appear live on stage but instead offers her exquisite vocals to the recording of this original song, which features in the play. A behind-the-scenes video of the recording session can be viewed here.
As the production was announced this spring, Kazuo Ishiguro said, “I’m filled with excitement by news of the upcoming production of Never Let Me Go. Suzanne Heathcote is a superb writer for both stage and screen. Christopher Haydon directed a beautiful adaptation of my The Remains of the Day not long ago. And the arrival of this new version of Never Let Me Go feels particularly well-timed. Its central question – How do we find and hold onto love in a world ruled by out-of-control science and savage hierarchical structures? – feels even more haunting today than when I wrote the novel twenty years ago. I look forward to discovering how this wonderfully talented team will re-imagine the story for the stage and for our time.”
“Never Let Me Go has been among my favourite novels since I first read it two decades ago. It is an achingly beautiful story of how we maintain hope, and continue to love in the face of a hostile world. It’s become one of the world’s best loved novels and has all of the elements of a great piece of theatre,” says Christopher Haydon, Artistic Director, who directs the production. “I’m thrilled to be heading into the rehearsal room today to start bringing this incredible story to life with this cast.”
Never Let Me Go is being co-produced with Bristol Old Vic, Malvern Theatres, and Royal & Derngate, Northampton, where the production will play following its premiere at the Rose; tickets are now on sale at all co-producing theatres. The production will also be part of Chichester Festival’s upcoming Winter Season, with tickets going on sale there in September.
