Hampstead Theatre today announces the full cast for Richard Bean’s uproarious new comedy, To Have and To Hold, which opens on 20 October and runs until 25 November (press night Thursday 26 October).
Alun Armstrong (New Tricks, BBC One; Sweeney Todd, National Theatre; Endgame, Donmar) will play Jack Kirk and is joined by Marlene Sidaway (Mum, BBC; The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, UK tour) as his wife Flo Kirk.
Alongside Armstrong and Sidaway as Jack and Flo’s children are Christopher Fulford (Loot, Park Theatre; Screw, Channel 4) and Hermione Gulliford (The Southbury Child, Bridge Theatre; Romeo & Juliet, Globe). The cast is completed with Rachel Dale (The Hypocrite, RSC; The Bay, ITV) and Adrian Hood (Harvest, Royal Court; The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, West End).
Directed by Richard Wilson, To Have and To Hold tackles the prickly problem of dealing with ageing parents who just don’t want to be dealt with.
“He talks about going to Switzerland, to that place where you pay them to kill you… And I say “go! It’ll do you good. Broaden your horizons…you’ve never been abroad!”
After sixty years of marriage, happily settled into their retirement village in Yorkshire, Jack and Florence have elevated bickering almost to the status of high art. That said, they’re otherwise getting along fine with the support of a cousin and the hilarious interventions of the man known locally as ‘Rhubarb Eddie’. But will their anxious son, shuttling between London and LA, and their errant daughter, who’s contemplating a move to Australia, leave them to live out their days in peace?
Writer of the international smash-hit comedy One Man, Two Guvnors, Richard Bean returns to Hampstead after successes with Kiss Me and In the Club. His other work includes Jack Absolute Flies Again (National Theatre), Young Marx (Bridge) and Made in Dagenham, The Musical (Adelphi).
Director Richard Wilson also returns to Hampstead after the success of his production of Peggy For You. He is reunited with Bean whose plays Toast, Under the Whaleback (both Royal Court) and The Nap (Sheffield Crucible) he also directed.
The production will be designed by James Cotterill with lighting by Bethany Gupwell and sound by John Leonard. The casting director is Robert Sterne CDG and Assistant Director is Jos Vantyler.
To Have and To Hold is a Hampstead Theatre Next Decade commission – a joint Hampstead Theatre and AKO Foundation initiative. The production is also kindly supported by Lin and Ken Craig.
To Have and To Hold opens on Friday 20 October and runs until Saturday 25 November.
Tickets are on sale now at hampsteadtheatre.com.
