Netflix Heartstopper’s Cormac Hyde-Corrin will make his stage debut this August in the world premiere of Northbound Boy by Oberon Books founder James Hogan.
A new queer comedy exploring love and what we consider valuable, Northbound Boy follows 43-year-old Ken as he picks up a younger man at the service station only to realise the hitchhiker Rory is looking for a different type of ride. After a short drive to Ken’s recently inherited home, Rory makes a play for Ken’s family jewels, only to discover the elusive Aunt Ivy has already whisked them away. This home certainly isn’t where his heart is, and it’s not just the skeletons coming out of the closet.
Cormac, best known as series regular Harry in global Netflix phenomenon Heartstopper, will star as 19-year-old Rory, a hitchhiker picked up by Ken played by Neil Ashton known for playing Davey MacDonagh in Sky Originals’ Brassic. The cast is completed by Sarah Moyle, best known for playing the much-loved series regular Valerie in BBC’s Doctors and the original West End and Broadway casts of Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem, as Ken’s mysterious estranged Aunt Ivy.
Northbound Boy is the newest work by James Hogan, known for founding Oberon Books in 1985 and his previous play Venetian Gold (Cockpit Theatre London, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, King’s Head Islington 1991). Now in his 80s, Hogan stepped away from Oberon Books in 2019 to put more time towards his first love, playwriting. The show will be directed by Alex Jackson, co-founder of the Exeter Fringe Festival, making his main house debut after completing the King’s Head Theatre Trainee Director scheme.
Playwright James Hogan said, “I’ve met so many lonely guys who don’t fit into the gay scene. In the play, Ken has never even been to a gay bar. Now, at 43 he’s suddenly forced out of his comfort zone. On the M61 he gives a lift to a young hitchhiker, Rory, who makes a pass in the car and won’t take no for an answer. Something’s definitely got to give. I just had to write Northbound Boy, and I’m grateful for this opportunity to work at the King’s Head after thirty-three years! In 1991, Venetian Gold was brought in from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Since then, my work has been seen in several fringe theatres in London and the North. I’ll be 81 when the play opens. I might be the oldest unknown playwright in the country!”
James Hogan created Oberon Books following of his work running a writer’s group at the Riverside Studios in 1985. Initially Oberon Books championed plays by unknown writers, publishing them in high quality editions, a policy which Oberon maintains to this day. Hogan wanted to break with the English literary tradition in play publishing and align the list more towards performance. As a playwright, Hogan has written a number of scripts between the late 70s to the early 90s performed at various fringe venues such as the Gate Theatre, the Cockpit, the Old Red Lion, and the Kings Head in London. He has been a journalist/editor in the business sector and published several titles including The European Marketplace (Macmillan). Academic activities include Lecturer in Theatre Studies (London Guildhall University), Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art.
