A new entertainment company, Second Half Productions, has been launched today by Jeremy Herrin, Alan Stacey and Rob O’Rahilly. It will bring together world-leading artists to create innovative work for both stage and screen. It’s first production will see Amy Adams star in The Glass Menagerie.
The company is made up of Jeremy Herrin and Alan Stacey, who led acclaimed theatre company Headlong together between 2016 – 2020, have produced and directed award-winning shows in the West End, on Broadway and throughout the UK, including the Olivier-Award winning Labour of Love, This House and People, Places and Things. Co-founder Rob O’Rahilly, is a philanthropic supporter of charitable theatre companies and former Head of Asset Management Solutions and International Chief Investment Officer for JP Morgan. They are joined by Creative Associate Lucie Lovatt, former Head of Creative Development at Sonia Friedman Productions and Casting Director Jessica Ronane, also Casting Consultant for the Old Vic. Second Half Productions will look to present work that explores our turbulent past, present and future, engaging and invigorating audiences from across the UK and internationally with extraordinary writing from new and established voices.
Breathing new and unexpected life into classic stories, Second Half Productions’ inaugural project is a new production of The Glass Menagerie starring Amy Adams and directed by Jeremy Herrin (announced today). Opening at The Duke of York’s Theatre in May 2022, The Glass Menagerie will also star Paul Hilton, Tom Glynn-Carney and newcomers Lizzie Annis and Victor Alli. Future projects currently under commission, which will be announced in due course, will see Second Half Productions work with a broad range of UK writers and directors.
Second Half Productions are committed to prioritising accessibility within the industry for both artists and audiences alike. In early 2022 the company will launch two new initiatives that will contribute to changing the make-up of the West End landscape. The first will look to champion artists who have never before had work presented on a West End stage bringing exciting new voices and overlooked works to audiences in London and beyond. The second will help develop the directors and designers of the future, giving artists who might have previously been marginalised by the industry their first engagement as Associate Artists in the West End. These initiatives are generously supported by Susie Sainsbury.
Jeremy Herrin, Co-Director of Second Half Productions said:
“I know how lucky I am to be able to set up Second Half Productions as a new production company in order to do the work I love with some of the best people in the business. Alan Stacey and Rob O’Rahilly are great spirits with awesome skillsets with whom to be setting out on this adventure, and I’m delighted to build on brilliant working relationships with the casting vision of Jessica Ronane and the creative producing might of Lucie Lovatt. I am also really grateful to the visionary generosity of Susie Sainsbury who is supporting a structured scheme to diversify the pool of creative talent in the West End. We are all thrilled that Amy Adams is joining us on our first venture, and we look forward to further announcements of new plays, timely revivals and exciting musicals in due course.”
