Joining the previously announced Peter Polycarpou as Hercule Poirot in Lucy Bailey’s UK and Ireland tour of Agatha Christie’s The Hollow are Luke Allen-Gale as John Cristow/Inspector Colquhoun, Victoria Blunt as Henrietta Angkatell, James Clyde as Gudgeon, Grace Darling as Midge, Kemi-Bo Jacobs as Veronica Craye, Sarah Moyle as Lady Lucy Angkatell, Noella Naibaho as Doris, Michael Praed as Sir Henry Angkatell, James Sheldon as Edward Angkatell and Tilly Steele as Gerda Cristow. Also in the cast is Paula Hines.
Following sell-out tours of And Then There Were None, Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile, producers Fiery Angel and director Lucy Bailey (director of the West End hit Witness for the Prosecution) partner once again to bring one of Agatha Christie’s most psychologically charged mysteries to the stage this autumn.
In a new version by Tamsin Oglesby (National Theatre, Old Vic Theatre, RSC), the production opens at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury on Friday 9 October 2026 and heads to Norwich Theatre Royal between 4 – 8 May.
Renowned detective Hercule Poirot expected a quiet break in the country; instead he’s drawn into one of the most unsettling cases of his career.
At The Hollow, an elegant country estate, a glamorous circle of guests gather together one summer evening. But beneath the sunlit charm, something darker coils. Old passions refuse to die. New rivalries ignite. Dangerous infatuations take hold. Then — a shot rings out.
A body is discovered. A smoking revolver in an unsteady hand. The scene appears almost staged; a shockingly straightforward crime…. It is anything but.
Peter Polycarpou is a two-time Olivier Award nominee. His recent stage credits include Les Misérables: The Arena Concert Spectacular, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and Hello, Dolly!, while his screen work includes House of the Dragon, Birds of a Feather, The Brutalist and Evita. He received Olivier nominations for his performances in Oslo and The Band’s Visit.
Luke Allen-Gale recently wrapped filming on California Avenue for the BBC, starring alongside Bill Nighy and Helena Bonham Carter. Screen credits also include the role of William Shakespeare in Netflix’s The Sandman. Previously he played the multi-season regular role of Brad De Vries in the ITV hit series Van Der Valk. Other credits include the feature films Midas Man and DOOM: Annihilation, the TV series Genius, Peter Kosminsky’s The Promise and BBC’s Ripper Street.
Victoria Blunt’s theatre credits include: A Christmas Carol (RSC), Vanya (The Duke of York’s Theatre) where she understudied Andrew Scott and the UK tour of Prism, starring alongside Robert Lindsay. A founding member of The Watermill Ensemble, she was nominated for an Offie Award for her role as Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Wilton’s Music Hall). Screen work for the BBC includes Babies and Doctors and for Netflix The Perfect Couple, The Diplomat and the improvised comedy Borderline.
James Clyde‘s recent theatre credits include Top Hat (Chichester Festival Theatre and UK Tour), Of Mice and Men (Birmingham Rep), The Darkest Part of the Night (Kiln Theatre) and Pinocchio (Hull Truck Theatre). His extensive stage career includes productions for the RSC, National Theatre, Young Vic and Shakespeare’s Globe. Television credits include Leonardo, Black Earth Rising, Above Suspicion: Deadly Intent, New Tricks and The Bill.
Grace Darling’s stage credits include The Mousetrap (St. Martin’s Theatre, West End), Queen (Edinburgh Fringe Festival) and The Changing of the Guard (Jermyn Street Theatre). Grace has also worked on several Doctor Who audiobooks.
Kemi-Bo Jacobs recently played the leading role of Agnes in the RSC’s US production of Hamnet. Other theatre credits include Virgilia in Coriolanus at the National Theatre opposite David Oyelowo, Catherine of Aragon in The Other Boleyn Girl at Chichester Festival Theatre, Ginnie Hempstock in the National Theatre tour and West End run of The Ocean at the End of the Lane and Michael Buffong’s production of All My Sons. Her screen work includes The Agency, The Letter for the King (Netflix), The Great (Hulu) and McMafia, and the feature film London Has Fallen. Kemi-Bo is also a writer and recipient of the Peter Shaffer Award, most notably writing and starring in All White Everything But Me at Live Theatre.
Sarah Moyle’s recent theatre credits include Inside No. 9 / Stage Fright (Hammersmith Apollo and UK Tour), Handbagged (Hornchurch and UK Tour), My Fair Lady (Curve Theatre), The Empress and Falkland Sound (RSC), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (West End), She Stoops to Conquer (National Theatre) and Jerusalem (Royal Court Theatre and West End). Her screen credits include We Live In Time, The Sister Boniface Mysteries, Doctors, Mount Pleasant, WPC 56, Emmerdale and Extras.
Noella Naibaho will make her professional stage debut in The Hollow.
Michael Praed became a household name as Robin Hood in the TV series Robin of Sherwood and as Prince Michael of Moldavia in the American soap Dynasty. Other notable screen roles include Phileas Fogg in The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne and Frank Clayton in Emmerdale. His extensive theatre credits include Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music (UK Tour), George in The War of the Worlds (Dominion Theatre), Julian Marsh in 42nd Street (UK Tour), Lawrence Jameson in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (UK Tour), Dexter Haven in High Society (UK Tour), Alex in Aspects of Love (Prince of Wales Theatre), F. Scott Fitzgerald in Beautiful and Damned (Lyric Theatre), Otto in Design for Living (Gielgud Theatre) and Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance (Theatre Royal Drury Lane).
James Sheldon recently appeared in Much Ado About Nothing and Love’s Labour’s Lost at the Orange Tree Theatre and played Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice for Bolton Octagon and on UK tour. His stage credits also include The Rivals, The Importance of Being Earnest, Pressure, The Girl on the Train, She Stoops to Conquer and Richard III. His television work includes appearances in Sherwood, Grantchester, Father Brown and Shakespeare & Hathaway.
Tilly Steele’s theatre credits include Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Leicester Curve), Strange Fruit (Bush Theatre) and Barnbow Canaries (Leeds Playhouse). Previous TV and film credits include Victoria (ITV), Doctor Who (BBC1), Ladhood (BBC3) and Strike (BBC1).
Agatha Christie’s The Hollow is produced by Fiery Angel in association with Agatha Christie Limited and the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury. The production is directed by Lucy Bailey, with set and costume design by Joanna Parker, lighting design by Chris Davey, sound design and composition by Nick Powell and casting by Ginny Schiller.
