“There is nothing more than to love and be loved”
Original Theatre & JAS Theatricals in association with Joshua Beaumont & Huw Allen, Birdsong Productions & Wiltshire Creative, have announced the full cast of their 2024/25 tour of Birdsong. The epic First World War story of love and loss returns to the stage this Autumn in a brand-new production marking the 30th anniversary of Sebastian Faulks’s international best-selling novel.
Max Bowden (EastEnders) will play Jack Firebrace as previously announced, and James Esler (Litvinenko) will play Stephen Wraysford alongside Charlie Russell (The Goes Wrong Show, And Then There Were None (BBC)) as Isabelle Azaire. They are joined by Joseph Benjamin Baker as Evans/Levi, Raif Clarke as Tipper, James Findlay as Brennan, Dave Fishley as Turner, Gracie Follows as Lisette, Sulin Hasso as Marguerite, Tama Phethean as Shaw/LeBrun, Natalie Radmall-Quirke as Jeanne, Roger Ringrose as Bérard/Barclay and Sargon Yelda as René Azaire/Gray.
Birdsong, which tells the story of one man’s journey through an all-consuming love affair and into the horror of the First World War, is adapted by Rachel Wagstaff and directed by Original Theatre’s Artistic Director, Alastair Whatley. Design is by Richard Kent, Lighting by Jason Taylor, Music Composition by Sophie Cotton, Sound by Dominic Bilkey with Casting by Ellie Collyer-Bristow (CDG).
In pre-war France, a young Englishman, Stephen Wraysford, embarks on a passionate and dangerous affair with the beautiful Isabelle Azaire that turns their world upside down. As the war breaks out over the idyll of his former life, Stephen must lead his men through the carnage of the Battle of the Somme and through the sprawling tunnels that lie deep underground. Faced with the unprecedented horror of the war, Stephen clings to the memory of Isabelle as his world explodes around him.
Birdsong will tour in 2024/25 to Salisbury Playhouse (6-14 Sept), Leeds Playhouse (17-21 Sept), Cambridge Arts Theatre (23-28 Sept), Richmond Theatre (1-5 October), Liverpool Playhouse Theatre (8-12 Oct), Theatre Royal Nottingham (15-19 Oct), Everyman Theatre Cheltenham (22-26 Oct), Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford (29 Oct-2 Nov), Chichester Festival Theatre (5-9 Nov), Norwich Theatre Royal (12-16 Nov), Malvern Theatres (19-23 Nov), Theatre Royal Bath (25-30 Nov), Theatre Royal Newcastle (21-25 Jan), Birmingham Rep (27 Jan-1 Feb), Theatre Royal Brighton (4-8 Feb), Aylesbury Waterside Theatre (11-15 Feb) and His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen (18-22 Feb).
The producers of Birdsong are working in partnership with the Royal British Legion during the tour.
