Anthology Theatre has announced the full cast for the London premiere of This Is My Family, Tim Firth’s award-winning musical about a chaotic family holiday, opening at Southwark Playhouse Elephant on May 28th.
The cast will feature Nancy Allsop, Victoria Elliott, Michael Jibson, Luke Lambert, Gay Soper, and Gemma Whelan. Vicky Featherstone will direct.
Hilarious and heartwarming, This Is My Family tells the story of Nicky, who fabricates a perfect family for a competition, and wins a dream holiday off the back of this lie. She takes her family - constantly squabbling, on the verge of falling apart, and decidedly not perfect - on a camping trip to the place where her parents first met, hoping to bring them together.
Nancy Allsop plays Nicky. Her theatre credits include The Hills Of California (Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway and Harold Pinter Theatre), The Fever Syndrome (Hampstead Theatre), God Bless the Child (Royal Court Theatre), and Annie (Piccadilly Theatre).
Victoria Elliott plays Sian. Her theatre credits include Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare's Globe), The Lost Disc (Soho Theatre), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Two, As You Like It (Royal Exchange Theatre) and I Can't Sing! (Palladium Theatre).
Michael Jibson plays Steve. His theatre credits include Stranger Things: The First Shadow (Phoenix Theatre), Hamilton (Victoria Palace Theatre), Roots (Donmar Warehouse), Road Show, Take Flight (Menier Chocolate Factory), and Brighton Rock (Almeida Theatre).
Luke Lambert plays Matt. He recently graduated from Arts Ed and this production marks his professional stage debut.
Gay Soper plays May. Her theatre credits include The Mousetrap (St Martin’s Theatre), Funny Girl (Savoy, transferred from Menier Chocolate Factory), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Apollo Theatre / Gielgud Theatre), and Sunday in the Park with George (Wyndham’s Theatre).
Gemma Whelan plays Yvonne. Her theatre credits include Underdog: The Other OtherBrontë (National Theatre), Upstart Crow (Apollo Theatre), Pinter at the Pinter: A Slight Ache (Harold Pinter Theatre), and Radiant Vermin (Soho Theatre, Tobacco Factory).
Victoria Featherstone’s theatre credits include Jews. In Their Own Words, The Glow, Maryland, Living Newspaper, Shoe Lady, On Bear Ridge Cyprus Avenue, The Cane, Gundog, My Mum’s a Twat, Bad Roads, among others. She was previously Artistic Director of Paines Plough, the inaugural Artistic Director of the National Theatre of Scotland,, and Artistic Director of the Royal Court.
Tim Firth’s theatre credits include Now Is Good (Chester Storyhouse), Neville’s Island (Nottingham Playhouse and West End), The Safari Party (Stephen Joseph, Scarborough and Hampstead), Our House (West End), The Flint Street Nativity (Liverpool Playhouse) and Sign Of The Times (West End). His play Calendar Girls (Chichester Festival Theatre, West End) was nominated for an Olivier and won the WhatsOnStage Best Comedy Award. His musical The Band (Manchester Opera House, West End) won the MEN Best Musical Award.
The rest of the creative team includes:
Music Supervision: Caroline Humphris;
Set Design: Chloe Lamford;
Lighting Design: Lee Curran;
Sound Design: Dominic Bilkey;
Costume Design & Associate Set Design: Ethan Cheek;
Music Direction: Natalie Pound;
Casting Director: Amy Ball CDG; and
Associate Director: Vaila Anderson.
This Is My Family was originally staged at Sheffield Theatres in 2013, where it won the UK Theatre Award for Best Musical. Now it comes to London for the first time, with a book and music by Tim Firth and directed by Vicky Featherstone.
Performances open at Southwark Playhouse Elephant on 28th May until 12th July, with previews from 23rd May.
