Bridgerton’s Claudia Jessie to star in Lucy Kirkwood’s MARYLAND at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch

Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch have announced the cast for their upcoming script-in-hand performance of Lucy Kirkwood’s Maryland on 1 May.

Directed by Polina Kalinina, the performance will feature Claudia Jessie (Bridgerton, Netflix), alongside Karise Yansen (The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, UK Tour,; David Fynn (The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe, ITV), and Rebecca Tubridy (Hamlet and Twelfth Night, Young Shakespeare Company.) 

Sally Oliver (Demon Headmaster, CBBC: Holby City, Doctors, BBC: Emmerdale, ITV, Deep Blue Sea, RNT) will produce the event as well as performing in it alongside, Kate Ellis, Naomi Ellis, Sian McLeod, Nicole Acquah and Rachael Reshma, alongside female students from Havering Sixth Form college. 

Maryland was written in response to the murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa and was originally performed at the Royal Court in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs in October 2021. 

Since it’s sell out run at the Royal Court, the play has been performed up and down the country. The Maryland performance script has been offered for free to any theatre company or drama training organisation in the UK interested in staging their own script-in-hand reading. 

Playwright Lucy Kirkwood said:“The play was for many years a private conversation with myself. The horrific murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa galvinised me into making it public… It is simply a howl, a way of expressing what I feel about a culture of violence against women, but I am sharing it because I wonder if it might express a little of what other people feel about it too.”

Proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to Rape Crisis UK, with audiences encouraged to make a donation to the charity when the book their ticket. 

For more information and to book tickets, please click here.