Marylebone Theatre have announced the cast for their realisation of an unfinished, visionary work by Friedrich Schiller, Dmitry, which launches the bold new venue’s inaugural season and will star The Crown’s Tom  Byrne in the title role.  

Alongside Byrne will be Poppy Miller (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Palace Theatre) as Dmitry’s mother, Tsarina Maria; Globe Associate Artist James Garnon (As You Like It,  Shakespeare’s Globe; The American Clock, Old Vic) as Cardinal Odowalsky, rising star Aurora Dawson-Hunte (The Mirror and the Light,  RSC; Queens, Almeida Theatre) as Marina, Piotr Baumann (Coronation Street, Eastenders) as Korela and Mark Hadfield (Pinocchio, National Theatre; Richard III, Almeida Theatre) as Prince Mnishek.  

The cast is completed by Ammar Haj Ahmad (The Jungle, Young Vic; Love, National Theatre), Daniel Hawksford (Troilus and Cressida, RSC; Macbeth, Shakespeare’s Globe), Oleg Mirochnikov (The Crown, Netflix; The Flash, Warner Brothers), Daniel York Loh (Dr Semmelweis, Bristol Old Vic; Pah-La, Royal Court Theatre), Lev Levermore (Richard III, Almeida Theatre; Boy, Almeida Theatre), Jonathan Oliver (Macbeth, Shakespeare’s Globe; War and Peace, National Theatre), Clifford Samuel (The Windrush Chronicles, BBC; A Guide for the Homesick, Trafalgar Studios) and Phoebe Strickland (Good Day, Silvertongue Theatre Company; Women of Troy, Drama Centre London).

Schiller’s prescient play, unfinished at the time of his death, offers a revelatory perspective on the current crisis on Europe’s eastern borders making Peter Oswald’s (resident playwright at  Shakespeare’s Globe under Mark Rylance) endeavour to pick up the baton timelier than ever.  This world premiere will be directed by the world-renowned former Artistic Director of the  Young Vic Tim Supple,  who returns to the London theatre scene after 15 years of international work to bring this  urgently relevant piece to life. 

In 1605 in Moscow, ruthless tsar Boris Gudonov, former chief of Ivan the Terrible’s secret police,  rules through fear and oppression. In Poland, a formidable young opponent – Dmitry – appears  claiming to be the missing son of Ivan the Terrible and the rightful tsar of Russia. The Polish  army, fuelled by the fear of the Russian threat, takes up Dmitry’s cause to march on the Kremlin  to capture the throne. This poetic drama cuts to the heart of 21st century politics through a rich  imagining of Eastern Europe and Russia’s shared history.  

Artistic Director of Marylebone Theatre Alexander Gifford said: “I am delighted that our  launch production has attracted such an excellent cast. It includes both rising stars and  established names. As a venue, we are daring to open with a big, classical production and it is  thrilling that it will be carried by such a brilliant and experienced group. I am particularly pleased  that our actors come from a very broad range of cultures and racial backgrounds. Dmitry is an  epic play in verse with extraordinary dramatic intensity. I am confident that our cast will imbue it  with the power and passion it deserves.”  

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