Casting announced for Mike Bartlett's brand new comedy SCANDALTOWN

Photo credit: Mike Blackett

Full casting has been announced for Scandaltown, a brand new comedy by Mike Bartlett, which runs at the Lyric Hammersmith from 7 April-14 May.

Directed by the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre’s Artistic Director Rachel O’Riordan, Scandaltown is a modern restoration comedy and irreverent satire, set in post-pandemic London, full of immorality, political hypocrisy and the machinations of a fame-hungry elite.

The cast includes Rachael Stirling (The Bletchley Circle) as Lady Susan Climber, Richard Goulding (The Windsors) as Matt Eton and Emma Cunniffe (Queen Anne, RSC) as Aunty Julie and Rachel De Souza.

Completing the cast are Cecilia Appiah (The Long Song, Chichester Festival Theatre) as Phoebe Virtue, Matthew Broome as Jack Virtue in his stage debut, Henry Everett (Antony and Cleopatra, National Theatre) as Peter Media OBE, Luke Hornsby (1917) as Freddie Peripheral, Thomas Josling (Habeas Corpus, Menier Chocolate Factory) as Tom Double-Budget, Aysha Kala (BAFTA Breakthrough Brit) as Hannah Tweetwell, Annette McLaughlin (Matilda, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child) as Rosalind Double-Budget and Scrub, Ami Okumura Jones (EastEnders) as Jenny Bright, and Chukwuma Omambala (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, RSC) as Sir Dennis Hedge and Kevin the Postman.

Director Rachel O’Riordan said: “I am delighted to be directing Mike Bartlett’s new play Scandaltown at the Lyric. Mike is one of our most exciting writers, with a huge heart.  I was so disappointed when we had to cancel the run of Love, Love, Love due to Covid because audiences were having such a good time in our theatre. Mike wrote Scandaltown especially for our beautiful Matcham auditorium - the most beautiful theatre in London. I can’t wait to share this funny, bold new play with our audiences.”

“We are not virtuous, but neither are we cruel. We believe in simply: no shame.” When noble heroine Miss Phoebe Virtue receives worrisome news on Instagram that her twin brother Jack may be endangering his reputation in London Town, she decides she must visit herself, and investigate. Scandaltown is an irreverent satire for our times. Expect the finest couture, rakish behaviour, explicit hashtags and a party that will have all of London talking.

The production has set design by Good Teeth, costumes by Kinnetia Isidore, lighting by Paul Keogan, sound and composition by Simon Slater, and choreography by Malik Nashad Sharpe.

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