Bristol Old Vic have announced the full cast for their world premiere production of Gareth Farr’s new play A Child of Science, telling the pioneering story of Robert Edwards, Patrick Steptoe and Jean Purdy’s creation of IVF, and the army of women whose bravery helped them achieve the impossible, which plays at the venue from 5 June-6 July.

Faced with fierce criticism and hostility and hounded by the media for “playing God”, trials were kept under wraps. But their determination to give hope to thousands of families struggling to conceive eventually led to one of the most remarkable medical breakthroughs of our time: the birth of a baby girl and the creation of IVF, a procedure which has supported the birth of over 12 million babies worldwide over the last 45 years.

Joining the previously announced Tom Felton as medical maverick Robert Edwards in the cast are Jamie Glover (Casualty, BBC; Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, West End) as obstetrician Patrick Steptoe, Meg Bellamy (The Crown, Netflix) as embryologist Jean Purdy, Adelle Leonce (Fool Me Once, Netflix) as Margaret, representing the hundreds of anonymous women who took part in the gruelling medical trials, and Sonoya Mizuno (House of the Dragon, HBO) as philanthropist Lillian Lincoln Howell and Sheena Steptoe.

The cast is completed by Saikat Ahamed (Life of Pi, West End), Gruffudd Glyn (Joseph K and the Cost of Living, National Theatre Wales), Bobby Hirston (The Play That Goes Wrong, West End/National Tour), Amy Loughton (Animal, Park Theatre/UK tour), Bebe Sanders (Twelfth Night, Orange Tree Theatre), and Everal A Walsh (Rockets and Blue Lights, National Theatre). 

Writer Gareth Farr, director Matthew Dunster and their partners were only able to have children thanks to the science of IVF.  The creative team was very carefully selected so that this personal story was told by a diverse and passionate group of artists, many of whom have their own fertility stories. 

Of the acting company, Director Matthew Dunster said: “I’m very excited about the actors that are heading to Bristol to work with me on Gareth Farr’s extraordinary, revelatory and emotional play. I’ve worked with Tom Felton recently in the West End and I know what a terrific stage actor he is, and I’ve admired so many of our other actors from afar, not least Meg Bellamy in her detailed and sensitive portrayal of Kate Middleton in The Crown recently. This will be Meg’s stage debut, and she and the rest of this exciting ensemble are raring to go and can’t wait to bring this story to life at Bristol Old Vic.”

Also on the creative team are set designer Anna Fleischle, costume designer and associate set designer Angelica Rush, lighting designer Sally Ferguson, sound designer Holly Khan, composer Genevieve Dawson, and video designer Gino Ricardo Green.

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