Full cast announced for world premiere of FISHERMAN’S FRIENDS: THE MUSICAL

Photo credit: Danny Kaan

Full casting has been announced for the world premiere of Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical, which opens at the Hall for Cornwall from 13 October 2021.  

Calum Callaghan (Mr Selfridge) plays Danny, a fish-out-of-water music manager who stumbles across a group of shanty singing fishermen in Port Isaac, Cornwall.  The leader of the band, Jim, played by Deka Walmsley (Billy Elliot, Macbeth), takes some convincing to sign up his friends and family to the world of music recording.  He is joined by his fellow fishermen: Jago played by Robert Duncan (Drop the Dead Donkey), Leadville played by Mensah Bediako (Master Harold and the Boys), Rowan played by Dan Buckley (The Book of Mormon), Dinger played by Rakesh Boury (Rock of Ages), Wiggie played by Matt Slack (Blood Brothers) and Archie played by Hadrian Delacey (The Phantom of the Opera). The band is completed by Cornish actor Edward Rowe, known for his comedy character Kernow King and as the star of the BAFTA-winning film Bait, as Ben.

Star of stage and screen Susie Blake (Mrs Brown’s Boys, Coronation Street) joins the company as pub landlady Maggie, alongside Parisa Shahmir (The Last Ship) as Alwyn, Deborah Tracey (Standing At The Sky's Edge) as record label manager Leah and Georgia Bruce (Malory Towers) as Sally.

The cast is completed by on-stage actor-musicians, James William-Pattison (Once), Annie Grace (Sting’s The Last Ship), John O’Mahony (This Restless House), Louise Beadel (Fame) and musicians Hazel Askew (BBC Radio 2 Folk Award nominee), Alfie Gidley (New Roots finalist) and Musical Director James Findlay (winner of the BBC Young Folk Award 2010).

Performances run in Cornwall until 30 October 2021, marking the Hall for Cornwall’s first major production to take to the stage following the ongoing multi-million pound transformation of the venue in the centre of Truro. 

When a group of Cornish fishermen came together to sing the traditional working songs they’d sung for generations, they hoped to raise a few quid for charity.  Nobody, least of all the fishermen, expected the story to end on the Pyramid stage of Glastonbury.  Packed with sea shanties, Fisherman’s Friends is a feelgood voyage about friendship, community and music.

Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical is directed by James Grieve and written by Amanda Whittington, with choreography by Matt Cole, set and costume design by Lucy Osborne, musical supervision by David White, sound by Dan Samson, and lighting by Johanna Town.

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