Full casting has been announced for The Watermill’s upcoming musical, a brand-new production of The Lord of the Rings, which runs at the Newbury venue from 25 July-15 October.

A musical tale based on the classic trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, the production features a book and lyrics by Shaun McKenna and Matthew Warchus, and music by A.R. Rahman, Värttinä and Christopher Nightingale.

With the production set across both the Watermill auditorium and gardens, audiences will be immersed in the magical landscape of Middle-earth, joining an ensemble cast and large-scale puppets on an epic journey celebrating the power of friendship and common goodness to conquer unimaginable evil.

The full cast includes Folarin Akinmade (Perfect Show for Rachel, Barbican) as Gimli, Matthew Bugg (Zorro the Musical, Charing Cross Theatre) as Gollum, Reece Causton (Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man, UK Tour) as Ensemble, Kelly Coughlin (Avenue 5, HBO/Sky) as Ensemble, Geraint Downing (A Christmas Carol, The Old Vic Theatre) as Merry, Peter Dukes (Brief Encounter, Empire, Haymarket) as Boromir, Amelia Gabriel (Ride, VAULT Festival) as Pippin, Tom Giles (Miss Littlewood, RSC) as Elrond/Saruman, Charlotte Grayson (Whistle Down The Wind, The Watermill) as Rosie, Nuwan Hugh Perera (Life of Pi, West End) as Sam, Bridget Lappin (The Rhinegold, ENO) as Ensemble/Dance Captain, Georgia Louise (Tammy Faye, Almeida Theatre) as Galadriel, Elliot Mackenzie (Whistle Down The Wind, The Watermill) as Ensemble, Peter Marinker (Judge Dredd, Love, Actually, Labyrinth) as Gandalf, Louis Maskell (The Grinning Man, Bristol Old Vic & West End) as Frodo, Aoife O’Dea (Innocence, Royal Opera House) as Arwen, John O’Mahony (Fisherman’s Friends the Musical, UK Tour) as Bilbo, Yazdan Qafouri (The Band, West End) as Legolas, Sioned Saunders (Amélie, West End & The Watermill) as Ensemble/Onstage Musical Director, and Aaron Sidwell (Wicked, UK Tour) as Aragorn.

Paul Hart said, “Welcoming the cast and creative teams into rehearsals this week has been hugely exciting. The Lord of the Rings is one of the most epic stories ever written, and our production will hopefully bring audiences closer to the heart of this story than ever before – both figuratively and literally in our intimate 200 seat theatre. What’s central to this production is that we’re telling it through the perspective of the Hobbits and hopefully audiences will experience our depiction of Middle-earth with the same awe and wonderment. We’re so fortunate to be working with an incredible creative team and a truly multi-skilled group of performers and we’re determined to make a piece of theatre that will live long in the memory of all who see it!”

The Lord of the Rings will be directed by Paul Hart, with design by Simon Kenny, musical supervision and orchestrations by Mark Aspinall, choreography by Anjali Mehra, lighting by Rory Beaton, sound by Adam Fisher, projection design by George Reeve, puppet design by Charlie Tymms, and puppetry direction by Ashleigh Cheadle.

For more information, please click here.