FOLLOWING THE announcement last month that Jermyn Street Theatre has joined forces with Digital Theatre to present the major production, 15 Heroines, the theatre has revealed the full casting for this groundbreaking project.
These fifteen plays are more exciting than we could have dreamed – inventive, funny, angry and moving responses to Ovid’s originals.
Tom Littler
Amongst the actors who will take part in the specially commissioned works re-telling the stories of the women of classical myth by 15 female and non-binary playwrights, will be Olivia Williams, Nadine Marshall, Jemima Rooper, Martina Laird and Gemma Whelan.
They will be part of a cast of 15 who will perform the works in the empty Jermyn Street Theatre auditorium to be filmed and streamed online to audiences from November 9 – 14.
It has also been revealed that acclaimed actor and director Adjoa Andoh will join Jermyn Street Theatre artistic director Tom Littler and deputy director Cat Robey as part of the team of three directors on the project, with camera direction by Anke Lueddecke.
Inspired by Ovid’s The Heroines (Heroides), a collection of fifteen fictional letters written in the first century BCE, 15 Heroines comprises fifteen new plays be performed in three productions: The War, The Desert, and The Labyrinth.
The writers comprise April De Angelis, Stella Duffy, Samantha Ellis, Lorna French, Juliet Gilkes Romero, Natalie Haynes, Charlotte Jones, Hannah Khalil, Bryony Lavery, Isley Lynn, Lettie Precious, Sabrina Mahfouz, Chinonyerem Odimba, Timberlake Wertenbaker and Abi Zakarian.
Full casting comprises Gemma Whelan, Jemima Rooper, Ann Ogbomo, Rebekah Murrell and Sophia Eleni in The War, Indra Ové
Rosalind Eleazar, Nicholle Cherrie, Eleanor Tomlinson and Martina Laird in The Desert and Olivia Williams, Nadine Marshall, Doña
Croll, Nathalie Armin and Patsy Ferran in The Labyrinth.
Tom Littler says: “We are delighted to assemble this remarkable cast, supported by a wonderful creative team including directors Adjoa Andoh and Cat Robey.
“These fifteen plays are more exciting than we could have dreamed – inventive, funny, angry and moving responses to Ovid’s originals.
“They are proof of the enduring power of classical myths, and the constant renewal and reinvention of how we tell stories.”
There will be three performances of each work with a limited online audience capacity of 250 people for each with tickets at £20. https://www.jermynstreettheatre.co.uk/show/15-heroines/
15 Heroines is supported by Arts Council England, the Backstage Trust and the City Bridge Trust.
THE WAR
Starring
Gemma Whelan, Jemima Rooper, Ann Ogbomo, Rebekah Murrell and Sophia Eleni
OENONE by Lettie Precious
HERMIONE by Sabrina Mahfouz
LAODAMIA by Charlotte Jones
BRISEIS by Abi Zakarian
PENELOPE by Hannah Khalil
Directed by Adjoa Andoh, Tom Littler and Cat Robey
War takes many forms, as shown in these five entertaining and gripping plays, all set during the Trojan War. When Paris triggered the war by abducting Helen of Troy, he left behind him a Trojan wife, Oenone. His new bride Helen left behind her daughter, Hermione. Laodamia was married to the first Greek soldier to die in combat, and the fight to possess the captured Briseis is at the centre of Homer’s Iliad. Long after the war is over, Penelope awaits the return of her husband Odysseus.
7:30pm, Monday 9 November
7:30pm, Thursday 12 November
3:00pm, Saturday 14 November
https://jst15heroinesthewar.eventbrite.co.uk/
THE DESERT
Starring
Indra Ové, Rosalind Eleazar, Nicholle Cherrie, Eleanor Tomlinson and Martina Laird
DEIANARIA by April De Angelis
CANACE by Isley Lynn
HYPERMESTRA by Chinonyerem Odimba
DIDO by Stella Duffy
SAPPHO by Lorna French
Directed by Adjoa Andoh, Tom Littler and Cat Robey
Deserted but not defeated, five women confront their futures and the people who have wronged them. Now is the time to put the story straight. Deianaria tries to save her husband Heracles from his own nature. Canace defends an incestuous passion. Hypermestra is alone among her sisters – she spared her husband’s life. Dido is ruler of a city, founder of an empire – so why won’t Aeneas stay? Sappho is the greatest poet of her age, but her inspiration has run out.
3:00pm, Tuesday 10 November
7:30pm, Wednesday 11 November
7:30pm, Friday 13 November
https://jst15heroinesthedesert.eventbrite.co.uk/
THE LABYRINTH
Starring
Olivia Williams, Nadine Marshall, Doña Croll, Nathalie Armin and Patsy Ferran
ARIADNE by Bryony Lavery
PHAEDRA by Timberlake Wertenbaker
PHYLLIS by Samantha Ellis
HYPSIPYLE by Natalie Haynes
MEDEA by Juliet Gilkes Romero
Directed by Adjoa Andoh, Tom Littler and Cat Robey
Ariadne gave Theseus everything, guiding him through the Labyrinth to kill her brother, the Minotaur. Later, Theseus married Phaedra, who fell in love with Theseus’ son Hippolytus. Another of Theseus’ sons, Demophoon, is accused by his lover Phyllis of inheriting his father’s infidelity. Another hero, Jason, has abandoned the queen of Lemnos, Hypsipyle, and is now living with Medea – a woman he should know not to cross…
7:30pm, Tuesday 10 November
3:00pm Thursday 12 November
7:30pm Saturday 14 November
Jermyn Street Theatre is the West End’s smallest producing theatre. Led by Artistic and Executive Directors Tom Littler and Penny Horner, the programme includes outstanding new plays, rare revivals, new versions of European classics, and high-quality musicals, alongside one-off musical and literary events. It collaborates with theatres across the world, and its productions have transferred to the West End and Broadway. Its 2020 had begun with acclaimed, sold-out productions of a Beckett Triple Bill directed by Trevor Nunn, and The Tempest directed by Tom Littler. During closure, the theatre has responded with its Brave New World season of digital work, including the complete cycle of Shakespeare’s sonnets performed by a mixture of graduating drama students and household names including Helena Bonham Carter and Olivia Colman.
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