Ladies & Gentlemen...The Cast. Almost.

I always had an inkling that the casting process might be more difficult than I envisaged: never ignore your inkles! Lesson one learnt.
Lesson Two: always read the notes you make during the process and make sure you read the information that others give you - this saves confusion and possible embarrassment at a later date!

However, to have such a talented bunch of actors from which to choose is a dilemma that many directors wish they had, I think. The only down side is that, as is the case with pretty much all of Will's work, there are all too few really excellent roles for the ladies. Those that are available, particularly in King Lear, are some of the most sought-after in the canon. And so it was with this casting process; I'm just really sorry that some were, inevitably, disappointed. I hope that everyone is as happy as I am with the final list; I believe that we have the most amazing and talented cast and I am so looking forward to getting down to the nuts 'n' bolts of this production.

We start the blocking process on April 23rd at Dartmouth Castle - a slight change to previous years -  so that the actors can get the sheer size of the stage firmly embedded in their minds before we move indoors to start on characterisation and the finer moves. This is the bit I love, getting everyone cooking and throwing ideas around, getting a real feel for the people that we're bringing to life. And these are the people who will start that journey in the not-too-distant future.

• King Lear   -   Jon Miles. This is Jon's fourth outing with the company, having played Tubal in  The Merchant of Venice, Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Adam in As You Like It.
• Goneril   -   Shaunagh Radcliffe. Shaunagh joins us all fresh and shiney for her first time in a speaking role with the company. She appeared as part of the dance troupe in The Tempest and also produced the beautiful artwork for our tenth anniversary production of Twelfth Night and has done the same again this year for King Lear.
• Regan   -   Jill Brock. Jill has appeared as a goddess, a fairy and Hero in Much Ado About Nothing as well as one of the Witches in Macbeth. She also designed and made the costumes for said Witches, as well as making sheep outfits for Audrey's flock in As You Like It. I'm sure she's done a load of other stuff too...she'll let me know if I've missed anything really vital!
• Cordelia/The Fool   -   Sally Feetenby. I do not envy our Sal. Not a bit. This is one heck of an ask, but I know she's more than capable of pulling it off. Sally's an old hand at this Shakespeare lark these days, although she wasn't so sure about it in 2007 when she tried her hand for the first time playing Helena...or was it Hermia...in The Dream. Anyway, she obviously enjoys it, cos she agreed to my insane plan to have her play both parts!
• Albany   -   Rob Wilcocks. Or is it WilCOX? Let me know Rob, need to get it right for the programme! Rob has sung loudly in Twelfth Night as well as being a fine serving-person and was as regal as you like when he played Lennox (or is it LennOCKS?) in Macbeth. Which is what prompted me to ask him to play Goneril's put-upon husband.
• Cornwall   -   Vernon Davis. Welcome back Vern! Our Macbeth in 2010 took a wee break when his daughter was born and we thank Phoebe for allowing him out to play this year :-) A big presence on-stage, Vern is precisely the man to play against Jill's Regan. They are going to make a formidable pair, I know!
• Edgar   -   Sam Duberley. Sam joined us for the first time last year, playing Sebastian in Twelfth Night...and tore it up! Although not a huge part, Sebastian has one of those speeches that even a non-Shakespearean type-person knows: 'This is the air, that is glorious sun...' and Sam nailed it beautifully, along with rest of the character. This is a challenge for him, but he said he's up for it, so...on your own head be it! No, hang on...that'd  be my head then.
• Gloucester   -    Ernie Wingeatt. Ernie's third foray into Dartmouth Shakespeare Week, having played in Macbeth and, last year, opposite Sam as Antonio. Seemed sort of appropriate that we keep a winning team together...and Ernie has the gravitas (and the beard!) to play a sympathetic and moving Gloucester. Dunno how he is at screaming though.

Because of the number of smaller parts in Lear, I decided to amalgamate a few of them and give these actors a larger bite at being on-stage and creating more than one character. It might seem an easy thing to do, but it ain't. Kudos to these guys for taking up the gauntlet.

• Burgundy/Servant 2   -   Fred Radcliffe. Fred is a definite first-timer with the company and read with confidence and aplomb at the audition. He may well end up being a soldier, a servant and a flag-waver as well...but I haven't told him that yet!
• Doctor/Servant 3   -   Malcolm MacIntosh. 'Nuff said. Malcolm stepped down as Artistic Director at the end of 2012 but has graciously agreed to take on these two small but pivotal roles...and I can tap him for some advice if needed!
• Katherine   -   Lucy Nichols. Who's Katherine? OK, she was Curran but she's not anymore. No, we're not doing a sex-change version of Lear, that would just be odd and not a little spooky.

I'm still awaiting acceptance/refusal of four parts from very busy guys, but I'll let everyone know when I've got my Kent, Edmund, Oswald & Knight One (another new Frankenstein-type character) in the bag. And by Frankenstein I mean stitched together, we're not doing a zombie/horror version, that too would be odd and not a little wrong!

And that just leaves a load of extras for the servants/soldiers to find. But we're working on it. Our lovely Lynne Deller will be assembling the Bedlam Beggars for our little twist in the tale, ably assisted by Xowie Brandt, who will also be part of the Stage Management team, with special responsibility for organising the servant/soldiers and beggars, making sure they are where they need to be when they need to be there! AND Xowie will also be doing the make-up...quiet day at the office for her then. She'll probably wave a flag or two and move with the beggars as well...
Sophie Griffiths, who has been on-stage a couple of times for us, as William in As You Like It and Fleance in Macbeth, has kindly accepted the role of Stage Manager this year. Thank you Sophie and also thanks to S.O.D.'s, who gave the S/M role in this year's L'il SOD's prduction of The Frog Prince.
(And if you missed that, you missed a blinder!)

AND we have an excellent new tech team on-board this year, led by the inimitable Dan Nichols with Ben, Ross & Will. Another new member is Caiomhe McKenna, who is our set-designer and will be working in conjunction with myself, tech and our lovely Head of Costume, Jenny Gould. And Jen's team is augmented this year by another inductee to the joys of Inn-age, Sophie Tope, stitcher extraordinaire.

So when I know, you'll know. Let me know what you think!