The Daily Mail in a story based on an interview with Damian Cruden has announced details of the upcoming stage production of Brideshead Revisited opening at York’s Theatre Royal next month. Cruden, the play’s director,
said that all the characters are wrapped up in searching for their faith and themselves…Cruden added that he wanted to explore the story from the perspective of ‘Britain today’ and to observe the pace of social structures and to achieve that it was important to cast the piece with actors who reflect Britain now.
Sebastian, played by Anthony Andrews in the landmark Eighties television drama, will be taken by Asian actor Christopher Simpson, while actress Kiran Sonia Sawar has been picked as Sebastian’s sibling Cordelia. Cruden, artistic director of York Theatre Royal, said that the story looks at the upper-crust socialites of the time ‘and that was a very white world. The world that looks back on that today is not that.’ He continued: ‘It’s not about their being black actors to do the roles, it’s about their being a really good company of actors to tell this story and those actors should represent the world we live in now because they’re telling the story to the community now.’ The company of actors will play multiple role roles apart from Brian Ferguson and Rosie Hilal, who play Charles Ryder and Julia Flyte. The cast also includes Paul Shelley and Caroline Harker as Lord and Lady Marchmain, and Nick Blakeley and Shuna Snow.
A photo of the actors portraying Sebastian, Charles and Julia accompanies the story in the Mail. More details on the cast and crew, including biographies, can be seen on the site My Theatre Mates.
