Paul Bradley, Jonathan Broadbent, Selina Cadell, Rebekah Hinds, Belinda Lang and Christopher Ravenscroft will appear in the first major London revival of Humble Boy by Charlotte Jones, with previews from 8 March. Directed by OT Artistic Director Paul Miller, the production is designed by Simon Daw, with lighting design by Mark Doubleday and the sound designer and composer is Max Pappenheim.
Charlotte Jones’ witty family comedy won the Critics’ Circle Best New Play Award following its premiere at the National Theatre in 2001.
Felix Humble is drawn back to his family home after the death of his father, a biology teacher and amateur beekeeper. There in the garden he finds his waspish mother Flora, her downtrodden friend Mercy and suspiciously ever-present local businessman George Pye, whose daughter Rosie was once involved with Felix. A luncheon is arranged…
Felix is an astrophysicist who discovers that solving the riddle of his emotional life is considerably more challenging than the quest for a unified string theory.
Charlotte Jones’ other plays include Airswimming (BAC), Martha, Josie and the Chinese Elvis (Bolton Octagon, Critics Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright), In Flame (Bush/West End), The Dark (Donmar Warehouse) and The Lightning Play (Almeida). She created and wrote the ITV series The Halcyon. She has written extensively for BBC Radio 4, twice being nominated for a Sony Award.
Paul Miller is Artistic Director of the Orange Tree, where he’s directed Misalliance, The Philanderer and Widowers’ Houses by Bernard Shaw, Poison by Lot Vekemans, The Lottery of Love by Marivaux, translated by John Fowles, Sheppey by Somerset Maugham, French Without Tears by Terence Rattigan, Each His Own Wilderness by Doris Lessing, and The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd by DH Lawrence.
Paul Bradley (George Pye) is well known for playing Elliott Hope in Holby City and Nigel Bates in EastEnders. His theatre work includes Caste (Finborough); Deathtrap (UK tour); Journey’s End, Noises Off (West End); The Relapse (National Theatre).
Jonathan Broadbent (Felix Humble) theatre credits includes The Wizard of Oz (Sheffield Crucible); The Norman Conquests (Chichester); The Tempest (RSC/Barbican); Queen Anne, Love for Love (RSC); My Night with Reg (Donmar/West End); Grand Guignol (Southwark Playhouse); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Royal Exchange); Ghost Stories (West End); Twelfth Night (Filter/RSC).
Selina Cadell (Mercy Lott) theatre credits includes The Dresser (Duke of York’s/UK tour); People, The Habit of Art (National Theatre); The Cherry Orchard (The Old Vic/BAM, New York); Noises Off (Comedy Theatre); Twelfth Night, Uncle Vanya (Donmar/BAM, New York). Her extensive work on TV includes Doc Martin, Love Nina, The Lady Vanishes, Father Brown, Toast, The Life of Riley, Spooks and Lewis. Films include Paradopoulos and Sons, Gambit, Nativity!, Hereafter, Wild Child, Confetti, Festival, Chromophobia, Mrs Dalloway and The Madness of King George.
Rebekah Hinds’ (Rosie Pye) theatre credits include Anita and Me, The Government Inspector (Birmingham Rep/UK tour); Billy Liar (Royal Exchange); Around the World (Mint Theater Company, New York). TV includes Inside No. 9, Stains of Staines, Aunties, The Syndicate and Shameless.
Belinda Lang (Flora Humble) played Bill in eight series of the BBC comedy 2 Point 4 Children. Her extensive theatre work includes major UK tours of Duet for One, Gabriel, Single Spies, Ladies in Lavender; The Glass Menagerie (Nuffield, Southampton); East is East (Birmingham Rep); Liberty (Shakespeare’s Globe); Hay Fever (Theatre Royal Haymarket); What the Butler Saw (Criterion); Dead Funny (Savoy); My Boy Jack (Hampstead); The Secret Rapture (Lyric); Life x3 (Savoy/tour); The Things We Do for Love (Lyric/tour); Blithe Spirit (Chichester); Lulu (Almeida); Mrs Klein (Apollo); The Clandestine Marriage (Albery); Antigone, Tales from Hollywood, The Women (National Theatre); and Present Laughter (Vaudeville). TV includes Citizen Khan, Justice in Wonderland, Inspector Alleyn Mysteries, Dear John (2 series), To Serve Them All My Days, Second Thoughts (4 series), and The Bretts (2 series).
Christopher Ravenscroft’s (Jim) most recent theatre credits include The Cocktail Party (The Print Room); High Society (The Old Vic); The Notorious Mrs Ebbsmith, Dances of Death (Jermyn Street); Storm in a Flower Vase (Arts Theatre); The Man Who Pays the Piper, The Stepmother, Conspirators, The Promise, Alison’s House (Orange Tree); Good Grief (Theatre Royal Bath/tour); The Winslow Boy (Bolton Octagon); The Talented Mr Ripley (Theatre Royal Northampton); The Comedy of Errors (Open Air, Regent’s Park); Bedroom Farce (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Portrait of a Lady, A Doll’s House (Peter Hall Company/Theatre Royal Bath). TV includes The Crown and The Shell Seekers. Films include Another Mother’s Son, The Man Who Knew Infinity, The Football Factory and Henry V.
Humble Boy is playing 8 March – 14 April
