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Park Theatre and Adam Blanshay Productions present the English Language World Premiere of

La Cage aux Folles [The Play]

By Jean Poiret

MICHAEL MATUS | GEORGES
PAUL HUNTER | ALBIN
SARAH LAM | SIMONE
SYRUS LOWE | JACOB
PETER STRAKER | TABARO
MARK CAMERON | MARSEILLES / ZORBA
ARTHUR HUGHES | LAURENT
SIMON HEPWORTH | MONSIEUR PRIEDIEU / MERCEDES
LOUISE BANGAY | MADAME PRIEDIEU
GEORGINA AMBREY | MURIEL
WILLIAM NELSON | FRANCES

MICHAEL MATUS

Michael trained at RADA after which he worked for several years with Shared Experience Theatre Company with Mill on the Floss and Jane Eyre. He then joined the Royal Shakespeare Company where he played Mr Tumnus in The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe at Sadlers Wells and then began to play leading roles for them in shows like Eastward Ho!, The Canterbury Tales and The Island Princess and for Headlong The End of the Affair and Rough Crossings and has performed at the Globe theatre in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Timon of Athens and Tis Pity She’s A Whore at West Yorkshire Playhouse. Michael also created the role of Tito Merelli in Lend Me a Tenor in the West End and The Baker in The Baker’s Wife at the Union. In musical theatre, Michael created and recorded the part of Benoit the Fool in the original cast of Cameron MacIntosh’s Martin Guerre, and Izzy in Imagine This at the Gillian Lynne Theatre (Formerly New London Theatre). He has been nominated for a WhatsOnStage Award, two Off West End awards, a Helen Hayes award in the US and has jointly won an Olivier Award for The RSC Ensemble in 2003.

Other theatre credits include: King Lear (The Duke of York’s Theatre); Broken Glass (Watford Palace); Wizard of Oz (Crucible Theatre Sheffield); The Frogs (Jermyn St. Theatre); Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty’s Theatre); Oklahoma! (Chichester Festival Theatre); A Christmas Carol (Arts Theatre); Women on the Verge (Playhouse Theatre); The Sound of Music (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Yes Prime Minister (UK Tour); Taboo (Brixton Club House); Wonderful Town (The Lowry and UK Tour); The Astonishing Times of Timothy Cratchitt (Hope Mill Theatre) and Richard III (National Theatre and the Headlong Theatre Tour).

Television credits include: Endeavour, Shakespeare and Hathaway, This is Dom Joly, EastEnders, A Prince Among Men, The Split, The Crying Game and The Muppet Christmas Carol.

 

PAUL HUNTER

Paul is co-founder and Artistic Director of Told By An Idiot.

Theatre credits include: Wise Children (Old Vic/Kneehigh); Life of Galileo (Young Vic); The Little Match Girl, The Mystery Plays, Much Ado About Nothing, Troilus and Cressida, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Under the Black Flag (Shakespeare’s Globe); Gaslight (Northampton); Tartuffe (Birmingham Rep); The Fantasticks (Duchess Theatre, West End); Napoleon Disrobed, The Farenheit Twins, Don’t Laugh – It’s My Life, You Haven’t Embraced Me Yet, I’m So Big, On The Verge of Exploding (Told By An Idiot Tour); Nocturnal (Gate Theatre); Rapunzel, The Red Shoes (Kneehigh); Beauty and the Beast (Belgrade Theatre Coventry); The Water Engine (Young Vic/Theatre 503); Physick Lies-A-Bleeding (Apothecary Hall); Oliver Twist, Aladdin, Pinocchio (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith); Playing the Victim (Traverse/Royal Court); The Play What I Wrote (Wyndham’s Theatre/Liverpool Playhouse); The Firework Maker’s Daughter (Sheffield Crucible); I Can’t Wake Up, Happy Birthday, Mister Deka D (Told By An Idiot/Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith/Tour); Richard III (English Shakespeare Company); Twelfth Night, Animal Farm (Northern Stage); Les Enfants Du Paradis (RSC); The Servant of Two Masters (Sheffield Crucible); Baldy Hopkins (The Right Size); The Wasp Factory (Glasgow Citizens Theatre); Popeye (David Glass Ensemble).

 

Film and Television credits include: Bridgerton, Quiz, The Birth of Valerie Venue, Midsomer Murders, Still Open All Hours, Denial, This Beautiful Fantastic, Pan, Marvellous, Cinderella, Maleficent, Wizards vs. Aliens, Snow White and the Huntsman, Pirates of the Caribbean, One Day, Trinity, After You’ve Gone, Absolute Power, The Only Boy For Me, Tunnel of Love, Mitchell and Kenyon, Black Books, Hardware, Everything I Know About Men, My Family, Music at the Close, Absurd, Vertical Hold, Hanging Around.

 

SARAH LAM

Sarah has been working in theatre, television and film since 1980.

Theatre credits include: Richard II (The Globe); Snow in Midsummer, Poppy (Royal Shakespeare Company); Chimerica (Almeida Theatre/ Harold Pinter Theatre); The World of Extreme Happiness, The Magic Olympical Games, Lost Worlds (National Theatre); The Golden Hours, Top Girls, Cries from the Mammal House, Sergeant Ola and his Followers (The Royal Court); Factors Unforeseen, Orange Tree, Penny Whistle (Hampstead Theatre); All the Presidents Men (The Vaudeville Theatre for the National Theatre) and You Never Touched The Dirt (For The Royal Court at the Edinburgh Festival).

Film credits include: Hamlet, Tropic of Ice, To Be the Best, China Connection and Shanghai Surprise.

Television credits include: Hannah, Lucky Man, Sherlock, Angels, Brookside, Howard’s Way, Frank Stubbs, Two Thousand Acres of Sky, Inspector Morse, No Problem, Late Starter and The Chinese Detective

Radio credits include: Lights, Camera, Action and The Inspector Chen.

 

SYRUS LOWE

Theatre credits include: The Crucible (The Yard Theatre); The Inheritance (Young Vic Theatre/ Noël Coward Theatre); Saint Joan (Donmar Warehouse); Henry V (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Walking the Tightrope: The Tension Between Art and Politics (Offstage Theatre for the Underbelly, Edinburgh); Fast Cuts and Snapshots (Fuel Theatre for A Play, A Pie and a Pint); The Velveteen Rabbit (Unicorn Theatre); The President and the Pakistani (Waterloo East Theatre); 66 Books- The Middle Man (Bush Theatre); Macbeth (Liverpool Everyman); Fragile- Theatre Uncut (Southwark Playhouse); The Charming Man (Theatre 503); Earthquakes in London (Headlong Theatre/National Theatre); La Cage Aux Follies (Playhouse Theatre); Painting a Wall (Finborough Theatre); Overspill (Soho Theatre); Overspill (Churchill Theatre Bromley); Testing the Echo (Out of Joint Theatre); The Sky’s the Limit (Old Vic); Incomplete and Random Acts of Kindness, Barbarians, Scenes from the Big Picture, Machinal, A Mouthful of Birds, Cupid’s Revenge, Richard III, Trelawny of the Wells, Odysseus, The Good Doctor, Through the Shadows with O’Henry, Twelfth Night (RADA).

Film credits include: JIMI: The Last 24 Hours

Television credits include: Home, Holby City S19, The Living Dead, Holby City S18, The Five, Critical, DCI Banks, Talking to the Dead, Doctors, Sherlock, Ashes to Ashes, The Bill: Wall of Silence, When Sex Goes Wrong, First Sex.

 

PETER STRAKER

He first shot to fame in 1968 when he starred as Hud in the London Production of the seminal musical Hair (Shaftesbury Theatre).  He went on to appear in Tommy (Shaftesbury Theatre). The Rocky Horror Show, Blues in the Night (Donmar Warehouse) and the original Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty’s Theatre). He has released solo albums and recordings with Freddie Mercury, as well as starring in critically acclaimed one man shows and concert appearances. Most recently he starred in Peter Straker's Brel which enjoyed sold out performances in London. In September Straker released a new album.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MARK CAMERON

Mark began his career as an astonishingly average stand-up comedian before winning a scholarship to drama school; a huge relief for him but more so for comedy club audiences throughout the UK. Since then he has appeared regularly on stage and screen and works extensively as a voice-over artist for both radio and television. Mark has just finished Ozymandias, an independent feature film about an ageing Orson Welles coming to terms with his mortality, co-written with BAFTA and EMMY winner John Hay.  Eddie Izzard is set to star. As a writer he has co-written Sleeping Beauty, Jack and the Beanstalk (both published by Methuen) and Rapunzel (published by Playdead Press) all with Jez Bond, the Artistic Director of Park Theatre and all performed at the mentioned venue. Jez and Mark’s last collaboration, Whodunnit [Unrehearsed] played at Park Theatre in 2019.

For Park Theatre: Hurling Rubble at the Moon, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and Park Theatre Review.

Other theatre credits include: Mathematics of the Heart (Theatre503); The Game of Love and Chance (UK Tour); The Breakfast Soldiers (Contact Theatre, Manchester); Life Imitates Art (Camden Peoples’ Theatre); Sleeping Beauty (Salisbury Playhouse); The Bergman Project (Tristan Bates Theatre); The Country Wife (The Gatehouse); Blue Funk (Old Red Lion) and The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare in the Park).

Film credits include: The Damned United, Tomo, Scar Tissue, The Boss.

Television credits include: Good Omens, Tina and Bobby, Brief Encounters, Law and Order, The Royals, Steel River Blues, The Roman Mysteries, Vincent, Waterloo RoadFifty Five Degrees North, Holby City, Casualty, The Royal, Eastenders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Doctors, Brookside.

ARTHUR HUGHES

Arthur trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, graduating in 2013. He joined the BBC Radio Drama Company after becoming a recipient of the Carleton Hobbs bursary award.

Theatre credits include: Bedazzled: A Welshman in Scotland (Welsh Tour/St. Andrews Byre Theatre); Alix in Wundergarten (The Other Room, Cardiff); Romeo & Juliet (Taking Flight Theatre, Cardiff); Saint Joan (Donmar Warehouse); The Solid Life of Sugar Water (National Theatre); Julius Caesar, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (Sheffield Crucible); Our Town (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and Vassa (Almeida Theatre).

Television credits include: Doctors and The Innocents.

Radio credits include: The Archers, Sword of Honour, Listening to the Dead, The Orestea, Pilgrim, Home Front, Ordeal by Innocence, The Other Simenon, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde and Democracy for Beginners.

 

SIMON HEPWORTH

Simon was born in Blackpool and trained at LAMDA, winning the St Philip’s Trophy. He appeared as the 'Politician/News Anchor' in all tour visuals for British Award-winning band BΔSTILLE’s highly acclaimed ‘Wild World’ Tour and the music video 'Fake It.'

For Park Theatre: Mother of Him

Other theatre credits include: Absolute Hell (National Theatre); Antony & Cleopatra (Chichester Festival Theatre); The Lion in Winter (Theatre Royal Haymarket); King Lear (Guildford Shakespeare Company); Joe & I (King’s Head); The Rivals (Compass Theatre Company); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth (Arundel Festival and UK Tour); Twelfth Night (Bristol Old Vic); The Winter’s Tale, The Glass Menagerie, The Deep Blue Sea (Royal & Derngate, Northampton); Bang Bang, Romeo and Juliet, Burn This, Tartuffe, My Cousin Rachel (Mercury Theatre, Colchester); Mario and the Magician (Almeida Theatre); The Best Man, Blood Brothers and The Hollow (BKL UK tours).

Film credits include: Walking With The Enemy, Sink, Love’s Kitchen, 47 Cleveland, The Holly Kane Experiment, Tezz and The Walker.

Television credits include: Endeavour, Fearless, EastEnders, Foyle’s War, Casualty, Law And Order UK, Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Doctors, Trial and Retribution, Wire in the Blood, Wallis & Edward, Inspector Morse – The Remorseful Day, The Royal, Bliss, Bodyguards, Departures, The Bill, Thornapple and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.

 

LOUISE BANGAY

Theatre credits include: Handbagged (New Vic, Stoke); Cyrano de Bergerac (Chichester Festival Theatre); Rock ‘n’ Roll (Royal Court  & Duke of York’s Theatre); Poor Beck  (Other Place & Soho Theatre); Macbeth, King Lear (RST & Albery); The Glass Menagerie (New Vic, Stoke and Oldham, Coliseum); Folk (National Theatre Studio); The Lesson (Arcola Theatre); One of Those (Tristan Bates Theatre); Summer Begins, Mercy Fine for Clean Break (Southwark Playhouse); Song of Lunch (The Tabernacle); Still Life (London Play Festival); Self Accusation (Sadler’s Wells); Nascendo (Kiln Theatre); Romeo and Juliet (Northcott Theatre, Exeter); Mouth to Mouth (Royal Court/Albery); Ben Hur (Battersea Arts Centre); Horace, Katerina, The Cenci (Lyric, Hammersmith); Miss Julie (Young Vic) and The Vanek Plays (Lyric Hammersmith & Prague). 

Film credits include: The Protector

Television credits include: Midsomer Murders, Doctors, Holby City, The Bill, Holby Blue, Imogen’s Face and Bliss.

Video Game credits include: Erica.

 

GEORGINA AMBREY

Georgina trained at Drama Centre, London. Prior to Drama Centre, she studied Music at the University of Leeds, graduating with a BA Hons and also became a member of the National Youth Theatre.

Theatre credits include: Three Sisters (Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute, Moscow); My Mother Said I Never Should and The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (Theatre by the Lake, Keswick). Georgina received a Stage Debut nomination for ‘Best Actress in a Musical’ (2019).

Other credits whilst in training include: Osage County, The Tempest, Rules for Living, The Wild Duck and The Murders at Argos.

 

 

 

WILLIAM NELSON

William trained at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts in Sydney Australia and King’s College London.

Theatre credits include: Speech and Debate (Trafalgar Studios); Love Me Now (Tristan Bates Theatre); The Tap Pack (Peacock Theatre); Dinner (Sydney Theatre Company); 2016 New South Wales Schools Spectacular (NSW Arts Unit) and A Crow Short of a Murder (Sydney Fringe Festival).