Kneehigh Announce Brief Encounter Tour Cast

UK based theatre company Kneehigh has announced the eight cast members who will perform in the Australian tour of its Broadway/West End hit production of Noël Coward’s Brief Encounter from September 10, 2013.

Two Australian actors, Michelle Nightingale as Laura and Kate Cheel asBeryl, will  join UK and US actors Annette McLaughlin, Damon Daunno andJoseph Alessi from the 2010 Broadway production of Brief Encounter along with Jim Sturgeon, Dave Brown and James Gow. 

"We are really excited to be working with Kate Cheel and Michelle Nightingale," said Emma Rice, Joint Artistic Director of Kneehigh and Adapter and Director of Brief Encounter. "Our ensemble is never static and we are always bringing new faces in and nurturing their artistic and professional development alongside long-standing members of the team. When we produced Brief Encounter on Broadway we found a couple of fantastic American performers to join the team, so we’re looking forward to working with new members of the ensemble for the Australian tour."

Nightingale (pictured below right) and Cheel (below left) will travel to London in August to commence rehearsals under the direction of Emma Rice.

Laura thinks she's happily married until she meets also married Dr Alec Harvey, who will be played for the first time by Jim Sturgeon. "Jim knocked our socks off when we met him," said Rice. "Charismatic, truthful and dashing in the extreme, I knew at once that he was the one! We are all thrilled to be working with such a talented and exciting performer."

The production, set in England during the winter of 1938 - 39, takes place around Milford Junction railway station, switches between theatre, song, and black and white film footage on a giant screen, drawing its inspiration from Noël Coward's original stage play Still Life and David Lean’s classic 1945 film Brief Encounter.

From singing on the world stage for some of the greatest sporting events, to three television series (her first one at the age of 16) Michelle Nightingale has played a number of cameo roles in Australian films, and recently created and developed her one woman cabaret show Born to Run for the 2013 Adelaide Cabaret Festival.

Kate Cheel is a recent graduate of Adelaide College of the Arts. She has previously worked with State Theatre Company in productions of Hedda Gabler, Three Sisters and The Glass Menagerie, for which she was awarded 2012 Emerging Artist of the Year by the Adelaide Critics Circle. She has recently completed work on her first feature film, One Eyed Girl and will soon join Windmill Theatre for their new show, Big Bad Wolf.

Arts Projects Australia presents the national tour of Brief Encounter in association with tour partners the State Theatre Company of South Australia and the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust; Canberra Theatre Centre; Melbourne Festival; the Concourse Theatre, Sydney; Merrigong Theatre Company at Illawarra Performing Arts Centre; and the Regal Theatre, Perth.

Director:  Emma Rice

Associate Director: Simon Harvey

Scenic and Costume Designer: Neil Murray

Lighting Designer: Malcolm Rippeth

Projection Designers: Gemma Carrington and Jon Driscoll

Original Music: Stu Barker

Sound Designer: Simon Baker Producer: Paul Crewes.

TOUR DATES

Adelaide: Dunstan Playhouse, September 10 to 28

Canberra: Canberra Theatre, October 2 to 5

Melbourne Festival: The Athenaeum, October 9 to 27

Sydney: The Concourse, October 31 to November 10

Wollongong: Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, November 20 to 23

Perth: The Regal, November 28 to December 1