Cast confirmed for Chichester Festival Theatre's reopening production Crave

The cast has been confirmed for Chichester Festival Theatre’s reopening production of Sarah Kane’s Crave, staged to a live, socially distanced audience in the Festival Theatre and simultaneously live-streamed to global digital audiences.
Sarah Kane by Jane BownSarah Kane by Jane Bown
Sarah Kane by Jane Bown

Wendy Kweh and Jonathan Slinger join Erin Doherty and Alfred Enoch in Tinuke Craig’s production, which will feature a sensory sound and videoscape (Festival Theatre, October 29-November 7; live stream, October 31-November 7).

The production is designed by Alex Lowde, with lighting by Joshua Drualus Pharo, composition and sound by Anna Clock, video by Ravi Deepres, movement by Jenny Ogilvie and casting by Charlotte Sutton.

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In a damaged world, four characters search for the light. Angry, funny, defiant, kind and cruel, Crave is a deeply personal meditation on the meaning of love, the CFT says. Pulsing with loss and longing, its resonance will be doubly powerful as we begin to reconnect our lives after the loneliness and seclusion inflicted by a global pandemic, the theatre promises.

Erin Doherty makes her Chichester debut. Currently playing Princess Anne in series three and four of The Crown, she has played leading theatre roles, including at The Old Vic, Young Vic, Royal Court and Manchester Royal Exchange. Born and brought up in West Sussex, she was named an Evening Standard Rising Star and a Screen International Star of Tomorrow in 2018 and featured in The Elle List 2020.

Alfred Enoch also appears at Chichester for the first time. Having played Dean Thomas in seven Harry Potter films, his theatre credits include Red (West End and NT Live), Coriolanus (Donmar Warehouse), Tree (Young Vic) and Timon of Athens (National Theatre); television includes Sherlock and How To Get Away With Murder.

Wendy Kweh’s extensive theatre credits include The Welkin and Top Girls at the National Theatre, Julius Caesar at The Bridge, Snow in Midsummer for the RSC and Chimerica in the West End; this is her Chichester debut. Her television appearances include several series of Holby City and The Bill.

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Jonathan Slinger returns to Chichester where he last appeared in Yes, Prime Minister (2010). His many roles for the RSC include Hamlet, Prospero, Macbeth, Richard II and Richard III, while recent West End appearances include City of Angels, Fanny and Alexander, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Urinetown. His recent TV includes The Salisbury Poisonings and I May Destroy You.

Sarah Kane is considered to be one of the most influential playwrights of the 20th century. She came to prominence in 1995 with her first play, Blasted. Over her short career she wrote five plays and a film. Crave premiered in August 1998 at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh. Today, her plays are performed around the world.

Crave contains strong language and is recommended for ages 16+.

Tickets: cft.org.uk; 01243 781312. Social distancing necessitates the auditorium being reduced to less than 50 per cent of its normal capacity. Audiences are invited to consider donating the cost of an ‘empty’ £10 seat to support the theatre’s activities, as well as its employment of freelance artists during the pandemic. £5 tickets for 16-30 year-olds at cft.org.uk/prologue.

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