The Orange Tree Theatre today announces the full cast for Pierre Marivaux’s The False Servant, translated by Martin Crimp, whose prolific international career began at the Orange Tree Theatre, including the recent hit revival of Dealing with Clair. Before his final season as Artistic Director of the OT, Paul Miller, directs Uzair Bhatti, Will Brown, Julian Moore-Cook, Phoebe Pryce, Lizzy Watts and Silas Wyatt-Barke. The production opens on 13 June, with previews on 8 June, and runs until 23 July, with a livestreamed performance via OT On Screen on Thursday 7 July and available to stream on demand 26-29 July.
When a man thinks he can cynically take a rich woman’s money and then run off with an even more lucrative potential fiancée, he’d best not tell the fiancée by mistake. Le Chevalier, a woman disguised as the son of an aristocrat, embarks on a plan that will expose the dark heart of this male power-play.
Synopsis of The False Servant
This version by Martin Crimp was acclaimed at its 2004 National Theatre première by The Daily Telegraph: “Thrills, chills, and belly laughs – this addictively adult comedy has got the lot.”
Uzair Bhatti plays Frontin. His theatre credits include East is East (Octagon Theatre); and his television credits include Extraordinary.
Will Brown plays Trivelin. His theatre credits include The Duchess of Malfi, The Fantastic Follies of Mrs Rich (Royal Shakespeare Company), Inheritance Blues (Hightide Festival, Soho Theatre, Sheffield Crucible and West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe (Redgrave Theatre), Fade (DugOut Theatre), The Journey (Pleasance Theatre).
Julian Moore-Cook returns to the Orange Tree to play Lelio – he previously performed in While the Sun Shines and The Rolling Stone. His other theatre credits include Translations (National Theatre), The Lieutenant of Innishmore (Noël Coward Theatre), Dublin Carol (The Sherman Theatre), Mother Courage and Her Children (Southwark Playhouse), Three Sisters (Lyric Theatre Belfast), The Beggars Opera (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Our American Cousin (Finborough Theatre), Twelfth Night (Iris Theatre) and ObamAmerica (Theatre503).
Phoebe Pryce plays Countess. Her theatre credits include The Night Watch, Cash Cow (Hampstead Theatre), The Picture of Dorian Gray (UK tour), About Leo (Jermyn Street Theatre), Passage to India (Park Theatre/UK tour), The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Octagon Theatre/Theatre Royal York), The Merchant of Venice, The Tempest (Shakespeare’s Globe) and Charlie’s Dark Angel (The Drayton Arms Theatre)
Lizzy Watts returns to the Orange Tree to play The Chevalier – she previously performed in Dealing with Clair. Her other theatre credits include Either (Hampstead Theatre), Hedda Gabler (Nation Theatre UK tour), Strife (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Angry Brigade (Bush Theatre), God of Chaos, Merit (Theatre Royal Plymouth), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare’s Globe international tour), Blink (Soho Theatre), Twelfth Night (Filter Theatre), Wasted (Roundhouse Theatre), Artefacts (Bush Theatre), The Man (Finborough Theatre) and Eight (Bedlam Theatre).
Silas Wyatt-Barke plays Arlequin. His theatre credits include The Prince of Egypt (Dominion Theatre), Twelfth Night (Young Vic), As You Like It (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing (Rose Theatre), Dr Seuss’s The Lorax (The Old Vic), Forty Years On (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Emperor and the Nightingale (Theatre by the Lake), The Go Between (Apollo Theatre), and Sunny Afternoon (Harold Pinter Theatre).