Theater News

Andrew Durand, Meow Meow, Joanna Riding, et al. Set for Kneehigh’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

Joanna Riding
Joanna Riding

Kneehigh has announced casting for a new adaptation of Jacques Demy and Michel Legrand’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, to run March 5 – October 1 at the West End’s Gielgud Theatre. Emma Rice will direct the production, which will precede its West End engagement with a limited run at the Curve Leicester, February 11-26.

The piece focuses on a 20-year-old French auto mechanic who falls in love with a 17-year-old, an employee in her widowed mother’s chic umbrella shop. On the evening before he leaves for a two-year tour of combat in Algeria, the couple vow to remain lovers, but after discovering she is carrying his child she must choose between waiting for his return or accepting an offer of marriage from a wealthy diamond merchant.

The company will feature Joanna Riding (Madame Emery), Meow Meow (Lola), Carly Bawden (Genevieve), Gareth Charlton (Sailor), Andrew Durand (Guy), Cynthia Erivo (Madelaine), Dominic Marsh (Cassard), Aki Omoshaybi (Sailor), along with Laura Brydon and Matt Wilman.

The creative team will include Lez Brotherston (production design), Malcolm Rippeth (lighting design), Simon Baker (sound design), and Nigel Lilley (musical supervision). Sheldon Harnick will provide the English translations for the songs.

For further information and tickets, click here.