Patrick Robinson, Nicola Stephenson to Join West End’s War Horse, Now Booking to February 2012

Nicola Stephenson will assume the role of Rose Narracott and Patrick Robinson take over the role of Friedrich Muller in Nick Stafford’s adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s book War Horse, playing at the New London Theatre, on March 9. Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris have directed the production, which has extended its booking period to February 18, 2012.

Stephenson is perhaps most familiar from recurring roles on such television series as Holby City and Clocking Off. Her theatre credits include Edmund, His Girl Friday, and A Patriot for Me. Among her films are All in the Game, The Walk, Christmas Lights, State of the Party, Go Back Out, and The Rainbow.

Robinson’s stage credits include Mappa Mundi, Much Ado About Nothing, King John, King Lear, Richard III, All God’s Children Got Wings, Rough Crossings, Gem of the Ocean, and Festen. On television, he played Nurse Martin ‘Ash’ Ashford on Casualty and Detective Constable Jacob Banks in The Bill, among others. His work on film includes Belly of the Beast, The Bee Stung Wasp and Four Days to Zero

In War Horse at the outbreak of World War One, Joey, young Albert’s beloved horse, is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France. He’s soon caught up in enemy fire, and fate takes him on an extraordinary odyssey, serving on both sides before finding himself alone in no man’s land. But Albert cannot forget Joey and, still not old enough to enlist, he embarks on a treacherous mission to find him and bring him home.

As of March 9, the complete company will feature, in addition to Stephenson and Robinson, Stuart Angell, Nigel Betts, Nicholas Bishop, Joshua Blake, Hannah Boyde, Pascale Burgess, Ellie Burrow, Emily Cooper, Matt Costain, Ewen Cummins, Danny Dalton, Salvatore D’Aquila, Matthew Forbes, Thomas Goodridge, David Grewcock, Stephen Harper, Christian Jenner, Curtis Jordan, Nicolas Karimi, Sarah Mardel, Shaun McKee, Jack Monaghan, Jack Parker, Malcolm Ridley, Ruth Rogers, Saul Rose, Mat Ruttle, William Rycroft, Eliot Short, Anthony Shuster, David Walmesley, Andy Williams, and Thomas Wilton.

The show is designed by Rae Smith, with puppet design and fabrication by Adrian Kohler, lighting by Paule Constable, and movement and horse choreography by Toby Sedgwick; the puppetry directors are Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler, with video design by Leo Warner and Mark Grimmer, songmaker John Tams, music by Adrian Sutton, and sound by Christopher Shutt.

A Broadway production of War Horse begins its run this month at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theatre. For tickets and information on that production, click here.

For further information and tickets for the London production, click here.