STORYHOUSE REVEALS FULL CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM FOR FAUSTUS

Cast and creatives have been announced for a new Storyhouse Originals production of FAUSTUS: That Damned Woman which comes to the Chester stage in February.

The show, a co-production with Fallen Angels Dance Theatre, will be staged at the Hunter Street venue from 3-18 February 2023. 

Award-winning playwright Chris Bush’s gripping and radical retelling of the Faustus myth explores what we must sacrifice to achieve greatness. 

Joanna Faustus sells her soul to try and change the course of history, proclaiming ‘I would save the world to spite the devil’. But what price must she pay for attempting to wrest control of her own destiny? 

Olivia Sweeney will play Joanna Faustus. Her previous stage credits include Macbeth (National Theatre), Secret Garden (Theatre by the Lake), Mighty Atoms (Hull Truck Theatre) and Screaming Heart Come Closer and Hoax: My Lonely Heart (Manchester Royal Exchange). 

Matthew Romain is Lucifer/Thomas. His credits include King Lear and Hamlet (Shakespeare’s Globe), The Recruiting Officer (Donmar Warehouse), Pride and Prejudice (Nottingham Playhouse/York Theatre Royal) and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Rose Theatre Kingston). 

The cast also includes Bridgette Amofah (A Monster Calls, Rose Theatre Kingston, A Christmas Carol, Old Vic), Miriam O’Brien (Milky Peaks, Theatr Clwyd, Box Clever, Liverpool Everyman, Shout! The Mod Musical, Liverpool Royal Court, The Woman in Black, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Torch Theatre), Emma Pallant (Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, Shakespeare’s Globe, Cherry Orchard, Birmingham Rep, An Enemy of the People, Nottingham Playhouse), Dzey Z Smith (Crimpolene Crusaders, Vamos Theatre, Sounds and Sorcery, Dante’s In Furlough, The Vaults) and Yali Topol Margalith (The Band’s Visit, Donmar Warehouse) who all play the ensemble. 

The production will be directed by Francesca Goodridge (A Pretty Shitty Love, Theatr Clwyd, Adam, Eve and Steve, The Kings Head Theatre, The True Adventures of Robin and Marian, The Barn Theatre, Shout! The Mod Musical, Liverpool Royal Court), while Paul Bayes Kitcher (The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Storyhouse), artistic director of Fallen Angels Dance Company, is movement director. 

Set and costume design is by James Perkins and Victoria Smart – Good Teeth (The Book Thief, Bolton Octagon), lighting design by Sally Ferguson (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare North Playhouse), and Russell Ditchfield (Lysistrata, Lyric Hammersmith) is the composer and sound designer. 

Helen Redcliffe, producer at Storyhouse says: “We’re really excited to be able to reveal the full cast and creative team behind this brilliant new Storyhouse Originals production of Faustus: That Damned Woman which opens our 2023 season. 

“At Storyhouse we believe in finding ways to engage audiences with timeless stories that are still relevant today by producing exciting, powerful and relevant versions that speak to their lived experiences.  

“Faustus, which we are bringing to the stage in conjunction with the fantastic Fallen Angel Dance Theatre, is a perfect fit for us and I know our audiences are going to be captivated by Chris Bush’s imaginative and dramatic retelling of this dark classic.”