Rolan Bell, recently seen in Memphis, will lead the cast of Rapunzel at the Park Theatre
Olivier Award nominee Rolan Bell (Memphis) and Aretha Ayeh (Love Me Tender) will head the cast of Rapunzel at London’s Park Theatre which opens in early December.
The venue’s third in its popular series of Christmas shows will be directed by Jez Bond who also provides the production’s book, music and lyrics along with Mark Cameron (John-Jackson Almond is on board as producer). The show is due to run from 3 December 2015 until 2 January 2016.
Bell has been cast as King Gerard and Ayeh will take on the dual role of Rapunzel and the Queen. Co-writer Cameron will play The Great Gazombees, Alex Hope will play Dobson and Prince Corbyn, and Avita Jay will play Dr Chuff.
The King and Queen of Püss Püss are looking forward to the birth of their first child when disaster strikes: the Queen falls ill and only a powerful herb, known as Rapunzel, can save the mother and child. The noble Baron Teth offers to locate the herb, but the witch who grows it has her price… Darkness falls across the land as the child is snatched away.
Eighteen years on, Prince Corbyn rides through the forest, he hears singing from an isolated tower. Perhaps all is not what it seems…
Rapunzel is the latest instalment in the venue’s innovative Chronicles of Waa series which began with Sleeping Beauty in 2013 and continued with Jack and the Beanstalk last year.
Describing the series, Bond says: “With each fairy tale set in the mythical land of Waa, we have created a world all of our very own complete with a unique language, gestures and greetings – it even has its own flora and fauna! Costumes and settings all add to create this land, which borrows more from Tolkien, Pratchett or Tim Burton than from a traditional English pantomime. We’ve also dispensed with pop songs so common across UK theatres during Christmas, and instead each year present an original musical theatre score.”
Aretha Ayeh also features in the cast of Rapunzel
Jez Bond is artistic director of the Park Theatre which he founded. Credits for Park Theatre: Sleeping Beauty, Jack and the Beanstalk (both of which he co-wrote), Adult Supervision and Hurling Rubble at the Sun. Other credits include: The Fame Game (tour of Austria), Oliver! (starring Rowan Atkinson, Oxford), I Have Been Here Before (Watford Palace Theatre), The Twits (tour of Switzerland), Misconceptions (Hong Kong Arts Centre), Big Boys (Croydon Warehouse), Shot of Genius (Leicester Square), Canaries Sometimes Sing (Kings Head and France) and A Season in South Africa (Old Vic). As a dramaturg he has worked with writers at Soho Theatre, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Royal Court and Young Vic.
Mark Cameron’s theatre acting credits include: Mathematics of the Heart (Theatre 503 and winner of Brighton Fringe Festival – Best Play), Sleeping Beauty (Salisbury Playhouse), The Game of Love and Chance (national tour), The Breakfast Soldiers (Contact Theatre, Manchester), The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare in the Park) and Romeo and Juliet (Cannizaro Park).
Rolan Bell’s theatre credits include: Memphis (West End), We Will Rock You (West End and 40th Anniversary International Arena tour), Ragtime, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Fela! and Liberation Day (National Theatre), 1936 (Arcola), The Harder They Come (Playhouse, Theatre Royal Stratford East and Barbican), An African Cargo and An Evening of Soul Food (Greenwich Theatre), Carmen Jones (Royal Festival Hall), The Lion King (Disneyland, Paris) and Cinderella and Jack and the Beanstalk (Cambridge Arts Theatre).
Aretha Ayeh’s theatre credits include: Love Me Tender (UK tour), Barnum (Chichester Festival Theatre), Dick Whittington and his Cat (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith), Pendragon (Rose Theatre Kingston), Red Hunter (Youth Music Theatres UK) and Orvin-Champion of Champions (National Youth Musical Theatre).
Avita Jay’s theatre credits include: Spare (New Diorama Theatre), Toad (Southwark Playhouse), Sunday Morning at the Centre of the World (Southwark Playhouse, Battersea Arts Centre), The Merry Wives of Windsor (national tour), The Tragicomedy of Mac-Beth (national tour), Warde Street (Park Theatre), Pioneer (national tour), Peer Gynt (Crossrail Place) and The Man Who Found His Freedom (The Space Theatre).
Alex Hope’s theatre credits include: History Boys (national tour), First Episode (Jermyn Street Theatre), The Witness and Riot Squat (Thrive Theatre).
Angela Thomas
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