Artistic Director Paul Hart and the team at Newbury’s The Watermill Theatre are thrilled to announce that their summer season of outdoor performances of Camelot and The Hound of the Baskervilles has been extended, now booking until Sunday 6 September.
When tickets first went on sale in late July, following progress with the government’s phased roadmap towards theatres re-opening to the public, demand was so high that the entire season sold out within 24 hours. Audiences from far and wide have been enjoying performances from socially distanced tables, seating up to 4 people maximum, in the idyllic setting of The Watermill’s glorious gardens.
Casting has been confirmed for the second show in the season – a concert version of Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot opening on Monday 17 August. Olivier award winner Michael Jibson (Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for Hamilton at the Victoria Palace, who has recently been seen in Quiz and 1917) will star as ‘King Arthur’. Caroline Sheen, a Watermill Associate Artist, whose previous shows at the venue include Under Milk Wood and Crazy For You, and whose other extensive musical theatre credits include Nine to Five at the Savoy, Les Misérables at the RSC, and Mary Poppins on tour in the UK and US, will star as ‘Guenevere’. Marc Antolin, whose credits include Little Shop of Horrors at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Singin’ in the Rain at Chichester and Matilda at the RSC and in the West End, will play ‘Lancelot’. They are joined by a distinguished cast of actor-musicians – many of whom have performed at the Watermill previously, including Peter Dukes as ‘Mordred’, Chioma Uma as ‘Tom’, Tom Sowinski as ‘Lionel’, Tom Self as ‘Dinadan’, Sioned Saunders and Emma Jane Morton as ensemble. Making his professional debut will be 2020 graduate Damien James, as ‘Sagramore’.
Camelot is directed by Paul Hart, with Tom Attwood as Musical Director, lighting design by Harry Armytage, sound design by Tom Marshall, and costume design by Emily Barratt, with Lucy Betts as Associate Director and Lawrence T Doyle as Production Manager.
The brand-new comedy devised version of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic Sherlock Holmes tale The Hound of the Baskervilles – directed by Abigail Pickard Price, starring Victoria Blunt, Rosalind Lailey and James Mack – opened to critical and public acclaim on 29 July. It will move to the Front Lawn of the Watermill with new performances from Wednesday 19 August, potentially enabling audiences to do both in one day, with the opportunity to enjoy al fresco lunch, tea and dinner from the restaurant.
