Former Coronation Street actors Vicky Entwistle (Janice Battersby) and Chris Gascoyne (Peter Barlow) are taking leading roles along with Nancy Sullivan in Jim Cartwright’s Olivier Award-winning The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice which opens at Birmingham Repertory Theatre on May 15.
Nancy Sullivan stars as LV, a painfully shy girl with a bold and beautiful voice, whose blowsy mother Mari, played by Vicky Entwistle, shrieks and shouts her way around the house, all-the-while Chris Gascoyne’s Ray Say engineers his escape from small town show-biz to the bright lights of the big-time. They are joined on stage by Joanna Brookes, Brendan Charleson and Tendayi Jembare.
Director of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice and Artistic Director of West Yorkshire Playhouse, James Brining said:
“There is a wonderful poetry to this play and the relationships Jim creates between his extraordinary characters are funny and moving. I can’t wait to explore this in the rehearsal room with a great company of actors. Nancy has an incredible voice that can transport you and Vicky and Chris have an intuitive understanding of Mari and Ray. I’m looking forward to getting started.”
Nancy Sullivan has been seen at The REP in The Wizard Of Oz and in Nikolai Foster’s recent production The Good Person Of Sichuan at Colchester’s Mercury Theatre. Other credits include the role of Eponine in Trevor Nunn’s Les Miserables in the West End from 2008 – 2010.
Alongside playing Coronation Street’s infamous Janice Battersby Vicky Entwistle has also been seen in The Bill, her credits for the stage have included roles in Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, Bill Kenwright’s Funny Peculiar and Madame Thenardier in Les Miserables.
Outside of Coronation Street Chris Gascoyne has been seen in the BBC’s long-running drama Casualty and New Street Law for Red Productions. On stage he has played Johnny in Mark Babych’s production of Frankie And Johnny In The Claire De Lune other credits include The Rib Cage (Royal Exchange Theatre), Simon Stephen's first play Bluebird (Royal Court) and The Changing Room (Royal Court and West End). This production sees Chris returning to Birmingham following his appearance in Jack And The Beanstalk at Birmingham Hippodrome earlier this year.
This brand new staging of The Rise and Fall Of Little Voice is a co-production between Birmingham Repertory Theatre and West Yorkshire Playhouse where it transfers to following it’s opening in Birmingham.
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice is at Birmingham Repertory Theatre from Friday 15 to Saturday 30 May.