Lucy Karczewski on starring in 'Stereophonic'

In any acting career, the role of Diana in Stereophonic would be a crowning achievement — but Lucy Karczewski is just getting started...

Summary

• Lucy Karczewski stars in West End play with music Stereophonic
• She also covered for Tanya Reynolds and Emma Corrin in the recent Barbican production of The Seagull
• Stereophonic is running at the Duke of York's Theatre until 22 November

Fresh from drama school and already making waves, Lucy Karczewski has leapt from understudy to leading role in the acclaimed Stereophonic, playing a rock goddess on the rise in the 1970s. Nominated for The Stage Debut Awards, she spoke with London Theatre Magazine about adjusting to her sudden rise, the discipline of the play, and what comes next.

First of all, congratulations on your Stage Debut nomination. How did this all begin for you?
I finished drama school in October 2023 and was just doing the normal graduate thing — I worked five different jobs, I worked in an office. Then in January I was asked to be an understudy in The Seagull. I loved my office job and thought I’d be gone for eight weeks. But two weeks before I was due back I had to call and say, ‘I’m in a play called Stereophonic and it’ll be six months — I don’t think I’m coming back. It was really weird to be cast as a principal after just a bit of understudying. A huge shock. It feels like a miracle.

Tell us about doing The Seagull.
It was seriously amazing. I covered two roles, Nina and Masha, and got to watch Tanya Reynolds and Emma Corrin, who had completely different approaches. My agent said that understudying is like an apprenticeship, and he was so right. The process on that day was very naturalistic, which really helped with Stereophonic, although it is very different — Stereophonic is very technical. You have to come in with a certain line, in a certain way, very quick, very rigid. When it's right, it works. The play is about people creating music, but really the whole thing is a composition.

How did you first approach your role in Stereophonic, and how do you keep it fresh now?
When I first read the play, I thought this character was unbelievably messy and real. She expressed herself in ways quite similar to me. Her ADHD sings off the page. She manages men around her in a coddling way that might seem submissive, but she’s using it, otherwise she’d have a partner hitting the roof constantly. She feels shame for not wanting a traditional lifestyle, which nowadays we’d celebrate, but then you’d just think, this is the way it was then. Daniel, our director, would remind me: remember you’re a ‘70s woman.

I still have new discoveries on stage. It feels like it’s deepening a lot as our connections get stronger. My relationship with Nia [Towle, who plays Holly], who I share a dressing room with, is so strong now. My relationship with Jack [Riddifor, who plays her husband Peter], even though we argue three times in the show, is also stronger. The love is stronger because of the respect we have for each other on stage.

On stage you’re not just playing a rockstar, you’re really doing it — singing, shouting, living it. Does it feel like performing, or like actually being a rockstar?
The best days are when I feel like I’m actually doing it, when the thoughts are just Diana’s. Some days you’re tired, but then someone does something new and it’s electric.

With such a big breakthrough, what comes next?
I’ve got three months left and I’m doing a lot of auditions, which has been really lovely. It’s new for me to say “I’m an actor.” Before, I’d say, “I’m a receptionist,” which I really liked as a job. But moving on will be hard — this play has so much blood and sweat and tears in it.

Are you tempted to keep any of the costumes?
I have my eye on a pair of jeans...

Book Stereophonic tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

This article first appeared in the October 2025 issue of London Theatre Magazine.

Photo credit: Lucy Karczewski in Stereophonic. (Photo by Marc Brenner)