Con O'Neill cast in Salome at Hampstead Theatre

Casting has been announced for Headlong Theatre and Curve, Leicester production of Salome, by Oscar Wilde, at the Hampstead Theatre, in north London, from 22 June to 17 July 2010.

Directed by Jamie Lloyd, the cast includes Zawe Ashton (Salome), Con O'Neill (Herod), Jaye Griffiths (Herodias), Tom Byam Shaw, Vyelle Croom, Sam Donovan, Seun Shote.

Con O'Neill's London stage credits include "Prick Up Your Ears" at the Comedy in 2009; "Faces in the Crowd" at the Royal Court Upstairs in 2008; "Female of the Species" at the Vaudeville in 2008; "Southwark fair" at the Cottesloe, NT in 2006; "Telstar" at the New Ambassadors" in 2005; "Mother Clap's Molly House" at the Lyttelton, NT & Aldwych Theatres in 2001/02.

The savage power of ancient myth collides with twentieth century decadence in Oscar Wilde's verse tragedy. Salome, step-daughter of King Herod agrees to perform the mysterious dance of the seven veils but demands in return the head of the King's most infamous prisoner. The head of John the Baptist.

Also coming up at the Hampstead...

Anderson's English, by Sebastian Barry, from 7 April to 8 May 2010. Directed by Max Stafford-Clark, produced by Out of Joint. Starring Niamh Cusack. Set in the imagined home of Charles Dickens as celebrated children's writer Hans Christian Andersen arrives unannounced.

Canary, by Jonathan Harvey, from 19 May to 12 June 2010. Directed by Hettie Macdonald, produced by Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, and English Touring Theatre. In 1960s Liverpool, two lovers hide in the closet, then are forced to go their separate ways. While pits close and dole queues grow, a couple of runaways find Heaven in 1980s London. In 2010, despite civil partnerships and an equal age of consent, the paparazzi chase a love story that could tear a family apart.

The House of Bilquis Bibi, by Sudha Bhuchar, adapted from Federico Garcia Lorca, from 22 July to 14 Aug 2010. Directed by Kristine Landon-Smith, produced by Tamasha and Harrogate Theatre. It is uncomfortably hot in Jhang, a small town in Pakistan's fertile Punjab region. Among the mango groves and orchards lies The House of Bilquis Bibi. Inside, a family mourns. With her husband gone, Bilquis must uphold her family's honour at all costs - the fates of five unmarried daughters lie in her hands. Her solution: to marry off eldest daughter Abida to their cousin Pappo, who is visiting Pakistan from the US. Bilquis turns a blind eye to the illicit nightly visits Pappo pays to his fiancée's balcony. But as she slowly realises that more than one daughter is staying awake for him, the temperature in the house rises and a tragedy unfolds.