Gawn Grainger joins cast of The Entertainer

Gawn Grainger to replace John Hurt as Billy Rice in The Entertainer.

The Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company have announced that Gawn Grainger has joined the company of The Entertainer in the role of Billy Rice, replacing John Hurt who, on the advice of his doctors, recently had to withdraw from the production.

Grainger joins the company who begin rehearsals for the production this week, completing the cast that also includes Kenneth Branagh (Archie Rice), Phil Dunster (Graham), Jonah Hauer-King (Frank Rice), Crispin Letts (Brother Bill), Sophie McShera (Jean Rice), Greta Scacchi (Phoebe Rice), Lauren Alexandra, Yasmin Harrison, Pip Jordan and Kate Tydman.

The production is the final show in the Kenneth Branagh season at the Garrick Theatre and begins preview performances on 20 August 2016, with an official opening on 30 August 2016.

Gawn Grainger's recent stage credits include The Cherry Orchard (Young Vic), Macbeth (Shakespeare's Globe) and The Recruiting Officer (Donmar Warehouse). Other work in the West End
includes Onassis, Absolutely Perhaps and The Crucible. Gawn was also a company member in Laurence Olivier's inaugural season at the National Theatre's South Bank venue in 1976.

Set against the backdrop of post-war Britain, John Osborne's modern classic conjures the seedy glamour of the old music halls for an explosive examination of public masks and private torment. The play premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 1957 in a production that starred Laurence Olivier.