Initial casting announced for Absolute Hell at the National Theatre

Absolute Hell is at the National Theatre.

Casting has been announced for Rodney Ackland’s play Absolute Hell, which opens in the Lyttelton at the National Theatre in April.

Ackland’s play is set in a Soho club in wartime London where the regulars drink into the early hours as they “struggle from the rubble of war towards an unknown future.”

Joe Hill-Gibbins (Edward II, National Theatre) will direct the large ensemble cast which features: Esh Alladi, Joanna David, Charles Edwards, Patricia England, Kate Fleetwood, Jenny Galloway, Aaron Heffernan, Lloyd Hutchinson, Martins Imhangbe, Stephanie Jacob, Prasanna Puwanarajah, Anita Reynolds, John Sackville, Liza Sadovy, Jonathan Slinger, Eileen Walsh and Danny Webb. Further casting is set to be announced shortly.

Absolute Hell runs at the National Theatre from 18th April to 23rd May with an official opening night on 25th April and further performances to be announced.  

The production will have designs by Lizzie Clachan, costumes by Nicky Gillibrand, lighting by by Jon Clark, movement and associate direction by Jenny Ogilvie, sound by Paul Arditti and musical direction by Harvey Brough.

Absolute Hell was first performed in London at the Orange Tree Theatre in 1988 and was adapted for television starring Judi Dench directed by Anthony Page. In 1995, Page directed a stage production in the Lyttelton at the National, with Dench reprising the lead role form the TV adaptation, and going on to win the Olivier Award for Best Actress the following year.

Absolute Hell is at the National Theatre from 18th April to 23rd May.