Mrs Orwell

Mrs Orwell starring Cressida Bonas to transfer to Southwark Playhouse

Will Longman
Will Longman

It has been announced that the play Mrs Orwell will transfer to Southwark Playhouse, following a run at the Old Red Lion Theatre, in September.

Based on true events, Tony Cox's play is set at University College Hospital in 1949, and looks at the last chapter of George Orwell's life. He's suffering from Tuberculosis, but believes he could still write three new novels so proposes to his friend, 30-year-old magazine worker Sonia Brownell, to keep his morale high.

The cast includes Cressida Bonas as Sonia, Peter Hamilton Dyer as George Orwell and Edmund Digby-Jones as Lucian Freud. It is directed by Jimmy Walters.

Cressida Bonas' theatre credits include An Evening with Lucien Freud at the Leicester Square Theatre and There's a Monster in the Lake at Vault Festival. On screen, she has appeared in Doctor Thorne, The Bye Bye Man and Tulip Fever.

Peter Hamilton Dyer has previously appeared in Richard III and Twelfth Night in the West End, and Edmund Digby-Jones has appeared in Being As I Am at the King's Head and Disco Pigs at Tristan Bates Theatre.

The cast also includes Robert Stocks and Rosie Ede. 

On the play transferring to Southwark, director Jimmy Walters said, "We are absolutely thrilled that those who missed out on tickets at the Old Red Lion now have a chance to see  Mrs Orwell at the Southwark Playhouse."

Mrs Orwell runs at Old Red Lion until 28th August, and transfers to Southwark Playhouse from 5th to 23rd September, with an official opening on 7th September.

Originally published on

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