Shakespeare’s Globe is pleased to announce the casting of Burnt at the Stake, or the Whole of the Truth, a celebration of bold new writing in the Globe Theatre on 13 October. Co-curated by Hannah Khalil (Writer, Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights; The Fir Tree, Globe) and Morgan Lloyd Malcolm (Writer, Emilia, Globe; Mum, Soho), and co-directed by Globe Resident Associate Directors Naeem Hayat and Indiana Lown-Collins, this night will premiere anonymised work by 13 writers. The cast of Burnt at the Stake comprises Annette Badland, Jessie Bedrossian, Sam Buttery, Vera Chok, Nadine Higgin, Mariah Gale, Mariah Louca, Mary Malone, Robert Mountford, Samuel Oatley, Shubham Saraf, and Delilah Tahiri.
Cast biographies are as follows:
Annette Badland: Previous theatre credits include: The Play What I Wrote (Theatre Royal Bath), Our Lady of Blundellsands (Liverpool Everyman), After Edward, Edward II, Eyam, The Winter’s Tale (Globe), Far Away (Bristol Old Vic), Kin (Royal Court), As You Like It, Romeo & Juliet, Taming of the Shrew, Summerfolk, The Marrying of Ann Leete, Love’s Labour’s Lost (RSC), Alphabetical Order, Slavs (Hampstead), Blithe Spirit (Royal Exchange), The Golden Hour (Almeida), The Vortex (Bill Kenwright, West End), Habeas Corpus, Measure for Measure (Peter Hall Company/RSC), Dr Faustus, ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore (Young Vic), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (National Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Haymarket). TV includes: Midsomer Murders, Inside No 9, Ted Lasso, Big Boys, Brassic, Beyond Paradise, Whitstable Pearl, Silent Witness, The Crown, Criminal, Strike: Lethal White, Doctors, Shakespeare and Hathaway, Hold the Sunset, The Dumping Ground, Agatha Raisin, Plebs, Not Going Out, EastEnders, Outlander, The Sparticle Mystery, Wizards vs. Aliens, Aunties, Father Brown, Cutting It, Man Down, Snodgrass, Bad Girls, Land Girls, Little Crackers, Skins, Casanova, Doctor Who, Poirot, Last Days of Summer, The Naked Civil Servant. Film includes: The Toxic Avenger, Portraits of Dangerous Women, Sisi and I, Operation Napoleon, The Act, The Man Who Invented Christmas, A Quiet Passion, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Little Voice, Twenty Four Seven, Jabberwocky.
Jessie Bedrossian: Previous theatre credits include Home (Small Truth Theatre), Grace (Jackson Lane Theatre), Terrifying Women (Golden Goose Theatre) and I Am Karyan Ophidian (Shakespeare’s Globe).
Sam Buttery: Previous theatre credits include Cabaret (Lido2, Paris); Taboo (London Palladium); The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (National Tour); The Wolf, The Duck and The Mouse (Unicorn Theatre); Jesus Christ Superstar (Barbican); Fat Blokes (Southbank Centre/HOME); Cinderella (Lyric Hammersmith); Buttery Brown Monk (Leicester Square Theatre); The Tale of Mr Tumble (Manchester International Festival); Taboo (Brixton Clubhouse). Screen credits include Kaos (Netflix); Wreck (BBC Three); Blaggers (Retort TV); 8 out of 10 Cats (Channel 4); Child 44.
Vera Chok: Previous theatre credits include The Winter’s Tale and Harlequinade (Garrick Theatre); Chimerica (Almeida and West End transfer), The Hard Problem and World of Extreme Happiness (National Theatre); Twelfth Night (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); L’Etranger (Coronet), The Paper Man (European tour). Screen credits include Hollyoaks, Chimerica, Chewing Gum (Channel 4); Cobra (Sky); Fortitude 3 (Sky); Dream Agency (Forest Fringe). Radio includes Red Mandarin Dress (BBC 4); Brief Lives (BBC 4); Rhinoceros in Love (BBC 3); Dostoevsky and the Chickens (BBC 3).
Mariah Gale: Mariah is Associate Artist at the Royal Shakespeare Company, where she has recently finished playing Margaret in Henry VI: Rebellion, Wars of the Roses and Richard III. Her roles at the RSC have included Juliet, Ophelia, Miranda, Portia in Julius Caesar, Celia, The Princess of France, Elaine of Astolat in Morte D’Arthur and Wendy Darling in Wendy and Peter Pan. She has performed Shakespeare for Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Charles and performed for the RSCs televised ‘Shakespeare Live!’ event. Other theatre credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing and Measure for Measure (Shakespeare’s Globe); Twelfth Night (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Three Sisters (Young Vic); Waiting For Lefty (Two Lines Productions); Afterplay (The Coronet); Eden (Hampstead Theatre); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at The Manchester Royal Exchange, Catherine in Proof at the Menier Chocolate Factory, Kayleen in Gruesome Playground Injuries at The Gate, Hayley in Pitchfork Disney and Klara in Musik at The Arcola, Rose in The Sea at Theatre Royal Haymarket, Ella/Taylor in Vernon God Little at the Young Vic, Anabella in ’Tis Pity She’s A Whore at the Southwark Playhouse, Rowan in The Lost Child at Chichester festival Theatre and Emily in Stealing Sweets and Punching People at The Latchmere. She was awarded the Laurence Olivier bursary whilst training at Guildhall, and throughout her career has been awarded the Ian Charleson Award (First Prize and Special Commendation), a Time Out Live Award, a Critics Choice Award, a Best Actress Evening Standard award nomination, and two Best Supporting Actor nominations at the OFFIE Awards. Screen credits include I May Destroy You, Broadchurch, Dr Who, The Great, Death Comes To Pemberley, New Tricks, Grantchester, Father Brown, Lucky Man, The Hollow Crown, Skins, The Diary Of Anne Frank, Oliver Twist, Hamlet, Rare Beasts, Abraham’s Point and Hercules 3D. Extensive radio work includes Brian Guillivers Travels, seasons I and II.
Nadine Higgin: Previous theatre credits include The Crucible (West End and National Theatre); The Winter’s Tale, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare’s Globe); Yellowman (Orange Tree); Legally Blonde (Regents Park Open Air Theatre); Allelujah! (Bridge Theatre); The Lion King (The Lyceum); The Book Of Mormon (Prince of Wales); Legally Blonde (The Savoy); Peter Pan (Wimbledon Theatre); Hairspray (Shaftesbury Theatre); High School Musical (Hammersmith Apollo); Little Shop of Horrors (Kilworth House Theatre). Screen credits include Doctors; Twelfth Night Live from Shakespeare’s Globe; The Military Wives; NT Live: Allelujah!.
Mariah Louca: Previous theatre credits include The Doctor (Almeida Theatre/Adelaide Festival/Duke Of York’s Theatre/Park Avenue Armory, NYC); Best Of Enemies (Young Vic/Noël Coward Theatre); Maryland (Royal Court/Battersea Arts Centre); The Ministry Of Lesbian Affairs (Soho Theatre); Queer Upstairs (Royal Court); Cherry Jezebel (Liverpool Everyman); All Mod Cons (Lyric, Belfast); Tuesdays At Tesco’s, Bloom, Blossom, Bloom (Southwark Playhouse); Bumps (Theatre503); The Vagina Monologues (Theatre Deli); The Interview (The Mono Box @ The Biscuit Factory); Julius Caesar, Playing For Time, A Dream, The Sheffield Mysteries, 20 Tiny Plays About Sheffield (Sheffield Crucible). Screen credits include Eastenders, Casualty, Waterloo Road, Doctors (BBC); Re-displacement (short).
Mary Malone: Previous theatre credits include Hope Has a Happy Meal (Royal Court), As You Like It (Soho Place); The Prince (Southwark); Gulliver’s Travels (Unicorn). Screen credits include Doctor Who, Vera, Chivalry, The Girlfriend Experience, Play in a Day. Radio credits includes Hell Cats 2, Radio Elusia, The Venice Conundrum.
Robert Mountford: Previous theatre credits include Much Ado About Nothing (RSC/West End); The Merchant of Venice (RSC); The Habit of Art, Into The Night, The Haunting of Alice Bowles (Original Theatre); All’s Well That End’s Well, The Wind in the Willows (Jermyn St Theatre/GSC); The Odyssey (Jermyn Street Theatre), The Winter’s Tale, Romeo & Juliet (GSC); The Omission of the Family Coleman (Royal Theatre Bath); Anita & Me (Birmingham Rep); Betrayal (Salisbury Playhouse); Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, Merlin, Hercules (Chester Open Air); Macbeth, The Tempest, Enemy of The People and The Merchant of Venice (Tara Arts); The Black Album (National Theatre); Tagore’s Women, Gandhi & Coconuts, Bitched (Kali Theatre); Hamlet, As You Like It, Winter’s Tale (USA tours); East is East (Leicester Haymarket). Screen credits include North Square (Channel 4); Holby City, Eastenders, Silent Witness, Torn, One Night, Casualty, Michael Wood’s History of India, Reverse Psychology (BBC); London’s Burning (LWT); A&E (Granada).
Samuel Oatley: Previous work for Shakespeare’s Globe includes Julius Caesar, The Winter’s Tale, The Merchant of Venice, Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth. Other theatre includes Any Means Necessary (Nottingham Playhouse); Richard III (Nottingham Playhouse/York Theatre Royal); King Lear (Theatre Royal Bath); The Shape Of Things (RADA); Incarcerator (Old Red Lion); One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Playhouse Creatures (BAC). Screen credits include Strike (Bronte Film & Television/BBC & HBO); Small Axe, Doctor Who, Casualty, Holby City, Doctors, Taming Of The Shrew, No Sweat (BBC); Cursed (Netflix); Man Down (Avalon); Witless (Objective Productions); New Tricks (Headstrong Pictures (BBC)); Partners In Crime (Endor); Endeavour (Mammoth TV); Breathless, Law And Order: UK, Little Devil, Pickles, Bad Girls, Foyle’s War (ITV); Midsomer Murders (Bentley Productions); The Bill (Talkback Thames); Gentlemen Of The Road (Tom Burke); Hard Light (London Film School); Solomon (Open Door Enter); The Boxer (AUCB); Teeth; (MoNoPo Films); Magpie Sings The Blues (Bridgeman Quinn Productions); Initiation (Odd Boy Films); Hush Your Mouth (Greenwich Films); War Hero (Peasant Films); Honeymoon (2am Films); 357 (Diamond Bullet Productions); Myria (Average at Best); London Love Story.
Shubham Saraf: Previous theatre credits include When Winston Went to War with the Wireless (Donmar Warehouse); Brilliant Jerks (Southwark Playhouse); The Father and the Assassin, Romeo and Juliet (National Theatre). Screen credits include I’ll Play Mother; Shantaram (Apple TV); A Suitable Boy (BBC); Criminal (Netflix); The Bodyguard (BBC/Netflix).
Delilah Tahiri: Previous theatre credits include Start of a Beautiful Friendship (Birmingham Rep); The Butterly Room (Edinburgh Fringe). Screen credits include Animal Pie and City Fishing. Voice work includes Finis Africae and Ethics Radio. Spoken word work includes Black Lives Natter. Tahiri is also currently on the board of, and a working member of Matchstick Theatre Company as an actor, director, and producer.
Burnt at the Stake was cast by Becky Paris, Head of Casting at Shakespeare’s Globe.
Creative team:
Co-curator – Hannah Khalil
Co-curator – Morgan Lloyd Malcolm
Co-director – Naeem Hayat
Co-director – Indiana Lown-Collins
Writer – Abi Zakarian
Writer – Amy Trigg
Writer – Chinonyerem Odimba
Writer – Chloë Moss
Writer – Gilbert Kyem Jnr
Writer – Jasmine Naziha Jones
Writer – Lucy Sheen
Writer – Matilda Feyiṣayọ Ibini
Writer – Philip Ishak Arditti
Writer – Ric Renton
Writer – Tabby Lamb
Writer – Tanika Gupta
Writer – Timberlake Wertenbaker
Written by: Nura Arooj