All-Star Cast Named For Hamlet and Measure for Measure

NEW SHOWS OPEN IN TWO WEEKS

Producers of the homegrown international smash-hit theatre Pop-up Globe today announce the cast for its world premiere seasons of Hamlet and Measure for Measure opening in just two weeks.

Much-loved Kiwi actress Amanda Billing returns to Pop-up Globe having played Lady Macbeth in Auckland and Sydney in a tour-de-force that saw her nominated for best actress at the prestigious BroadwayWorld Sydney theatre awards to star as Mistress Overdone, the madam with a heart of gold, in controversial comedy Measure for Measure.

Billing will be joined by a newly-formed acting ensemble of fourteen including Pop-up Globe fan favourite Adrian Hooke, who made his professional acting debut with Pop-up Globe as Feste in the 2016 season production of Twelfth Night, before playing Orlando over 148 times for Pop-up Globe in both Auckland and Melbourne, takes on the challenge of his acting career in the title role in Hamlet.

He is joined by fan favourite Max Loban, who recently won Best Actor in the BroadwayWorld Sydney theatre awards for his portrayal of Hermia in Pop-up Globe’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Rising Kiwi star Summer Millet, a recent graduate of Toi Whakaari, will play Ophelia opposite Hooke as Hamlet. The production is directed by Pop-up Globe’s associate artistic director, David Lawrence, and marks the first time the company have staged Hamlet, widely regarded as the most famous play ever written.

Pop-up Globe artistic director and founder Dr Miles Gregory says this new production of Hamlet marks a major milestone for the company.

“Hamlet is quite rightly regarded as the best play ever written. It is not only packed with lines that almost everyone will be familiar with - “To be or not to be, that is the question” is probably the most famous - but is a truly great work of art that explores the human condition in a way that few other plays can match. If you haven’t seen Hamlet before, this is a great opportunity to see why this play changed the way we think about ourselves as humans.”

The same ensemble perform in Measure for Measure, in a new adaptation directed by Dr Gregory, who won Best Director in the BroadwayWorld Sydney theatre awards for his production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which itself won Best Play in the same awards round.

All over the world leading Shakespeare companies are currently producing Measure for Measure. Although primarily an uproarious comedy of mistaken identity featuring larger than life characters ranging from independent brothel-keepers to inept police officers, the play is particularly topical as its central plot explores a horrifying abuse of power: the corrupt ruler of Vienna attempts to extort sexual favours from a young novice nun, in return for saving her brother’s life. When the nun threatens him with exposure, he replies with a chilling question: “Who will believe thee, Isabella?”

Dr Gregory chose the play for inclusion in the 2019 season precisely because of this topicality, but stresses that the production fully explores the comedy in the play alongside this darker theme.

“This is an all-singing, all-dancing production that we’ve nicknamed ‘Shakespeare’s Moulin Rouge’. We don’t shy away from the dark heart of the play, instead we think the darkness is heightened by the hilarious comedy that surrounds it.”

Measure for Measure has been reworked to include a large number of songs and dances, turning the production into the largest musical piece yet to be produced by the company. Composer Paul McLaney has written eight new musical numbers with choreography by the award-winning Brigid Costello.

Hamlet and Measure for Measure are running for a limited season of 7 weeks only and will close on 31 March. Measure for Measure opens on February 14. Hamlet opens on February 15.

Adrian Hooke
Characters:
Hamlet: Hamlet
Measure for Measure: Claudio
Since graduating Toi Whakaari in 2011, Adrian has worked extensively in New Zealand and abroad as an actor, writer, composer and musical director. His recent acting credits include playing Orlando and Bardolph for Pop-up Globe in Auckland and Melbourne. He was nominated for an Outstanding Composition of Music Award at the Auckland and Wellington Theatre Awards for his work on The Best Ever Album Release Party Anybody Has Ever Been To.

Amanda Billing
Characters:
Hamlet: First Player
Measure for Measure: Mistress Overdone
Amanda has been acting professionally since 2003 after auditioning on a whim for a play at Auckland’s Silo Theatre and getting the part. Since then she has worked consistently on NZ television (Shortland Street, Power Rangers) and theatre (Silo, Auckland Theatre Company, Red Leap). Her first Shakespearean role was Rosalind in As You Like It at the Parnell Rose Gardens, right back at the beginning of her acting life (she’d been a high school teacher of Geography and English before that). Amanda starred as Lady Macbeth in Pop-up Globe’s Auckland and Sydney season of Macbeth and as Luce in The Comedy of Errors.

Anya Tate-Manning
Characters:
Hamlet: Rosencrantz
Measure for Measure: Froth
Anya Tate-Manning is an award-winning performer, writer and theatre-maker. Her recent work includes her solo show My Best Dead Friend (winner of Outstanding Performance, Wellington Theatre Awards 2018 and Best in Fringe, Wellington Fringe Festival 2018) and Silo Theatre's hit comedy Hudson and Halls Live! (winner of Best Supporting Actress, Wellington Theatre Awards 2016). Anya has performed puppetry, poetry, theatre and stand-up at festivals around the world, including Glastonbury, Edinburgh, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Dunedin. Anya trained at Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School and Otago University, and has an MA in scriptwriting from Victoria University.

Barry de Lore
Characters:
Hamlet: Horatio
Measure for Measure: Elbow
Barry returns to the Pop-up Globe stage following his Season 2 appearances in Auckland and Melbourne. In As You Like It he played the elderly teeth-spitting servant, Adam, and the projectile-vomiting Sir Oliver Martext. In Henry V, he was the Archbishop of Canterbury, Mistress Nell Quickly and the fiery Welsh officer, Fluellen. Barry’s professional acting career began at Christchurch’s Court Theatre in 1990. That company and Dunedin’s Fortune Theatre (now defunct) have provided the bulk of his 60-odd professional productions. He has also worked in television and film. In 2004, Barry moved to South Korea where he taught English for most of the ensuing seven years. He continues to teach English as a second language while “resting” between acting contracts.

Clementine Mills
Characters:
Hamlet: Player Queen/Voltemand
Measure for Measure: Juliet
Clementine grew up in England and New Zealand before moving to Sydney for drama school aged 18. Since graduating Actors Centre Australia, her theatre highlights include playing Tracey in M.Rock (Sydney Theatre Company); performing in award-winning physical theatre piece A Year From Now(RedBellyBlack, VAULTS Festival London); and playing Harry Crawford in the UK premiere of The Mutant Man (The Space, London). Previous Shakespeare roles include Tybalt in Romeo & Julietand Maria in Twelfth Night. Clementine has just returned from her Pop-up Globe debut as swing for the Southampton’s Company in the Sydney season.

Frith Horan
Characters:
Hamlet: Marcellus
Measure for Measure: Pompey
Originally from Wellington, Frith is a 2013 graduate of the Acting course at Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School. Since relocating to Auckland, Frith has worked in a wide variety of projects in the creative arts. Major theatre credits include Viola in Twelfth Night and Red's Granny in Into the Woods (Fortune Theatre), and Annie in Mating in Captivity (Basement and Bats Theatre). Frith is also an established theatre-maker and deviser, highlights include the 2-woman sketch comedy show Cool Behaviour (co-created with Ava Diakhaby, Auckland Fringe/Q Theatre), the all-female devised show Flaps Retouched (Bits and Pieces Ensemble, Basement Theatre), and The Best Possible Album Party That Anybody Has Ever Been To (co-created with Kate McGill, Basement & Bats Theatre). In 2016, Frith made her debut as a writer, co-writing the original production Bravado for a company of young performers through Auckland Theatre Company’s Here & Now season. Frith has also had an extensive career as a dancer, dance teacher and choreographer. Her most recent choreography work includes The Addams Family Musical with Western Springs College and Shrek The Musical with the National Youth Theatre Company, staged at the Civic Theatre.

Hugh Sexton
Characters:
Hamlet: The Ghost
Measure for Measure: Angelo
Spanning a career at a tick over 20 years, Hugh has worked with many companies including Hothouse Theatre, Riverina TC, Theatre South, La Mama and the Australian Shakespeare Company. Recent highlights have included the Greenroom nominated Shakespeare’s Best Bits (Australian Theatre Company), the title role in Hamlet (Australian Theatre Company), the title role in Macbeth (Melbourne Company of Players), as well as the Melbourne and Sydney transfers with Pop-up Globe (Around the Globe in 60 Minutes, Comedy of Errors, Macbeth).
Matu Ngaropo
Characters:
Hamlet: Guildenstern
Measure for Measure: Provost
Tūhoe, Ngāti Porou, Te Rarawa. A Toi Whaakari: NZ Drama School graduate, Matu has enjoyed career highlights in Othello, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet and The Māori Troilus and Cressidathat was performed at Shakespeare’s Globe in London. Matu spent three years in Australia as part of The Lion King Antelope Tour and is a founding member, creative director and performer in the award-winning Modern Māori Quartet. He performed at Pop-up Globe for the first time last season as Macduff in Macbeth and Angelo in The Comedy of Errors in both Auckland and Sydney.

Max Loban
Characters:
Hamlet: King Claudius
Measure for Measure: Lucio
Max graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in 2017, where he was awarded the David Suchet Scholarship. He made his professional stage debut with Pop-Up Globe in 2017 as part of the Buckingham's Company, playing Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Solanio in The Merchant of Venice. He consequently joined these productions on their international transfer to Sydney last year where, after cavorting about in a dress, shaving his chest and sweating make-up into his eyes for the best part of a year, he was awarded Best Actor in a Play for his role as Hermia in the BroadwayWorld Sydney Awards. Theatre whilst training includes: Stephen in Other People, Ernst in Spring Awakening, Catesby in Richard III, Menzies in Another Country, Franklin Shepard in Merrily We Roll Along, Tuzenbach in Three Sisters, Sparkish in The Country Wife and Chorus in Medea.

Summer Millett
Characters:
Hamlet: Ophelia
Measure for Measure: Mariana

Summer loves to sing, and she loves to act. Only netball has ever competed for her passion. At 12 she was a talent contest winner. With the Northland Youth Theatre in 2013 she wrote and directed ‘easily the most original piece of the night’ at the annual Short+Sweet season. A Toi Whakaari acting graduate in 2017, Summer appeared there in The Antigone Sound, an ambitious song, sound and dance work; and interned at Dunedin’s fabled Fortune Theatre, playing Florinda in Into the Woods. Claire van Beek’s Daniel was her short film debut.

Susan-Jane Harrison
Characters:
Hamlet: Queen Gertrude
Measure for Measure: Escalus
Susan-Jane Harrison is a British-American actor and playwright, trained at RADA in London. Most notable work in the UK includes BBC Radio, A&BC Theatre Co, and The National. In the USA with Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Aurora Theatre Company, Woman's Will, ACT, California Shakespeare Company, A Traveling Jewish Theater, and the United Solo Festival on Theatre Row in NYC. She has a private teaching practice in Oakland, CA, and teaches voice and acting at Berkeley Repertory School of Theatre. Her work as a playwright has premiered at the RADA Festival in London and in San Francisco, CA.

Will Alexander
Characters:
Hamlet: Laertes
Measure for Measure: The Duke
Will began his career at the Christchurch Court Theatre, in productions including: The History Boys, Gods of Warm Beer and The Seagull before moving to London to study at RADA, a highlight of which was performing a duologue at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Since graduating Will has performed in The Winter’s Tale (Sheffield Crucible), The Third(Finborough Theatre), This Much (SOHO Theatre), Flagons and Foxtrots (Fortune Theatre) as well as the world tour of Tis Pity She’s a Whore (Cheek by Jowl). In television Will has performed in Outlander, Doctorsand was a television presenter for Whitebait T.V. Will made his Pop-up Globe debut last season as Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Nerissa in The Merchant of Venice in Auckland and Sydney.

Rebecca Rogers
Characters:
Hamlet: Cornelius
Measure for Measure: Isabella
Rebecca recently played Slubgob in the award-winning production The Screwtape Letters in a USA/UK tour and at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, as well as Belle in A Christmas Carol, Laura Jesson in Brief Encounter, Edith Cavell in Remember Edith Cavell, and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. Rebecca shot a feature film last year, playing the lead in the physiological thriller. She played Amelia Croft in Shadows of the Tomb Raider and the title role in indie short Songs for Cleo. Rebecca directs and writes for her company Heady Conduct; Tiresias and RECKLESS; and other companies; Her Naked Skin, Chariots and Love Struck.

Salesi Le’ota
Characters:
Hamlet: Polonius
Measure for Measure: Friar
Salesi is a graduate of Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School. He has performed with the Bacchanals since 2005 in such shows as Richard III, Lysistrata, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Coriolanus, Hamletand King Lear. He has appeared in three shows for The Conch; Conchus, Masi at the NZ Festival and Vula at the Barbican, the Sydney Opera House and in theatres throughout Holland, New Zealand and Australia. Other stage work includes Public Service Announcements, Christ Almighty!, Hedda Gabler, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Revenge of the Amazons, Sniper (Chapman Tripp Award for Most Original Production), Monkey(NZ Festival) and Golden Boys at Circa. Salesi also has an MA in Art History from the University of Auckland.

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