Creative Team Set for World Premiere of LANNY at Bristol Old Vic
Rebecca Jane Wood, Dom Coyote, and Nancy Medina join the ETT co-production at Bristol Old Vic.
Bristol Old Vic, in association with ETT, has announced the full creative team joining writer Bea Roberts and director NANCY MEDINA for the world premiere stage adaptation of Max Porter's award-winning novel Lanny, opening this autumn (16 October – 7 November).
Joining the production is Bristol-based Set and Costume Designer Rebecca Jane Wood, whose previous work for Bristol Old Vic includes Malaika Kegode's acclaimed gig-theatre production Outlier and the recently announced Badgers (Theatre Royal Plymouth/BOV). She is a founding member of the award-winning theatre company Bucket Club, designing all of the company's productions to date, including Five Children and It (The Egg, Theatre Royal Bath) and Fossils (New Diorama/Brits Off Broadway and tour) and their upcoming Arthur (Polka Theatre/The Egg). Her additional credits include Fel Anifail (Sherman Theatre), Further Than the Furthest Thing (Minack Theatre), Tachwedd and Out of Sorts (Theatre503).
Award-winning Composer and Musical Director Dom Coyote began his career as a musician and actor with internationally acclaimed theatre company Kneehigh. He is currently Music Director for War Horse at The National Theatre and is Artistic Director of Bristol-based company OTIC. Their production The Colour of Dinosaurs previewed a sold-out run at Bristol Old Vic in 2023 before premiering at Polka Theatre in 2024 and selling out performances at the Southbank Centre in 2025. Other recent projects include Othello (as singing coach -Theatre Royal Haymarket), Romeo and Juliet (Liverpool Everyman), A.I.Thentic (Gorilla Circus), Hamlet for Young Audiences (National Theatre) and Henry V (Donmar Warehouse).
Lighting Designer Zeynep Kepekli creates work internationally across theatre, dance, opera, ballet and site-specific installations. Previous work for Bristol Old Vic includes The Little Mermaid (directed by Miranda Cromwell) and The Meaning of Zong (directed by Tom Morris and Giles Terera). Recent theatre credits include Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy (Theatre Royal Stratford East), An Ideal Husband (Lyric Hammersmith/Bristol Old Vic), Coven (Kiln Theatre) and The Talented Mr Ripley (Cheltenham Everyman and UK tour).
Movement Director Dan Canham is a Bristol-based theatre director, filmmaker and choreographer. He performed for over a decade with some of the UK and Ireland's leading theatre and dance companies before founding his own company, Still House, in 2011. Previous work as movement director for Bristol Old Vic includes Jane Eyre (National Theatre/Bristol Old Vic), A Monster Calls (Old Vic/Bristol Old Vic) and What Remains of Us. Recent projects include co-director and choreographer for both Brighter Still (closing event for UK City of Culture Bradford 2025) and Public Record (National Theatre Public Acts), and movement director for The Odyssey (National Theatre Public Acts).
The creative team is completed by Associate Movement Director Divija Mellaly, Associate Director Rikki Henry (currently Associate Artistic Director at Bristol Old Vic - RYTDS Fair Play Scheme) and Casting Director Arthur Carrington CDG.
The team joins writer Bea Roberts, the multi-award-winning playwright and screenwriter from the West Country known for her distinctive blend of dark humour, folklore and rural storytelling. Her plays include Ivy Tiller: Vicar's Daughter, Squirrel Killer (RSC) and Infinity Pool. Her 2014 play And Then Come the Nightjars, developed with support from Bristol Old Vic, won the Theatre503 International Playwriting Award. Additional credits include adaptations of The Little Mermaid - winner of Best Play for Children and Young People at the 2018 UK Theatre Awards - and The Borrowers (Tobacco Factory Theatres), alongside writing for BBC One's EastEnders. She is currently developing screen projects with BBC Studios, Firebird Pictures and Hartswood Films.
Director NANCY MEDINA has been Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic since 2023. Her first production for the theatre, a revival of Tarell Alvin McCraney's Choir Boy, won both Best Play and Best Director at the 2024 Black British Theatre Awards before being remounted at Stratford East. Recent productions for Bristol Old Vic include A Good House, co-produced with The Royal Court Theatre and Market Theatre (South Africa), and The Beautiful Future is Coming. As a freelance director, Nancy is currently directing Sting for the Young Vic which opens this June. She has worked extensively with theatres including The National Theatre, Kiln Theatre and Young Vic, alongside productions across the UK.
When a family leaves London for a remote West Country village, their young son Lanny awakens the attention of the ancient and enigmatic Dead Papa Toothwort. Blurring the boundaries between reality and imagination, Lanny is a haunting and lyrical story about folklore, community and belonging.
Published in 2019, Lanny was Max Porter's acclaimed second novel and was nominated for multiple awards, including the Booker Prize. His debut novel, Grief is the Thing with Feathers, won numerous literary honours including the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award and was later adapted for stage and screen starring Cillian Murphy and Benedict Cumberbatch respectively. Porter's recent Netflix adaptation Steve, based on his novel Shy, received a BAFTA nomination in 2025.
Casting for Lanny will be announced in summer 2026.
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