Cast Set For DON'T LOOK NOW at New Wolsey Theatre and Salisbury Playhouse

The cast and creative team have been announced for New Wolsey Theatre and Salisbury Playhouse’s major new revival of Don’t Look Now, which will play New Wolsey Theatre from 9 - 25 October and Salisbury Playhouse from 29 October - 15 November.

Directed by New Wolsey Theatre’s Chief Executive/Artistic Director Douglas Rintoul, this bold new adaptation of the classic Daphne Du Maurier story by award-winning playwright Nell Leyshon significantly reimagines the story for a 21st-century audience, with permission from the du Maurier estate. Don’t Look Now was written as a short story in 1971, became a successful film and was originally produced for theatre in 2007. This highly theatrical new adaptation addresses the stereotypes and negative associations previously portrayed, particularly around disability, in its retelling. 

Don’t Look Now will star Alex Bulmer, Olivia Carruthers, Richard Emerson Gould, Mark Jackson, Alexander Makar, Kate Męczyńska and Sophie Robinson.

Alex Bulmer (Sister 2) is an award-winning blind artist with over 35 years experience working across Canada and the UK. Alex has appeared in stage plays in Toronto and London, provided voice for several radio dramas and held roles in many television and feature film productions. She was named Best Actor for her role as Anna in the short film Awake, played Lady Z in the Apple TV series See and will appear as Eunice in the upcoming feature film Being Heumann. Alex became the first blind woman to take the stage at the Internationally acclaimed Stratford Festival in Ontario, with her leading role of Friar Laurence in an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.

Olivia Carruthers (Sister 1) has appeared in The Secret Garden (Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds),Cinderella (Library Theatre, Manchester), Julius Caesar (Baron’s Court Theatre), What the Butler Saw and Twelfth Night (Eye Theatre). Her television credits include Life (BBC), Killing Eve (BBC), Four Weddings and a Funeral miniseries (Hulu/MGM), Emmerdale (ITV), EastEnders (BBC), Doctors (BBC) and Coronation Street (ITV). Her film credits include 5lbs of Pressure (Prime Video), Stardust, The Storm and Ashes to Ashes.

Richard Emerson Gould (Police Chief and Musician)’s theatre work includes Hamlet and A Man of No Importance (Salisbury Playhouse), Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Queen’s, Hornchurch), Bedroom Farce and Great Expectations (Jill Freud & Company), The Vaudevillains (Les Enfants Terribles) and How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying (Wilton’s Music Hall). His film credits include The Last Photograph and Not for Sale.

Mark Jackson (John) trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He has most recently appeared in Forever Young (Dark Matter Studios) after completing three seasons of The Orville (Hulu/Disney+). His other screen credits include The Royal Today (ITV) and Lost In The Sky (Kojan Film). His theatre credits include One Man, Two Guvnors (National Theatre), War Horse (National Theatre/West End), Black Coffee (Bill Kenwright), Noises Off (Old Vic), Shout! (West End) and I Am a Camera (Rosemary Branch).

Alexander Makar (Waiter, Restaurant Proprietor and Policeman) studied Acting (BA Hons) at Arts University Bournemouth, graduating with a singular lead role in dir. Iqbal Khan’s Imaam Imran (National Youth Theatre, Bradford Literature Festival). He has recently finished his MFA in Acting at LAMDA after being awarded The Carne Scholarship. His recent credits include Twenty Twenty Six (BBC), Primary Playwright(Soho Theatre), Total War: Pharaoh (Creative Assembly, voice-over) and You Bury Me (National Theatre, R&D).

Kate Męczyńska (the Clerk) is a Polish actress and character artist, whose background was in TV news production. After moving to London ten years ago, Kate began her acting career, and has worked on many film and television productions, including Disappearance of Josef Mengele, Andoor 2, Barbie, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore and The Witcher: Blood Origin. Kate is also working on socially progressive theatre projects bringing under represented performers and artists to mainstream events.

Sophie Robinson (Laura)'s theatre credits include Yerma (Tinderbox Theatre), Miss Julie (Storyhouse/New Earth), 1984 (Lyric Theatre, Belfast), The Yalta Game, The Father, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (The Gate Theatre, Dublin), Electric Dreams (Dumbshow), Twelfth Night (Abbey Theatre), The Seagull, The Heretic(Library Theatre), Beyond Beauty (Rebel Theatre), Lady in the Van (Hull Truck) and Juno and the Paycock (National Theatre/Abbey Theatre). Her television credits include Hope Street (BBC NI), Doctors (BBC), Rebellion and The Good Christian Women’s Writing Group (RTE).

The creative team, led by Director Douglas Rintoul and Playwright/Adaptor Nell Leyshon, includes Lighting Designer Jessie Addinall, Set & Costume Designer Jess Curtis, Video Designer Daniel Denton, Voice Coach Charmian Hoare, Fight & Intimacy Director Haruka Kuroda and Sound Designer Adrienne Quartly.

Set in an eerie Venice, the story centres around a couple returning to the city to seek comfort and escape their intense grief. Premonitions and visions blur the lines between the living and the dead as a sinister presence closes in on them. This unnerving story navigates the difficulty of finding a way forward against the seductive pull of the past, love and the bonds of family.

Douglas Rintoul, Director of Don’t Look Now and New Wolsey Theatre’s Chief Executive/Artistic Director, said:“We’re thrilled to announce the exceptional cast and creative team for our new stage adaptation of Don’t Look Now by the wonderful Nell Leyshon. This production, created in partnership with Salisbury Playhouse, brings together outstanding talent and expertise from both organisations. Collaborations like these allow us to take creative risks, tell bold stories and reach wider audiences. I’m deeply grateful to everyone involved and I look forward to welcoming audiences to share this very special production with us.”

Gareth Machin, Artistic Director Salisbury Playhouse said: “Bringing this classic story to the Contemporary Stage with a compelling new dramatic version is hugely exciting. We’re delighted to be working with Nell Leyshon, celebrating once more the voice of the South West, and with our friends and colleagues at New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, with whom we have a long and proud history.”