Cast Set For First Reading of MAKE ME at Norfolk & Norwich Festival

HighTide has announced full casting for the first reading of Make Me to be performed as part of the Norfolk & Norwich Festival on 16 May.  Blythe Stewart directs Hannah Balogun (Tia), Meg Salter (Emily), and Cathy Sole (Alex) in this first workshop reading of Molly’s humorous and apposite play about leadership, heroes, and the plight of schoolteachers.

Written by Molly Naylor this new play receives its first script-in-hand reading at the Norfolk & Norwich Festival this May. Working with the festival’s engagement and participation team, Naylor has workshopped the play through a series of High School drama classes before bringing the play to life with the professional cast. In conjunction with the National Youth Theatre (NYT), Make Me is providing vital stage experience to young emerging actors and will rehearse in NYT’s new state of the art facilities before coming to Norwich.

“The thing about teenagers is that they don’t know what they want. I’m here to help them discover what they want, and then make them achieve it.  I mean help.  Help them achieve it.”

Set in a struggling school in Ipswich, Make Me tells the story of Emily, a drama teacher with a saviour-complex, and the students she’s determined to save.

The reading will last approximately 90 minutes, followed by an optional 30 minute Q&A

This reading of Make Me is produced by HighTide in association with Norfolk & Norwich Festival and The National Youth Theatre.

Hannah Balogun plays Tia. She has trained with the National Youth Theatre, at The Oxford School of Drama and worked with a number of theatre’s including The Lyric Hammersmith, Headlong and Theatre Centre. Her theatre credits include The White Card (Northern Stage Production, Soho Theatre), and Hamlet (SPAMBO Production, The Judi Dench Playhouse). 

Meg Salter is an actor and screenwriter. Recent credits include writing and starring in F**KED, the BAFTA Qualifying short film now airing on Channel4, and currently being developed for TV. Other acting credits include The Rig (Amazon); Call the Midwife (BBC); Muriel: Bad Master (Soho Theatre); Oedipus (Almeida Theatre); Sam Wanamaker Festival (Shakespeare’s Globe).  Writing credits include the rig Series 1 & 2 (Amazon); gangs of London (Sky); and The Cleaner (BBC). Meg is also part of the multi-award winning, international comedy trio, MURIEL. She trained at LAMDA.

Meg Salter plays Emily. She is an actor and screenwriter. Her previous acting credits include Muriel: Bad Master (Soho Theatre), Oedipus (Almeida Theatre), and Sam Wanamaker Festival (Shakespeare’s Globe). Her television credits include The Rig, Call the Midwife; and the short film F**KED. Her writing credits include The Rig, Gangs of London, and The Cleaner. Meg is also part of the multi-award winning, international comedy trio, MURIEL.

Cathy Sole plays Alex. She is about to start training with the National Youth Theatre as part of their REP company. Her previous theatre credits include Romeo and Juliet(MadderMarket Theatre), which won the Norfolk Arts Award for Best Theatre Production 2022. 

Molly Naylor is an award-winning writer and performer. She is the co-creator of Sky One comedy After Hours. Her plays include Stop Trying to be Fantastic, Lights! Planets! People!, My Robot Heart (UK tours) and Whenever I Get Blown Up I Think of You (UK tour, BBC Radio 4). She has performed her poetry and storytelling shows at festivals and events all over the world. Her third collection Whatever You've Got is published by Bad Betty Press.

Blythe Stewart directs. As a director, her theatre credits include Teenage Dick (Donmar Warehouse schools tour), Wonder Winterland (Soho Theatre), Work Bitch (VAULT) Skin A Cat (UK tour), Finding Fassbender (Edinburgh Festival Fringe). As an associate director, her theatre credits include The Crucible (National Theatre, Gielgud Theatre), Minority Report (Nottingham Playhouse, Lyric Hammersmith), Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible is Going to Happen (Bush Theatre) and Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (National Theatre, UK and Ireland tour). Stewart was the Resident Assistant Director at The Donmar Warehouse between 2019 -2020. 

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