Daniel Ings, Kristin McGuire Lead Southwark Playhouse's Howl's Moving Castle

Southwark Playhouse in association with Arts Collective Ltd presents the world premiere of Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones.

Adapted by Mike Sizemore.
Cast includes: Daniel Ings. Kristin McGuire. Susan Sheridan. Jamie Wilkes.
Featuring the voice of Stephen Fry as the narrator.

28th November to 7th January 2012

Casting announced for Howl's Moving Castle which opens for a six week run in The Vault, Southwark Playhouse on 2 December 2011 with previews from 28 November 2011

Sophie is an 18 year old girl who toils in the hat shop opened years ago by her late father. One day she finds she has unexpectedly angered the evil Witch of the Waste and finds herself trapped within a spell that turns the young Sophie into an old woman.

Sophie takes shelter in the home of Howl, a strange but flamboyant wizard whose magical castle can move between various lands and dimensions powered by Calcifer, a fire demon. She embarks on a journey to break her own spell and the one binding Howl and Calcifer together only to discover that there is a lot more to heartless Howl than meets the eye.

The cast includes: Daniel Ings. Kristin McGuire. Sue Sheridan. Jamie Wilkes. Featuring the voice of Stephen Fry as the narrator.

Stephen Fry will provide the voice of the narrator. He is an actor, author, comedian and television presenter who has worked extensively in television and radio for the past 30 years. Radio credits include Delve Special, Absolute Power, Current Puns, Radio 4: This is Your Life, The Incomplete and Utter History of Classical Music, I Love Stephen Fry and Fry's English Delight. He presented BBC's six-part series Stephen Fry in America and is the host of quiz show QI. Previously, he provided the narration for dramatizations of Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner as well as being the reader for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the seven Harry Potter audiobooks.

Daniel Ings plays Howl. He trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Theatre credits include Frankenstein (National Theatre), Master and Margarita (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith), After Juliet (Ustinov Theatre, Bath), Henry V (Hackney Empire), White Boy, Tory Boyz (Soho Theatre), Bluebird (Bristol Old Vic), La Fausse Monaie, I See Myself as a Bit of an Indiana Jones Figure (Theatre 503). Film includes Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides and Spiralling. Television includes Peep Show, Pete vs. Life, The Café and Psychoville.

Kristin McGuire plays Young Sophie and the Witch of the Waste. She trained as a rhythmic gymnast at the Olympic Training Centre Chemnitz/Dresden and Frankfurt College of Music and Performing Arts. Performance credits include Cirque de Soleil's ZAiA (The Venetian Macao), La Traviata (Frankfurst Opera House), Liebe.com (Museum for Communication, Frankfurt), Tribal Dances (Künstlerhaus Mousonturm Frankfurt), Auf weiter Flur (Site Specific, Frankfurst), Carmen (Stadthalle, Chemnitz), Draußen vor der Tür, Roberto Zucco, Herr Puntila und sein Knecht Mati (Schauspielhaus, Chemnitz). Kristin was previously Lecturer in Dance at Dartington College of Arts, Bath Spa University and University of Lincoln.

Susan Sheridan plays Old Sophie. She trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Theatre credits include The Merry Wife of Wilton (Maidenhead Arts Centre), Calculus (New End Theatre), Bedroom Farce (UK Tour). Television credits include Midsomer Murders, Macbeth, Rainbow, Bless Me Father, Only When I Laugh, Why Can't I Go Home? Radio credits include A Woman of No Importance, Macbeth, Sexton Blake, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

James Wilkes plays Calcifer. He is currently training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Previous credits at Southwark Playhouse include The Tartuffe (2009), The Trial (2009), Lorca is Dead (2010), Atrium (2010) and The Boy James (2011). Other acting credits for Belt Up Theatre include Metamorphosis (winner of NSDF08 Spotlight Award for Best Actor - Edinburgh Festival), Volpone (Edinburgh Festival), The Beggar's Opera (York Theatre Royal) and Macbeth (The House of Detention, Clerkenwell).

About Howl's Moving Castle

Fusing live action and pioneering projection, this family show will recreate the magic of Diana Wynne Jones' classic novel in Southwark Playhouse's newest performance space, The Vault. Howl's Moving Castle is being produced with the kind permission of Diana Wynne Jones' estate and will be directed and designed by Davy and Kristin McGuire (The Icebook) with original music composed by Fyfe Dangerfield, lead singer and songwriter of Guillemots.

Howl's Moving Castle was first published in 1986. It won a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award (1986) and was named as an ALA Notable book. In 2004 it was adapted into an animated film, directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. The film broke box office records in Japan and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Author Diana Wynne Jones (1934-2011) was a London-born British writer whose best known works include Howl's Moving Castle, Dogsbody (commended for a Carnegie Medal), Power of Three (commended for a Guardian Award), A Sudden Wild Magic (nominated for a British Fantasy Award), Dark Lord of Derkholm, Hexwood, The Ogre Downstairs and The Tough Guide to Fantasyland. In 2006 she was awarded an honorary D.Litt from University of Bristol and was also the recipient of the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement (2007).

Directors and Designers Davy McGuire and Kristin McGuire are an award-winning artist couple whose latest productions include The Icebook and the music video for I Must Be a Lover by UK band Guillemots. In the UK their work has been published in Digital Arts and Contagious Magazines and their Vimeo clips have been viewed more than 300,000 times.

Writer Mike Sizemore created the sci-fi television show concept, Slingers, which is currently in pre-production. You can see the sizzle reel for the series starring Sean Pertwee below. He is currently writing a sci-fi feature script, entitled Red Drift for Hollywood, several comic book projects and an opera, The Night Bride, to be performed in the UK in 2012. He is managed by Principato-Young in Los Angeles. Previously Mike also co-curated several large-scale and world-wide social media film industry events that involved George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and JJ Abrams.

Composer Fyfe Dangerfield is best known as the founding member of Guillemots, a BRIT award nominated indie rock band from the UK. Their first album Through the Windowpane was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2006 and entered the UK Top 40 whilst their second album, RED, peaked at Number 9 in the UK album charts. They are currently signed to Polydor. Fyfe's solo album Fly Yellow Moon peaked at 12 in the UK album charts. He collaborated with Davy and Kristin McGuire on the Guillemots latest video for the single I Must Be a Lover. Howl's Moving Castle marks Fyfe's first move into composing for theatre.

Nearest Tube: London Bridge
Performances
28 November - 7 January 2012
Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm
Saturday matinees at 3pm (not 24, 31 December)
Additional matinees on 21, 22, 23, 27, 28, 29, 30 December at 3pm and 4 January at 3pm
Box Office
Online
www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk 24 HOURS/NO BOOKING FEES
By Telephone
020 7407 0234
NO BOOKING FEES
Ticket Prices
All previews £10 (28, 29, 30 November, 1 December)
£16 (£14 Conc.) Family ticket £50 (two adults, two Under 16's)
Concessions
Disabled people can bring one companion free of charge.
There are no other concessions

Access
Please inform Southwark Playhouse of your access requirements at least 48 hours before you attend the performance by phoning 020 7407 0234.