Full Cast Revealed For the UK Première of SAPPHO at Southwark Playhouse Elephant

Casting has been announced for the UK and English language première of Wendy Beckett's Sappho. Wendy Beckett and Adam Fitzgerald co-direct Georgie Fellows (Sappho), Emmanuel Akwafo (Narrator), Eleanor Kane (Adore), Fanos Xenofos (Pittacus), Jumoké Fashola (Cleis), Velile Tshabalala (Mrs Obstinatus / Aphrodite), Aidan Banyard (Mr Obstinatus /Hephaestus), Kostas Tekkis (Dancer), Aaron Bladen (Dancer), Lucy Mackay (Dancer), Roann Hassani McCloskey (Chorus Leader) and Andrew Franklin (Chorus Leader) in this new satirical play inspired by the famous Greek poet - integrating the original poetry with contemporary music and dance.

Sappho premières at Southwark Playhouse Elephant on 8 May, with previews from 3 May, and runs until 25 May.

Cast: Georgie Fellows (Sappho), Emmanuel Akwafo (Narrator), Eleanor Kane (Adore), Fanos Xenofos (Pittacus), Jumoké Fashola (Cleis), Velile Tshabalala (Mrs Obstinatus / Aphrodite), Aidan Banyard (Mr Obstinatus /Hephaestus), Kostas Tekkis (Dancer), Aaron Bladen (Dancer), Lucy Mackay (Dancer), Roann Hassani McCloskey (Chorus Leader) and Andrew Franklin (Chorus Leader)

Directed by: Wendy Beckett and Adam Fitzgerald; Set Designer: Halcyon Pratt; Costume Designer: Pavlos Thanopoulos; Choreographer: Fotis Diamantopoulos; Lighting Designer: Adam King; Composer and Sound Designer: Mehdi Bourayou; Casting Director: Nicholas Hockaday; General Management: Paul Virides Productions; Assistant Choreographer: Tamsin January

Fusing ancient poetry with modern music, Greek chorus with contemporary dance, Sappho is a thrilling adult fairy tale of mythic proportions that may – or may not – have happened.

We are somewhere between imagination and 6th century BC on the Greek island of Lesbos. The poet Sappho creates a new world in her own words. She breaks the rules of her society and elevates her gender. Socrates calls her work beautiful, Plato describes her as the tenth Muse and many think her work rivals even that of Homer's Iliad.

Sappho has fallen in love with a woman but her family and a civilisation on the precipice of democracy have other plans for her. The defiantly spirited Sappho comes under fire and soon she must decide whether to marry a man for the advancement of her society or remain true to her own words – and her authentic self.

Expect dancing, passion, poetry and plenty of queer joy as Pascal Productions' international hit makes its debut on the London stage.

Emmanuel Akwafo plays Narrator. For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy (Apollo, Royal Court & New Diorama), As You Like It (Globe Theatre), Primary Playwrights (Soho Theatre), Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk (Lyric Hammersmith), The Bald Soprano (Leicester Square), The Spalding Suite (Southbank Centre, UK Tour), The Bacchae, The Ecstatic Bible (Melton Theatre) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Northfleet Theatre). His television credits include Sex Education, Eastenders, The Crown, 24: Live Another Day, M.I. High, and Grange Hill; and for film Now You See Me 2 and Tarzan.

Aidan Banyard plays Mr Obstinatus / Hephaestus. His previous theatre credits include The Choir of Man (Arts Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe, Australia, US and World Tour), Beauty and the Beast (Lyceum, Sheffield), Les Misérables (UK and Ireland Tour), The Phantom of the Opera (International Tour), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Malvern Theatres, Rhyl Pavilion), Parade (Hope Mill), My Land's Shore (Ye Olde Rose and Crown), Viva Voce (UK Tour), Coriolanus (Signature Theatre Company), Pressure Drop (Signature Theatre Company) and Marshmallow Sky (Mansfield Palace). His television credits include Autopsy: The Last Hours of Gram Parsons; and concert credits include On Broadway and Hear My Song, WestEndFest: Miscast (St Paul's Church, Covent Garden), Bublé to Broadway and Not Just Noise.

Aaron Bladen plays Dancer. His previous theatre credits include Cinderella (Towngate Theatre), The Three Little Pigs (UK Tour) and MS Borealis (Cruise). His previous film credits include Grey Area and Giften Pain.

Jumoké Fashola plays Cleis. Her theatre credits include Beneatha's Place (Young Vic), The High Table (Bush Theatre), For All the Women Who Thought They Were Mad (Hackney Showroom), CAP – A Medicinal Love Story (Royal Court), Our Husband Has Gone Mad (Unibadan), Trials of Brother Jero (Unilag), Lost in the Stars, Mass (Southbank Centre), The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives (Arcola Theatre) and House Of Corrections (Riverside Studios). In addition, she has written and appeared in one woman shows including Dirty Little Secrets (London Festival of Cabaret/Bush Theatre's Radar Festival/St James Theatre), Protest - Divas & Revolutions (EFG London Jazz Festival/Royal Albert Hall/The Pheasantry). She also created Jazz Verse Jukebox which had a seven-year residency at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club. Fashola is also a radio and television broadcaster, currently hosting and presenting Friday Afternoons on BBC Radio London and their Sunday Breakfast show. For five years, she also hosted J to Z, BBC Radio 3's premier Jazz Show.

Georgie Fellows plays Sappho. Her previous theatre credits include Henry I (Rabble Theatre), Living Newspaper Edition 1 (Royal Court), and Sam Wannamaker Festival (The Globe). Her television credits include Surface, The Day of the Jackal, and Secret Invasion; and for film Life Hack and Red, White & Royal Blue.

Andrew Franklin plays Chorus leader. His previous theatre credits include Dick Whittington (Courtyard Centre, Hereford), Horrible Histories (Terrible Thames), Beauty and the Beast (Courtyard Centre, Hereford), Rapunzel (UK Tour), Pinocchio (Guildford Fringe Company), and Magic At The Musicals (Royal Albert Hall, Magic FM).

Roann Hassani McCloskey plays Chorus leader. Her theatre credits include ReMythed (Vault Festival), Hakawatis (Shakespeare's Globe), Who Murdered My Cat? (Soho Theatre), My Father the Tantric Nassuer (Assembly George Square Studios, Edinburgh Fringe), NewsRevue (Canal Cafe Theatre), Besharam (Kala Sangham), Unfinished Business (Park Theatre), Hedda Garbler (Upstairs at the Gatehouse), and All My Sons (The Questors). Her film credits include Kittys Fortune, Freedom, and The Return.

Eleanor Kane plays Adore. Her theatre credits include Fun Home (Young Vic), A Monster Calls (Rose Kingston, Bristol Old Vic, Kennedy Centre Washington DC), Hex (National Theatre), The Invincibles (Queens Hornchurch, New Wolsey),  Just So (Watermill), The Duchess of Malfi (Lyceum Edinburgh, Citizens Glasgow), High Fidelity (Turbine), and Billionaire Boy (Nuffield Southampton).

Lucy MacKay plays Dancer. Her previous theatre credits include Gwenda's Garage (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield), Ladyfriends (53two, Manchester), Butterfly (VAULT Festival), The Prince of Homburg (The Space), and Air Pressure (Lyric Theatre, London). Her previous film credits include Sumotherhood.

Kostas Tekkis plays Dancer. His previous theatre credits includes Lysistrata (National Theatre of Cyprus). His film credits include Bad Faith, Breakfast Club, The “Good” Witch and Dilemma.

Velile Tshabalala plays Mrs Obstinatus / Aphrodite. Her previous theatre credits include Dick Whittington's Cat (Compass Theatre), Twelfth Night (Nottingham Playhouse), and Running with Lions (Lyric Theatre). Her television credits include Kerching!, Tittybangbang, The Next Doctor (The Doctor Who Christmas Special), Call the Midwife, Silent Witness, Doctors, Class Dismissed, Birds of a Feather, Hollyoaks, Death in Paradise and Casualty.

Fanos Xenofos plays Pittacus. His previous theatre credits include Can't See For Looking (Cockpit Theatre), The Beekeeper Of Aleppo (Nottingham Playhouse UK and Dublin tour), Swimming With Sharks (Vaudeville), Antigone (Southwark), Rest Upon The Wind (Riverside Studios, Middle East tour), Hedda Gabler (Riverside Studios), The Crumple Zone (King's Head), Failed States (Edinburgh Festival), Don Quixote In Algiers (White Bear), and Dogs Barking (Edinburgh Underbelly). His television credits include FBI: International, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Mankind, and The Jonathan Pie Referendum Special; and for film On-Off Licence.

Wendy Beckett writes and co-directs. She has written over twenty–five plays and directed more than fifty. She has also written biographies, radio plays, books, librettos, and academic articles. On ABC radio she interviewed some of the most important minds of our time - including Gore Vidal, Leonard Bernstein and Paul Bowles. Her academic background includes psychology, philosophy, literature and she has lectured on these subjects at many Australian Universities. She has travelled her works all over the world including performances in Sydney, New York, Paris, Tokyo, and throughout Greece.

Adam Fitzgerald co-directs. He is a writer, director, filmmaker, and content creator whose work has been recognized with an Emmy Nomination, Critic's Picks from The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, TimeOut Chicago and TimeOut New York, Best of the Year nods in The Advocate Magazine and The Contra Costa Times, a Jeff Award Nomination, and San Francisco Bay Area Critics' Award nominations. His writing has been published by the Huffington Post and Thomson Reuters Foundation & Openly; and his short film, Occupy Me (director/writer) has been viewed more than one million times on YouTube. Fitzgerald directed RESISTANCE RADIO for Man in the High Castle (Amazon Studios) which was nominated for a Creative Arts Emmy Award and received two Silver and three Bronze Lions at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, and the short film Dividends, which won Best Director at the New York Film Awards.

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