Full Cast Set For World Premiere of THE MEAT KINGS! (INC.) OF BROOKLYN HEIGHTS

Papatango and Park Theatre have announced full casting for the world première of 2024 Papatango New Writing Prize winner Hannah Doran's The Meat Kings! (Inc.) of Brooklyn Heights. Artistic Director of Papatango George Turvey directs Jackie Clune (Paula), Marcello Cruz (JD), Ash Hunter (Billy), Mithra Malek (T) and Eugene McCoy (David).

Doran's play, selected from a record-breaking 1,589 entries, won the 2024 Papatango Prize – the UK's only annual playwriting award guaranteeing its winner a full production, publication, royalties and a new commission. The 2024 Prize includes this 5-week run in Park200 at Park Theatre, publication by Nick Hern Books, a royalty of 8% of the box office, and a £7,500 commission with full developmental support.

The production opens in Park200 at Park Theatre on 4 November 2025, with previews from 30 October, and runs until 29 November.

T is the new summer hire at Cafarelli & Sons, an iconic New York butcher, but life in a messy cutting room isn't glamorous. No-nonsense boss Paula tries to keep everyone in line, but the business is struggling:  when the season ends, someone's for the chop.  

With the American Dream of a better life hanging in the balance, JD and Billy find themselves pitted against each other, each determined to secure a future. Around them, David and T are drawn into shifting alliances and fractured loyalties. But how far will they go to survive?

The Meat Kings! (Inc.) of Brooklyn Heights carves into the dark underbelly of America's anti-immigration policies and the brutal sacrifices that drive the pursuit of prosperity. Winner of the 2024 Papatango New Writing Prize from a record-breaking 1,589 submissions, Hannah Doran's searing debut play is directed by Papatango's Artistic Director, George Turvey (Shook, National Tour & Sky Arts), following previous Prize discoveries that have won Olivier, Critics' Circle and OffWestEnd awards and remounts in 33 countries.

Hannah Doran is a British-Irish playwright and screenwriter whose work has been developed and workshopped in the UK, US and Australia. Doran received her MFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in 2018. She was selected for the National MFA Playwrights' Festival in 2017 with her short play A Last Night on Earth, which was produced by Theater Masters in Aspen, Colorado, and subsequently Off-Off-Broadway at Theater for the New City. Based in London, Doran is a bookseller and a member of The National Theatre's script reading team. 

Jackie Clune plays Paula. Her theatre credits include Otherland (Almeida Theatre), Just For One Day (The Old Vic), Grenfell (National Theatre; St Ann's Warehouse, New York), Dr Semmelweis (Bristol Old Vic), Measure for Measure, [BLANK] and The Vote (Donmar Warehouse), Julius Caesar, Henry IV and The Tempest (Donmar Warehouse; St Ann's Warehouse, New York), Utility (Orange Tree Theatre), Candide (Menier Chocolate Factory), Fallen Angels (Salisbury Playhouse), 9 to 5: The Musical (UK tour), Billy Elliot: The Musical (Victoria Palace Theatre), Mamma Mia! (international tour) and Mogadishu (Lyric Hammersmith). Her television credits include The Couple Next Door, Grace, Towards Zero, Mandy, Motherland, Borderline, Stephen, Three Girls, Ghosts, Father Brown, Marriage and The Blue; and for film, The Great Escaper, Denial, Breathtaking and Jawbone. Clune is also a stand-up comedian and the author of four books.

Marcello Cruz plays JD. His theatre credits include Rare Earth Metal (Royal Court Theatre), Sweat (Royal Exchange Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare's Globe), Romeo and Juliet (Orange Tree Theatre) and Twelfth Night and Hamlet (Shakespeare's Rose Theatre). His television credits include Silo, Alex Rider and The Man Who Fell To Earth; and for film, The 355.

Ash Hunter plays Billy. His theatre credits include Grenfell (National Theatre; St Ann's Warehouse, New York), Macbeth (Leeds Playhouse), Wuthering Heights (Bristol Old Vic, National Theatre), Hamilton (Victoria Palace Theatre), HY Brasil (The Old Vic), Pitcairn (Shakespeare's Globe), God's Property (Soho Theatre), Unrivalled Landscape (Orange Tree Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Almeida Theatre), Gravity (Birmingham Rep) and A Clockwork Orange (Theatre Royal Stratford East). His television credits include Grace, Bridgerton, Harlots, The Trial of Christine Keeler, Death in Paradise, The Secret Agent, Alma's Not Normal, Wolfblood and Switch; and for film, Intrigo: Dear Agnes and The Thief.

Mithra Malek plays T. Her theatre credits include Romeo + Juliet (Circle in the Square Theatre, New York), and Hamlet, The Cherry Orchard and Love From a Stranger (Theatre Royal Windsor). Her television credits include Anatomy of a Scandal; and for film, Hamlet, Party People, Tala and Now You See Me 2.

Eugene McCoy plays David. His theatre credits include Girl From the North Country, Groundhog Day and A Christmas Carol (The Old Vic), Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (Donmar Warehouse), The 39 Steps (UK tour, Trafalgar Theatre), Legally Blonde (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), The Man in the White Suit (Wyndham's Theatre, Theatre Royal Bath), Man of La Mancha (London Coliseum), The Pajama Game (Shaftesbury Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre), American Psycho (Almeida Theatre), Jersey Boys (Prince Edward Theatre), Little Shop of Horrors (UK tour), They're Playing Our Song (Menier Chocolate Factory), Oklahoma! (Chichester Festival Theatre), Guys and Dolls (Piccadilly Theatre), Mamma Mia! (Prince of Wales Theatre) and Hollywood Symphonic (EC1 International). His television credits include Donkey and Little Crackers; and for film, Wonka, Matilda, Unforgotten and Paddington 2.