Niall Costigan Joins THE BOOK OF WILL at Shakespeare North Playhouse

Actor Niall Costigan (Coronation Street) is set to join the cast of Lauren Gunderson’s The Book of Will as it embarks on the next leg of its European Premier, heading to Shakespeare North Playhouse October 19th- November 11th 2023.  

A co-production from Shakespeare North Playhouse, Octagon Theatre Bolton and Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, the piece features a stellar cast of ten actors directed by the Octagon’s artistic director Lotte Wakeham.

In addition to Niall, the cast includes Hollyoaks stars Jessica Ellis and Helen Pearson, Zach Lee (Coronation Street), Tomi Ogbaro (Seagulls), Carrie Quinlan (John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme), Russell Richardson (Last Tango in Halifax), Callum Sim (Coronation Street), Tarek Slater (The Jungle Book), Bill Ward (Emmerdale), and Andrew Whitehead (The Book Thief).

The Book of Will tells the comedic story of The King’s Men as they band together for a near-impossible plan – to collect all of Shakespeare’s plays and compile the First Folio. Directed by Lotte Wakeham, the play takes the audience on a race against time through 1620s London.

The creative team includes Carla Goodman as the designer, Simeon Miller as the lighting designer, Andy Graham as the sound designer, Jonnie Riordan as the movement director, Olivia Barr as the casting director, Natalie Grady as the accent coach, Ryan McVeigh as the assistant director, and Ngozi Ugochukwu as the observer director.

Wakeham said today: “I am thrilled to announce this incredibly talented cast of actors and fantastic creative team for our highly anticipated co-production of The Book of Will. Our brilliant playwright Lauren Gunderson is one of the most frequently produced playwrights in the world, and I’m delighted to share her talent with UK audiences, where I’m sure she’ll quickly become a firm favourite.”

This year marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio, which is the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays, containing 36 out of some 38 Shakespeare plays. Collated and published in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare’s death, only 18 of the plays had previously been printed during his lifetime.

During the run of The Book of Will a copy of the First Folio on loan from The British Library will be exhibited at Shakespeare North Playhouse as part of their Treasures on Tour programme and as part of Shakespeare North’s premier exhibition ‘Shakespeare’s First Folio: 400 Years On’ funded by Knowsley Borough Council. 

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