THE 39 STEPS Celebrates 50 Years Of The Leatherhead Theatre

This September sees the 50th anniversary of The Leatherhead Theatre, formerly The Thorndike, and to celebrate, Surrey trained 'Bad Girl' Nicole Faraday will be starring in The 39 Steps, produced by Hordern Ciani Ltd, the team behind Leatherhead's 2018 repertory theatre seasons.

Prior to Nicole's television career which she famously began playing Snowball Merriman on ITV's Bad Girls, she trained for 3 years at Guildford School of Acting and has since become a mentor at Guildford's Performance Preparation Academy. She has been determined to secure a special ticket rate for any students there who would like to see the show.

Nicole said "'I am utterly delighted to be performing in one of my favourite plays back on my old stomping ground of Surrey having trained for 3 years in the nineties at GSA, with many friends in Guildford and the surrounds, and performed in the county over the years on both touring shows at Epsom Playhouse and in new writing at the Yvonne Arnaud last year. It will be lovely to be back and this show is the perfect tonic, a comedy adventure and thriller, with a chance for the actors to flex our multi-roleing muscles. There are only 4 of us but there is a cast of over a hundred!

I am also thrilled to work at a beautiful theatre with such a history and repertory tradition, and so close to where I am proud to be an ongoing mentor for the students of PPA"

The Thorndike Theatre opened in 1969 with a star-studded first night attended by Princess Margaret, Lord Snowdon, Laurence Olivier and its namesake Dame Sybil Thorndike. After many successful years attracting the likes of Bill Kenwright and Sir Peter Hall it closed its doors briefly in 1997. Having been re-opened for 18 years it is now re-establishing its theatre offering.

Producer Katherine Mount commented "We are absolutely thrilled to be making a return to this fabulous theatre. It has such a prestigious history and we are proud to be involved in celebrating its 50th birthday. This is a great fun show too that tips its hat to repertory, the theatre style that built the Thorndike, with so many characters played by the small cast. We are very excited to share it with our Leatherhead audiences."

Completing the company are Alex Scott Fairley, Alasdair Saksena and James Steventon. The 39 Steps is showing at The Leatherhead Theatre from Thursday September 19th to Saturday September 21st. Tickets priced at £16-£20 are available from the Box Office on 01372365141 or at www.theleatherheadtheatre.com