Cast Set for World Premiere of THREE MEN IN A BOAT at Rose Theatre
Jonny Weldon, Bronté Barbé and Richard David-Caine lead the cast under director Christopher Haydon.
Rose Theatre has announced the full cast and creative team for their next production, Three Men in a Boat, a riotous new comedy written by Al Smith, with original songs by Tony Award nominee Grant Olding (One Man, Two Guvnors), based on the classic novel by Jerome K. Jerome. The production will play at Rose Theatre in Kingston upon Thames in south west London, from Friday 18 September to Saturday 10 October 2026 (Press Performance: Wednesday 23 September).
Three Men in a Boat is the latest production directed by Rose Theatre's Artistic Director Christopher Haydon, after the success of Ava Pickett's hilarious 21st-century adaptation of Emma.
The cast consists of Jonny Weldon (Disney+'s Rivals, Netflix's One Day, and 101 Dalmatians at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre) as Jerome, Bronté Barbé (Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder!, Disney's Newsies: The Musical, and Oklahoma! at Chichester Festival Theatre) as Harris, Richard David-Caine (The Witches at The National Theatre and BBC's Horrible Histories) as George and Calum Donald-Bruce as Montmorency.
The creative team joining Smith, Olding (who also serves as Musical Director and Sound Designer) and Haydon includes John Nicholson (Movement Director & Comedy Consultant), Simon Kenny (Set & Costume Designer), Simisola Majekodunmi (Lighting Designer), Juliet Horsley CDG (Casting Director), Chris Pirie (Puppetry Director), Claudette Williams (Voice & Dialect Coach) and Rebecca Wear (Associate Director - Drama League Rose Directing Fellow).
Christopher Haydon, Rose Theatre's Artistic Director and Director of Three Men in a Boat, said: “This beloved novel is over 130 years old, and when I first read it I genuinely couldn't believe how much it made me laugh! We commissioned Al Smith who has written a wonderful new stage adaptation, and what he's come up with is very, very funny; it's a mixture of verbal wit and physical comedy, and it's going to be very moving as well. It's just so brilliant to be telling a story that begins right here in Kingston upon Thames.
We've brought on a brilliant composer in Grant Olding; whose work I loved on One Man, Two Guvnors. So, what had originally started out as a play has transformed into a play with songs. Grant is writing a series of comic musical numbers that also serve a key narrative purpose in the show.“
John Nicholson, Movement Director & Comedy Consultant, said: “There's very little time that goes by in this show where something doesn't go catastrophically wrong. Anyone that enjoys physical comedy, whether that's the Marx Brothers or Laurel and Hardy or Steve Martin, will have a really great time.”
