Claire Price Joins Daniel Lapaine in THE WINTER'S TALE - Full Casting Announced!

Sheffield Theatres today announces the full cast for the forthcoming production of The Winter's Tale, directed by Paul Miller, and a casting update for the company's Christmas musical, Oliver! directed by Artistic Director Daniel Evans.

Starring alongside the previously announced Daniel Lapaine (Muriel's Wedding) as Leontes in The Winter's Tale is Claire Price, who returns to Sheffield Theatres to play his wife, Hermione. Claire will be familiar to Sheffield audiences having appeared in numerous productions including The Daughter-in-Law, Company, The Pride, Don Carlos, Much Ado About Nothing, Mean Tears - as part of The Peter Gill Season,Richard III and The Tempest.

Completing the cast are Suzanne Ahmet who will play Mopsa, Will Alexander (recent RADA graduate) as Florizel/Jailer, Keir Charles as Autolycus, Christian Dixon as Dion/Lord III/Bear, Eva Feiler as Dorcas/Emilia, Jonathan Firth (Wuthering Heights) as Polixenes, Sam Graham as Camillo, Jake Harders as Archidamus/Paulina's Steward, Barbara Marten as Paulina, David Mallinson (Democracy) as Antigonus/Time, Andy McKeane as Cleomenes, Kirsty Oswald (The Way of the World) as Perdita, Patrick Walshe McBride as Young Shepherd/Servant/Officer, Gareth Williams as The Old Shepherd, and two local young boys, Thomas Barker and Jonah Raby, will share the role of Mamillius.

Also announced today is that Ben Richards joins the company of Oliver! as Bill Sikes. Richards is best known to television audiences as a series regular in The Bill, Holby City and Footballers' Wives, and for theatre, his work includes 9 to 5 (UK Tour), Priscilla Queen of the Desert(Palace Theatre) and Guys and Dolls (Piccadilly Theatre). Alongside Richards and the previously announced Phil Davis (Quadrophenia) as Fagin, are Samual Bailey (age 12) and Jack Skilbeck Dunn (age 11) who share the title role of Oliver Twist, and Jack Armstrong (age 13) andTravis Caddy (age 14) alternating as the Artful Dodger. All four Yorkshire boys were selected from open auditions held at Sheffield Theatres in June.

Tickets for The Winter's Tale and Oliver! are on sale to the public now and can be booked by calling Sheffield Theatres' Box Office on 0114 249 6000 or online at sheffieldtheatres.co.uk