Faye Castelow Will Play Queen Elizabeth II In Peter Morgan's THE AUDIENCE

Director of Nuffield Southampton Theatres, Samuel Hodges, today announces Faye Castelow as Queen Elizabeth II in the UK regional première of Peter Morgan's The Audience. The production, directed by Samuel Hodges, opens on 30 May, with previews from 24 May, and runs until 22 June. Further casting to be announced.

65 Years. 13 Prime Ministers. One Queen.

For 65 years, the Queen has met her Prime Minister every week in an Audience at Buckingham Palace. Both parties agree never to repeat what is said. Not even to their spouses.

What is discussed? What secrets are shared? Does her Majesty have her favourites?

Sometimes intimate, often confessional, occasionally explosive, The Audience imagines the private moments that define a changing Britain. One head of state. Endless heads of government. This play asks where the real power lies.

Nuffield Southampton Theatres Director Samuel Hodges directs a brand new production of the smash hit play from Peter Morgan, the writer of the critically acclaimed TV series The Crown and the Oscar award winning film The Queen.

Samuel Hodges said today, "At a moment of national uncertainty, the Queen is a uniquely reassuring figure. A constant who has transcended ages of change. Finding an actress who can embody her, from her first audience with Winston Churchill at the age of 25 to the Queen that we know today, is to find a rare quality. Faye Castelow has that quality."

Peter Morgan's other work for theatre includes Frost/Nixon. His television work includes The Crown, The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies, The Jury, The Special Relationship, Longford, Colditz, Henry VIII and The Deal; and for film, Rush, 360, Hereafter, State of Play, The Damned United, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Last King of Scotland and The Queen.

Faye Castelow plays Queen Elizabeth II. Her theatre credits include The Rover, The Witch of Edmonton, The White Devil, The Roaring Girl (RSC), Man and Superman, After the Dance, Time and the Conways (National Theatre), Nijinsky, The Deep Blue Sea (Chichester Festival Theatre), How to be Another Woman (Gate Theatre), Mountain Hotel and The American Clock (Orange Tree Theatre). Her television credits include Pure and Rellik.

Samuel Hodges is Director of Nuffield Southampton Theatres (NST). His productions for NST include The Shadow Factory, Dedication - Shakespeare and Southampton, and The Glass Menagerie. Previously he founded the HighTide Festival Theatre in 2007 and was the Artistic Director for five years, during which time he produced over 25 new plays, co-producing with the National Theatre, The Old Vic and the Bush Theatre, amongst others. Between 2012 and 2014, he ran the Criterion Theatre in London's West End, for whom he curated a late-night programme and a one-off summer season of new work to celebrate the London Olympics.

Nuffield Southampton Theatres is one of the UK's leading professional theatre companies. The company is led by Samuel Hodges, supported by a team of associates: directors Blanche McIntyre, Natalie Abrahami and Michael Longhurst, playwright Adam Brace, choreographer Drew McOnie and poet Inua Ellams. NST develops and produces work with some of the UK's most exciting and dynamic regional theatres. NST's awards include Best Director at UK Theatre Awards 2013 for The Seagull, Regional Theatre of the Year at The Stage Awards 2015, Best Design at UK Theatre Awards 2015 for The Hudsucker Proxy and the 2017 Renee Stepham UK Theatre Award for Best Presentation of Touring Theatre for Fantastic Mr Fox. In 2018 NST was nominated for three awards in the UK Theatre Awards 2018 - Best Design for The Shadow Factory; The Renee Stepham Award for Best Presentation of Touring Theatre for A Streetcar Named Desire, and Achievement in Marketing and Audience Development for the NST City opening campaign.

NST City is Nuffield Southampton Theatres new venue which opened in Southampton's city centre in 2018. The theatre's programme runs alongside NST Campus situated on the Highfield Campus at the University of Southampton.

Nuffield Southampton Theatres is an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation and a registered charity, receiving additional core funding from the University of Southampton and Southampton City Council.