Full Cast Set For Lynn Nottage's INTIMATE APPAREL at the Donmar Warehouse

With the world premiere of Anna Mackmin's Backstroke currently playing at the theatre, and the 30th anniversary production of Patrick Marber's Dealer's Choice in rehearsals, Artistic Director Tim Sheader and Executive Director Henny Finch have announced the full cast of Lynn Nottage's Intimate Apparel.

Joining the previously announced Samira Wiley (Esther) are Nicola Hughes (Mrs Dickson), Claudia Jolly (Mrs Van Buren), Kadiff Kirwan (George), Faith Omole (Mayme), and Alex Waldmann (Mr Marks).

The production reunites double Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Lynn Nottage with director Lynette Linton (Critics' Circle Best Director for Blues for an Alabama Sky) for this new production of one of Nottage's most acclaimed plays, following their sell-out productions of Sweat and Clyde's for the Donmar.

The production opens on 26 June, with previews from 20 June, and runs until 9 August.

Performances will run 20 June 2025 - 9 August 2025.

New York, 1905. Samira Wiley plays Esther, who sews exquisite lingerie for women from all walks of life. Successful and fiercely independent, she dreams of opening her own beauty salon, but can't shake the longing to fall in love. When she begins to receive beautiful letters from a lonesome stranger, it looks like it could just be her ticket to happiness.

Biographies

Lynn Nottage is a playwright and a screenwriter, and the first woman to win two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Her recent work includes Clyde's (Donmar Warehouse and Broadway), the musical adaptation of The Secret Life of Bees (Atlantic Theater), the Opera adaptation of Intimate Apparel composed by Ricky Ian Gordon, commissioned by and premiering at Lincoln Center Theater, and the musical MJ, featuring the music of Michael Jackson (Broadway, and West End). Nottage's plays include Sweat (Donmar Warehouse and West End, Pulitzer Prize, Evening Standard Award for Best New Play, Olivier Award Nomination for Best Play), Mlima's Tale (Lortel Nomination, Outer Critics Circle Nomination), By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (Lilly Award), Ruined (Almeida Theatre, Pulitzer Prize, Obie Award, South Bank Sky Award Nomination, Evening Standard Nomination), Intimate Apparel (Theatre Royal Bath, Park Theatre, American Theatre Critics, New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards; Shortlist for Evening Standard Award), Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine (Kiln Theatre), and Decade/The Odds (Headlong). She also developed This is Reading, a groundbreaking multimedia performance installation in Reading, PA. She was a writer and producer on the first season of the Netflix series She's Gotta Have It, directed by Spike Lee. Nottage is a Professor at Columbia University School of the Arts, and the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellowship, Steinberg "Mimi" Distinguished Playwright Award, Doris Duke Artists Award, and PEN/Laura Pels Master Playwright Award, amongst others. She is also a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Theater Hall of Fame.

Nicola Hughes plays Mrs Dickson. Her theatre credits include Opening Night (Gielgud Theatre), Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Into the Woods (Theatre Royal Bath), Fairview; Yellowman (Young Vic), A Christmas Carol (The Old Vic), Allelujah! (Bridge Theatre), Caroline or Change (Chichester Festival Theatre), Porgy & Bess (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), The El Train (Hoxton Hall), The Color Purple (Menier Chocolate Factory), Marilyn and Ella (Theatre Royal Stratford East), Porgy & Bess - Olivier Award Nomination Best Actress in a Musical (Savoy Theatre), Follow My Leader (Hampstead Theatre), Simply Heavenly (Trafalgar Studios/Young Vic), Ain't Misbehavin' (Derby Playhouse), Blues in the Night (Birmingham Repertory), Fosse - Olivier Award Nomination Best Actress in a Musical (Prince of Wales Theatre), Chicago (Adelphi Theatre), Damn Yankees (Adelphi Theatre), The Goodbye Girl (Albery Theatre), Tommy (Shaftesbury Theatre) and Crazy For You (Prince Edward Theatre).

For television, her work includes Death in Paradise, The Split, Mount Pleasant, The Royal Bodyguard, Parents of the Band, Rock Rivals, Jonathan Creek and Trial and Retribution; and for film, Knives Out 3: Wake up Dead Man and Everybody's Talking About Jamie.

Claudia Jolly plays Mrs Van Buren. Her theatre credits include The Ministry of Lesbian Affairs (Soho Theatre), The Butterfly Lion (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Importance of Being Earnest (The Watermill Theatre), Girlband (Matchstick Piehouse) and Girl from the North Country (The Old Vic/West End). For television, her work includes A Taste for Murder, Black Doves, Grace, Pennyworth, This Is Going To Hurt, Endeavour, The Feed and NW; and for film, Matilda, Haar, On Chesil Beach and Tommies.

Kadiff Kirwan returns to the Donmar to play George – he previously appeared in Sweet Charity; Teddy Ferrara, The Vote and City of Angels. His other theatre credits include The Hot Wing King, Home (National Theatre), Guys and Dolls (Sheffield Theatres), Queers (The Old Vic), Sister Act (Whoopi Goldberg & Stage Entertainment) and Black Snow (Moscow Art Theatre). His television credits include Doctor Who, Slow Horses, Everyone Else Burns, This Is Going To Hurt, This Way Up, Time, The Stranger, I May Destroy You, Inside No.9, Death In Paradise, Fleabag, Timewasters, Flack, Informer, Zapped,  Queers - Safest Spot In Town, Strike - The Cuckoo's Calling, Chewing Gum, Drunk History, Black Mirror, Drifters, The Vote, Crims and Call The Midwife; and for film, Ladies First, My Policeman, Detective Pikachu and Mary Queen of Scots.

Faith Omole plays Mayme. Her theatre credits include King Lear (Almeida Theatre), Standing at the Sky's Edge - Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical (National Theatre/Sheffield Theatres), White Noise (Bridge Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Globe Theatre), An Ideal Husband (Vaudeville Theatre), Bushmeat (HighTide), Twelfth Night (Royal Exchange Theatre), The Rolling Stone (Orange Tree Theatre/Royal Exchange Theatre/Leeds Playhouse), Custody (Faith Drama Productions/Talawa Theatre Company), Roadkill (Pachamama Productions/Scottish tour) and Walk in the Light (National Theatre). Her debut play My Father's Fable opened at the Bush Theatre to excellent reviews. She was also the winner of the prestigious Alfred Fagon Award, the leading theatre prize for Black British playwrights, for her play Kaleidoscope. Her television credits include We Are Lady Parts and Endeavour; and for film, Last of My Kind, Love Type D and He Loves Me.

Alex Waldmann returns to the Donmar to play Mr Marks – he previously appeared in Hamlet and Twelfth Night as part of the company's West End season. His other theatre credits include Farewell Mister Haffmann, Jonah and Otto (Park Theatre), Arms and the Man, The Mikvah Project, Widowers' Houses (Orange Tree Theatre), Jews. In Their Own Words (Royal Court Theatre), The Fever Syndrome (Hampstead Theatre), Youth Without God (Coronet Theatre), Julius Caesar (RSC/Barbican), All My Sons, Wars of the Roses (Rose Theatre), In The Night Time (Before the Sun Rises), Big Love (Gate Theatre), King John, Knight of the Burning Pestle, The Duchess of Malfi (Shakespeare's Globe), All's Well That Ends Well, As You Like It, Hamlet; King John, A Soldier in Every Son, Richard III (RSC), The Holy Rosenbergs (National Theatre), Speechless (Shared Experience), Rope (Almeida Theatre), Shraddha (Soho Theatre), Troilus & Cressida (Cheek by Jowl), Angry Young Man (Trafalgar Studios), Hobson's Choice (Chichester Festival Theatre), Waltz of The Toreadors (Chichester Minerva Theatre), Macbeth (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Romeo and Juliet (Birmingham Rep/touring Consortium), Angry Young Man (Pleasance/BAC), Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams (Finborough Theatre) and Fishbowl (Theatre503). For television, his work includes The Rumour, Andor, Missing You, Father Brown, Call the Midwife, Strike Back, Humans, Shakespeare Live, The Duchess of Malfi, The Night Watch, Psychoville and First Light; and for film, Scoop, Julius Caesar and Complete Walk.

Samira Wiley plays Esther. Her theatre credits include Blues for an Alabama Sky (National Theatre), Daphne's Dive (Signature Theater, New York), multiple productions with Moliere in the Park in Brooklyn, and Antigone in Ferguson (Theatre of War). She was Co-Producer for the Broadway play Thoughts of a Colored Man. Television credits include: The Handmaid's Tale - Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series and four Emmy nominations, NAACP Image Award nomination and four SAG Award nominations, Atomic - releasing later this year on Sky Atlantic, Orange Is the New Black - SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, Equal, Love, Death and Robots, Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes, You're the Worst and Unforgettable. Film credits include: Breaking News in Yuba County, Detroit, Social Animals, 37, Nerve, Rob The Mob, Being Flynn, The Sitter and Vault. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School.