Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre will present Emma Rice's adaptation of Noël Coward's Brief Encounter for this festive season from 2 December 2023 to 13 January 2024, marking fifty years since Coward's death.
In a busy railway station, where everyone is simply passing through, Laura and Alec find each other. Falling passionately and wildly in love in a few stolen moments, they live and breathe a lifetime of epic emotions, reawakening everything they buried deep inside. Together they find themselves in a bittersweet, hopelessly romantic, elegantly awkward love affair.
Musical theatre performers Baker Mukasa and Hannah Azuonye will star as the hopeless lovers Alec and Laura, supported by a five-strong multi-roling cast of characters. The production will be directed by former Artistic Director Sarah Frankcom, with live jazz arrangements of Coward's songs arranged by musical director Matthew Malone. The set design will be by 2019 Linbury Prize for Stage Design winner Rose Revitt.
The remainder of the cast comprises Matthew Allen (Bobbie and Bill or Johnnie), Georgia Frost (Stanley and Bill or Johnnie), Richard Glaves (Albert, Fred and Stephen Lynn),
Christina Modestou (Myrtle, Mary and Kardomah waitress), Ida Regan (Beryl, Hermione, Dolly, Kardomah waitress and Margaret).