Nigel Harman and Sarah Hadland will take lead roles in the UK première of the “ferocious farce” What’s In A Name? at Birmingham REP in January 2017.
What’s In A Name? is adapted and directed by Jeremy Sams from the French play and film Le Prénom by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière.
It features an awkward family dinner party conversation in which a “startling revelation” about the name chosen for an expected child becomes the catalyst for a “destructive argument which spirals hysterically out of control”.
Harman, best known for playing Dennis Rickman in the BBC soap EastEnders, plays Vincent. He was given the Laurence Olivier award for best supporting performance in a musical for his role as Lord Farquaad in Shrek the Musical.
Hadland, who plays Elizabeth, was Miranda Hart’s sidekick, Stevie Spencer, in the BBC comedy series Miranda. Her stage credits include Rosy in Simon Paisley Day’s Raving at Hampstead Theatre in 2013 and Bridget in Canvas by Michael Wynne at Chichester Festival Theatre in 2012.
The cast also includes Raymond Coulthard, who returns to the REP after playing King George VI in David Seidler’s The King’s Speech in 2015, Jamie Glover and Olivia Poulet.
What’s In A Name? will be designed by Francis O’Connor with lighting design by Rick Fisher. It runs at the REP from Friday 27 January until Saturday 11 February. Press night will be Tuesday 31 January.