Two Nottinghamshire actors have been cast in Nottingham Playhouse’s Christmas 2024 show for younger children, The Ugly Duckling.
Ethan Cooper will take the title role, while Maya Thompson, who was Gretel in the Nottingham Playhouse 2023 production Hansel and Gretel, will play “a multitude of friendly farm creatures”.
This new version of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale has been written by Isabella Waldron and will be directed by Laura Ryder, who is currently assistant director on Derby Theatre’s autumn show Welfare. Composer and musical director will be Ben Glasstone.
Costume and set designer is Nottinghamshire-born Alexandrea Hopkin-Spratt, a Nottingham Trent University graduate who won the Playhouse Prize, which gives a graduate their first professional job after training.
Ryder said, “Isabella has written a show which is so funny and also so full of heart. Ben has composed some amazing songs, they're fun and are already stuck in my head, which is brilliant. Audiences can expect the classic story we all know and love, with some surprising twists as our Ugly Duckling discovers how being different is actually pretty great.”
The Ugly Duckling will run in the Neville Studio at Nottingham Playhouse from Thursday 5 December until Saturday 4 January 2025. It will then tour schools and community venues.