Northampton’s Royal and Derngate has revealed the cast of actor-musicians who will perform an adaptation of Janet and Allan Ahlberg’s The Jolly Christmas Postman in December 2024.
Samuel Morgan-Grahame will play the titular postman. Taking on a variety of roles will be Ellen Chivers, who was in Helen Edmundson’s adaptation of Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons at York Theatre Royal in 2019, Aaron Douglas, Jess Lobo, Dan McGarry and Joseph Kempster, who will make his professional debut.
Royal and Derngate artistic director Jesse Jones said, “we can’t wait to get in the rehearsal room and bring the magical world of Janet and Allan Ahlberg’s children’s classic to life. It’s so important to us here that we’re giving opportunities to local artists, so I’m very pleased to bring together this extraordinary cast of actor-musicians, several of whom are from Northamptonshire.”
The Jolly Christmas Postman involves a postman cycling through the snow to deliver parcels and letters to friends as they prepare for Christmas. There are visits to Red Riding Hood, Humpty Dumpty, the Gingerbread Man and the big, bad wolf.
Adam Peck adapts The Jolly Christmas Postman. Songs are by Darren Clark, set and costume design is by Abby Clarke, lighting design by Ric Mountjoy, sound design by Beth Duke and movement direction and choreography by Stacey McCarthy.
The Jolly Christmas Postman will take to the Royal stage from Saturday 7 until Tuesday 31 December.