CLASSIC MOVIE BRIEF ENCOUNTER BROUGHT TO VIVID LIFE ON NEW VIC STAGE

CLASSIC MOVIE BRIEF ENCOUNTER BROUGHT TO VIVID LIFE ON NEW VIC STAGE

10th August 2022

Noël Coward’s Brief Encounter will be brought whimsically to life on stage at the New Vic this autumn.

Laura and Alec are married – but not to each other. A chance meeting at a railway station hurls them headlong into a whirlwind romance that threatens to blow their worlds apart. But will they give in to love’s first rush and risk everything, and could this relationship change the tracks of their lives forever?

This playful co-production from the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Octagon Theatre Bolton and Theatre by the Lake Keswick will be performed in-the-round at the New Vic from Wednesday 7 to Saturday 10 September.

Adding joyous musical numbers and physical comedy to this passionate story of two people whose conventional lives become increasingly complicated in the face of love, it still maintains the truly classic charm of the film. Prepare for romance, sparkle, and plenty of tea and buns!

Three shadowy figures in coats and jackets lift a female actor dressed in 1930s clothing into the air, surrounded by smoke. There is another female actor who looks over at them.
Anne-Marie Piazza and Lara Lewis in Brief Encounter. Credit Tony Bartholomew.

The cast includes Pete Ashmore (Zorro, Charing Cross Theatre; The Jungle Book, Watermill Theatre) as Alec Harvey, Lara Lewis (The Mozart Question, Barn Theatre; The Hired Man, Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, Hull Truck, Oldham Coliseum) as Beryl/Hermione/Dolly, Joey Hickman (Mog The Forgetful Cat, Royal & Derngate Northampton/The Wardrobe Ensemble; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Watermill Theatre) as Stanley/Johnnie, Robert Jackson (The Glee Club, Stockroom/Kiln Theatre; Peter Pan, Octagon Theatre Bolton) as Albert Godby/Fred/Stephen Lynn, Natasha Lewis (Brassed Off, Peter Pan in Scarlet, New Vic) as Myrtle Bagot/Margaret/Mary, Rishi Manuel (The Emperor’s New Clothes, Hiccup Theatre, Derby Theatre, Polka Theatre) as Bobbie/Bill and Anne-Marie Piazza (The Prince and the Pauper, Watermill Theatre; Wind in the Willlows, New Vic) as Laura Jessons.

Brief Encounter will take to the stage at the New Vic from Wednesday 7 to Saturday 10 September. Tickets are on sale now, priced from £18.50 – £27.50. For more details and to book, call the Box Office on 01782 717 962 or book online here.


Article by Becky Loton

Read more by this author