Full cast announced for Bristol Old Vic's headline Autumn production of Hamlet

The full cast of Bristol Old Vic's Autumn headline production Hamlet was announced today, bringing together some of the hottest young talent and theatrical heavyweights for a visceral new production running from 13 Oct - 12 Nov (Press Night 19 Oct at 7pm).

Hamlet will also be Live Broadcast on 10 and 11 Nov as part of Bristol Old Vic On Screen. This marks the theatre's second year of digital broadcasting, providing access for a global audience to the theatre's latest work. 

Billy Howle plays Hamlet. On television, he is known for his roles in the E4 drama Glue, the BBC miniseries The Serpent and, in 2019, he starred alongside Richard Gere and Helen McCrory in the BBC drama series MotherFatherSon. Last year, Howle played the lead role in the BritBox thriller series The Beast Must Die, and in 2022, he has starred in the BBC drama series Chloe with Erin Doherty and Under the Banner of Heaven with Andrew Garfield and Daisy Edgar-Jones. His films include On Chesil Beach with Saoirse Ronan, The Seagull with Annette Benning and Outlaw King with Chris Pine and Florence Pugh. He has just completed filming for the lead role in Australian boxing drama Kid Snow, due for release in 2023. His recent stage work includes Europe (Donmar) and Life of Galileo (Young Vic). Billy makes a welcome return to Bristol Old Vic after the 2016 production of Long Day’s Journey into Night, where he starred alongside Jeremy Irons and Lesley Manville.

Niamh Cusack plays Gertrude. Born into an acting family, she has performed in major stage productions since the mid 80s including the original cast of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time (National Theatre and West End), His Dark Materials and My Brilliant Friend (National Theatre), Dancing at Lughnasa and Playboy of the Western World (Old Vic). She last appeared at Bristol Old Vic in Juno and the Paycock in 2019. She recently appeared in Channel 4's The Virtues alongside Stephen Graham, ITVs The Tower and has made numerous appearances on television including the long-running role of Dr Kate Rowan in Heartbeat which made her a household name. 

Mirren Mack plays Ophelia. She was first seen on TV screens as Florence in Sex Education, before taking the lead role of Kaya in the BBC Drama The Nest where she was nominated for a Scottish BAFTA for Best Actress. Her stage debut was this year in Small Island at the National Theatre. Mirren is due to appear as Merwyn in the upcoming Netflix miniseries The Witcher: Blood Origin alongside Lenny Henry and Michelle Yeoh.

The role of Claudius is played by Finbar Lynch. Finbar returns to Bristol Old Vic after his lead role in Faith Healer in 2011. His stage credits include Girl From the North Country (Noel Coward Theatre, Geilgud Theatre and Toronto), Indecent (Menier Chocolate Factory) and The Lady From the Sea (Donmar). His films include Child 44, Proof and Sufragette. He was nominated for a Tony award in 1999 for his performance as Canary Jim in the Broadway run of Not About Nightingales. TV work includes recurring appearances in Glenroe, Breathless, The Hollow Crown and the mini-series Treadstone, along with appearances in Waking the Dead and Game of Thrones. 

Taheen Modak takes the roles of Laertes and Rosencrantz. A 2018 Bristol Old Vic Theatre School graduate, Taheen went on to a leading role in two series of the ITV crime drama The Bay, and on stage in The Taxidermist's Daughter (Chichester) and The American Clock (Old Vic, London). Most recently seen in the comedy drama Two Weeks to Live opposite Maisie Williams and Sian Clifford (Sky One/HBO Max).

Isabel Adomakoh Young plays Horatio. Isabel describes herself as "an actor, writer and troublemaker" who has worked at the RSC, Royal Court and played Juliet in Regents Park Open Air Theatre, winning the Best Lead Actress award at the BBTAs. She plays Miss Greenwood in the hit show Heartstopper and has just completed filming Foundation for Apple TV+. The stage show of her bestselling children's book trilogy Lionboy (written with her mother under the pseudonym Zizou Corder) toured the World in 2014, adapted by Complicité. In 2019, Isabel was nominated for the h100 Award for Rising Stars Under 30.

Firdous Bamji is an Indian-born American actor and takes the roles of the Ghost, Player King and Gravedigger. He has played leading roles in world and American premieres by writers such as Tom Stoppard, Toby Kushner and Naomi Wallace and won an Obie award in 2015 for his 'outstanding performance' in Stoppard's Indian Ink. In 2007 he was invited to co-write and perform in a new play with the world-renowned theatre company, Complicite. The result was A Disappearing Number which won the Olivier, Evening Standard and Critics Circle Awards for Best New Play. He has also appeared in films such as The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Analyse That and The War Within, for which he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Male Actor. He also received an Audie Award nomination for his narration of Salman Rushdie's novel, The Enchantress of Florence. 

Jason Barnett plays Polonius. His recent stage work includes Instructions for Correct Assembly, Emil and the Detectives, The Winter's Tale, Pericles, War Horse, The Visit, Life of Galileo, Mogadishu and The Seagull. He is well-known for his roles in TV series Porridge, Agatha Raisin, Lee and Dean and Bridgerton as "Jeffries". He has also made guest appearances in well-known series including Jonathan Creek and Death in Paradise.

Catrin Stewart plays Guildenstern/Reynaldo/Player Queen. She is a Welsh actress who played Emma in Sky1 comedy drama series Stella alongside Ruth Jones, played Lily in Misfits and is well known amongst Doctor Who fans as Jenny Flint. She won the award for Best Performance in a British Feature at the Edinburgh Film Festival for her role in The Library Suicides. She also played Juliet in Headlong's Romeo and Juliet and Julia in the West End production of 1984.

Hamlet marks director John Haidar’s return to the theatre after Richard III in 2019, where he brings his characteristically cinematic style and pace to the stage to both subvert and reimagine this classic play for a new audience. The creative team is completed by Alex Eales (Set Designer), Natalie Pryce (Costume Designer), Malcolm Rippeth (Lighting Designer), Max Pappenheim (Music/Sound), Jack Phelan (Video Design), Lucy Cullingford (Movement Director), Sam Stevenson (Casting Director), Bret Yount (Fight Director), Zoe Hammond (Costume Supervisor) and Elinor Lower (Assistant Director).

Speaking today, John Haidar said: "This production was first conceived of before the pandemic, so to have had Bristol Old Vic's support throughout that time and to now be able to begin rehearsals for it means such a lot. I'm grateful to be working with an incredibly gifted team, onstage and off, to interpret these characters and their fractured world anew."