Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air actor heads cast of The School for Scandal at Oxford
The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air actor Joseph Marcell will head the cast of Sheridan’s classic comedy of manners The School for Scandal at Oxford Playhouse in June.
Stage, film and TV star Marcell, who is probably best-known for his role as Geoffrey the Butler in the six seasons of the NBC sitcom, plays Sir Peter Teazle in this fresh take which tours to the Playhouse on Tuesday, June 4 and plays until Saturday, June 8.
Marcell was most recently seen in Chiwetel Ejiofor’s debut feature film The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind. TV credits include Mammoth and I Hate You (BBC), and he is soon to star in Candice Carty-William’s Queenie (Channel 4). His prolific stage credits include Hamlet at the Young Vic with Cush Jumbo, Kathy Burke’s Lady Windermere's Fan, extensive work with Shakespeare’s Globe including the titular role in Bill Buckhurst’s King Lear and Derek Walcott’s Omeros, as well as seasons at the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Sir Peter Teazle believes his young wife is sleeping with someone else. She isn’t.
But she’s starting to think if her husband believes it, she may as well give it a go. After all, if you’re going to cause a scandal, you might as well enjoy it…
Deliciously naughty and outrageously silly, this timeless comedy is a masterclass in social satire and the art of gossip.
The School for Scandal is one of the greatest comedies ever written, featuring an unforgettable cast of larger-than-life characters, each armed with a lacerating wit.
A lightning-paced evening of romance, revenge and rollicking fun that promises to leave you entertained, enamoured – and perhaps even a little scandalised.
The cast also features Garmon Rhys (ITV’s Out There, HBO/Sky Atlantic’s Gangs Of London, and Tina: The Musical, West End) as ‘Charles Surface’, Ayesha Griffiths (Channel 4’s Queenie and Get Millie Black) as ‘Maria’, Emily-Jane McNeill (The Mousetrap and Brexshit, both West End) as ‘Lady Sneerwell’, Alex Phelps (As You Like It, Shakespeare’s Globe, When Darkness Falls, Park Theatre and UK tour) as ‘Joseph Surface’, Lydea Perkins (Private Lives, The Mill At Sonning, Sense & Sensibility, Theatre By The Lake) as ‘Lady Teazle’, Tony Timberlake (Little Shop of Horrors, Storyhouse Chester, Maggie May, Leeds Playhouse, When Darkness Falls, UK Tour) as ‘Sir Oliver’, and Guy Dennys (Tilted Wig’s Around the World in 80 Days and Lady Chatterley's Lover) as ‘Rowley’.
Among her credits, Emily-Jane McNeill participated in The North Wall’s ArtsLab Comedy Troll residency in 2017. Creating and performing comedy sketches and ensemble pieces as part of the Aats centre’s artist development scheme.
The production is directed by Seán Aydon who recently adapted and directed the national tours of The Picture of Dorian Gray and Frankenstein. He was also assistant director on the world premiere of Tom Fletcher’s The Christmasaurus at the Hammersmith Apollo.
The production is designed by Linbury Prize winner Sarah Beaton who returns to Oxford Playhouse after designing for Clare Baybutt’s The Man I Live With in 2017, co-produced by The Playhouse and Reading Rep. Her recent credits include The Merchant Of Venice (Sam Wanamaker / The Globe), Nineteen Gardens (Hampstead Theatre) and Wild East (Young Vic). She previously worked with Tilted Wig as designer of The Picture of Dorian Gray.
There is sound design/composition from Pembroke College, Oxford alumnus Ed Lewis. His recent work includes The Box Of Delights (RSC), Killer Joe (West End) and Henry V (Donmar).
Lighting design for the production is by Peter Small whose work includes Kathy & Stella Solve a Murder! (Bristol Old Vic), King Stakh’s Wild Hunt (Barbican) and The Ritual Slaughter of Gorge Mastromas (Dailes Theatre, Riga); and movement direction from Stephen Moynihan whose credits include Ted Lasso, House Of The Dragon and Tilted Wig’s Frankenstein.
The School for Scandal is produced by Tilted Wig Productions and Malvern Theatres in Association with Theatre By The Lake.
Booking details www.oxfordplayhouse.com
Box office: 01865 305305.
