Dutch actor and singer Joy Wielkens will join the West End production of Hadestown early next year at the Lyric Theatre.

Wielkens will step into the role of Persephone beginning January 8, 2026, for a limited engagement through March 8. She previously played the role earlier this year at Amsterdam's Royal Theatre Carré. Additional theatrical credits in the Netherlands include Beneatha’s Place, Billie!, A Raisin in the Sun, The Mountaintop, and Dear Winnie.

Wielkens, who will succeed Girls Aloud star Nicola Roberts (her final performance will be January 18), will join a London company that includes Desmonda Cathabel as Eurydice, Chris Jarman as Hades, Cedric Neal as Hermes, and Dylan Wood as Orpheus.

Melanie Bright, Allie Daniel, and Lauran Rae play the Fates; Femi Akinfolarin, Michelle Andrews, Ollie Bingham, Laura Delany, and Sebastian Lim-Seet play the Workers, with Lucinda Buckley, Juan Jackson, Oisín Nolan-Power, Lindo Shinda, and Jasmine Triadi are swings.

Hadestown is currently booking until September 27, 2026, at the Lyric Theatre. Casting for performances beginning March 10, 2026, will be announced shortly.

The London return of the Tony-winning musical Hadestown officially opened at the Lyric February 21, 2024.

Anaïs Mitchell's underworld-set folk opera, which premiered Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop in 2016, made its London premiere at the National Theatre in November 2018. The production subsequently opened on Broadway, where it continues at the Walter Kerr, in April 2019. Read reviews of the current London production by clicking here.

The creative team features set designer Rachel Hauck, costume designer Michael Krass, lighting designer Bradley King, sound designers Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz, choreographer David Neumann, music supervisor and vocal arranger Liam Robinson, arrangers and orchestrators Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose, and dramaturg Ken Cerniglia. Casting for the London production is by Jacob Sparrow.

Following two intertwining love stories—that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone—Hadestown invites audiences on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back.

The show, featuring a book and score by Mitchell, won eight 2019 Tony Awards: Best Director of a Musical (Rachel Chavkin), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (André De Shields), Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Bradley King), Best Scenic Design of a Musical (Rachel Hauck), Best Sound Design of a Musical (Jessica Paz and Nevin Steinberg), Best Orchestrations (Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose), Best Original Score (Mitchell), and Best Musical.

Hadestown is produced in London by Mara Isaacs, Dale Franzen, Hunter Arnold, Tom Kirdahy, and the National Theatre in association with JAS Theatricals.

Check out the Hadestown merchandise in the Playbill Store

The Broadway production continues at the Walter Kerr Theatre.

Visit UK.Hadestown.com.