Full casting has been found for the upcoming U.K. premiere of Suzan-Lori Parks' reggae musical The Harder They Come, set to play London's Stratford East September 13-October 25, opening September 23.
The cast will feature Danny Bailey as José, Josie Benson as Daisy, Craig Blake as Ray, Madeline Charlemagne as Elsa, Natey Jones as Ivan, Jason Pennycooke as Preacher, Simon-Anthony Rhoden as Pedro, and Thomas Vernal as Hilton. The company will also include Chanice Alexander-Burnett, Lori Barker, Ashh Blackwood, Aisha Davis, Kage Douglas, Robert Grose, Lauren Azania, AJ King-Yombo, Jack Matthew, Newtion Matthews, and Marcellus Whyte. Casting is by Heather Basten.
The production is a homecoming for the work, adapted from the cult 1972 Jamaican film of the same name, centered on Ivan, a singer who comes to Kingston, Jamaica, in search of stardom. After falling in love and cutting a record deal, Ivan learns the dark side of the music industry and enters a battle that threatens both his life and the fabric of Jamaican society. The film first came to the stage in 2005 at Stratford East, with Parks' iteration of the project premiering at Off-Broadway's Public Theater in 2023 (see what critics thought here). Parks adapted the musical from producer-director Perry Henzell and Trevor Rhone's screenplay. Songs, which include gospel and folk music, are by Jimmy Cliff (plus some original new songs from Parks).
Stratford East's production will be a new staging and not a transfer from the Public, with director Matthew Xia leading a creative team that will include set designer Simon Kenny, costume designer Jessica Cabassa, lighting designer Ciarán Cunningham, live sound designer Tony Gayle, sound effect and soundscape sound designer Nicola T. Chang, choreographer and intimacy director Shelley Maxwell, video designer Gino Ricardo Green, music director and vocal arranger Ashton Moore, and orchestrator and music arranger Benjamin Kwasi Burrell.
“This new production of The Harder They Come is brought to life by a company with deep connections to Caribbean culture and a shared love of reggae," says Xia in a statement.
"To walk into Stratford East is to know how important the 1972 film and the 2006 production of The Harder They Come are to this theatre and our audience," adds Stratford East Artistic Director Lisa Spirling. "So it feels very special that in our 140th year we are able to celebrate this with a brand-new production written by the virtuoso playwright Suzan-Lori Parks and directed by Stratford East alum, the brilliant Matthew Xia. They have assembled an extraordinary team of cast and creatives to bring this toe-tapping, reggae musical masterpiece to life and we can’t wait to share it with you.”
The team also includes assistant music director Luke Bacchus, WHAM designer and supervisor Dominique Hamilton, fight director Claire Llewellyn (for RC Annie), voice and dialect coach Aundrea Fudge, assistant director Emily Aboud, costume supervisor Claire Nicholas, production manager Andy Reader, company stage manager Marie-Angelique St. Hill, deputy stage manager Emily Davis, and assistant stage managers Emily Mei-Ling Pearce and Dynzell Muguti.
Tickets are available at StratfordEast.com.
