Cast announced for The Human Body at Donmar Warehouse

Keeley Hawes and Jack Davenport will lead the cast of Lucy Kirkwood’s The Human Body at Donmar Warehouse.

Lucy Kirkwood’s new play The Human Body will run at the London venue from 16 February to 13 April 2024.

The cast includes the acclaimed Keeley Hawes as Iris and Jack Davenport portraying George. They will be joined by a talented ensemble: Tom Goodman-Hill as Julian Elcock, Flora Jacoby Richardson and Audrey Kattan sharing the role of Laura Elcock, Pearl Mackie as Sylvia Samuels, and Siobhán Redmond as Helen Mackeson MP. Additional roles will be performed by various company members.

This production marks Longhurst’s final project as the Artistic Director at Donmar, collaborating once again with Ann Yee. The duo previously worked together on the highly praised Next to Normal, which is set for a later transfer to Wyndham’s Theatre.

The creative team behind this ambitious project includes designer Fly Davis, lighting designer Joshua Pharo, sound designers and composers Ben and Max Ringham, video designers Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom, fight director Kate Waters, casting director Anna Cooper CDG, and assistants Rimu Kwok, Cheng Keng and José Guillermo Puello.

Set in 1948 in Shropshire, The Human Body is a romantic drama blending political and personal narratives. It features Iris Elcock, a GP and Labour party councillor, striving to implement the National Health Service Act amidst post-war challenges. Her encounter with Hollywood actor George Blythe brings an unexpected twist to her life.

The play is a testament to Kirkwood’s reputation for weaving political themes with deep personal stories, as seen in her previous works like The Witches, Mosquitoes and Chimerica.