Annette Badland has been forced to withdraw from the cast of Alphabetical Order at Hampstead theatre after breaking a bone in her foot. She has been replaced in the role of Nora by Penelope Beaumont.
Beaumont, who joined rehearsals on Monday after Badland’s accident last Friday, has just one more day to rehearse her role before previews begin tomorrow, 16 April.
Christopher Luscombe, director of Alphabetical Order, said: “It’s obviously very sad to lose Annette from the cast, especially at this stage in rehearsals, and we wish her a speedy and full recovery. But Penny has fitted right in and stunned us all with her skill and professionalism. We’re a strong team and this can only pull us closer together.”
Alphabetical Order is the third production – and the second revival – in Hampstead theatre’s 50th anniversary season, following Noël Coward’s Private Lives and Ian Kennedy Martin’s new play Berlin Hanover Express.
Michael Frayn’s comedy originally premiered at Hampstead theatre in 1975, subsequently transferring to the West End. Inspired by the playwright’s years as a newspaper reporter, Alphabetical Order is set in a provincial newspaper office’s cuttings library, where the lives of a group of befuddled journalists are reordered by the new assistant librarian.
Beaumont’s career has comprised numerous credits in regional theatre and for the Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as several productions at Shakespeare’s Globe.
She joins a cast that includes Imogen Stubbs, Ian Talbot, Michael Garner, Gawn Grainger, Jonathan Guy Lewis and Chloe Newsome.
Alphabetical Order opens on 21 April after previews from 16 April and plays until 16 May.
CB