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Gemma Whelan, Rosalie Craig and Sacha Dhawan among first guest actors for An Oak Tree

by on in Cast Changes and Announcements

The eight guest actors announced for An Oak Tree at The Other Palace: Clare Perkins, Hammed Animashaun, Gemma Whelan, Rosalie Craig, Bessie Carter, Tom Mothersdale, Sacha Dhawan and George Fouracres Francesca Moody Productions has named the first eight guest actors who will join Tim Crouch in An Oak Tree at The Other Palace, among them Gemma Whelan, Rosalie Craig, Sacha Dhawan and Hammed Animashaun.

Francesca Moody Productions has announced initial casting for An Oak Tree, Tim Crouch's much-travelled two-hander, which runs at The Other Palace from 5 October to 15 November 2026. Press night is 7 October and tickets are on sale now.

The play's premise is what makes the casting news unusual. Tim Crouch performs every night; the second role is taken by a different guest actor at each performance, who arrives on stage having never read the script or attended a rehearsal. Eight of those guests have now been named:

  • 9 October: Rosalie Craig (Riot Women, Good Night, Oscar)
  • 13 October: Clare Perkins (Player Kings, Romeo & Juliet)
  • 14 October: Tom Mothersdale (A Doll's House, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light)
  • 15 October: Gemma Whelan (Game of Thrones, The Tower)
  • 16 October: Bessie Carter (Bridgerton, Mrs. Warren's Profession)
  • 23 October: Sacha Dhawan (Doctor Who, The Great)
  • 29 October: Hammed Animashaun (SNL UK, Dealer's Choice)
  • 10 November: George Fouracres (SNL UK, Hamlet at Shakespeare's Globe)

The play has been doing this since 2005. It has been performed hundreds of times across more than 19 countries, and over two decades more than 350 performers have walked on cold to take the second part. Previous guests include Frances McDormand, Peter Dinklage, David Tennant, Jessie Buckley, Sophie Okonedo, Toby Jones, Meera Syal, Alanis Morissette, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Michelle Terry. The result is a piece about grief and suggestion that is genuinely different every night, and that cannot be reproduced on any other evening.

An Oak Tree forms part of a three-show Francesca Moody Productions season at The Other Palace, alongside the dark comedy Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen and Garry Starr: Classic Penguins, in which Damien Warren-Smith's alter ego attempts every Penguin Classic ever written, largely unclothed. All three began at the Fringe.

Francesca Moody is among the most influential producers working in British theatre, having originated both Fleabag and Baby Reindeer before either reached the screen. Her company is an Olivier Award winner and Tony nominee.