The Marlowe Theatre has released the first pictures from the rehearsal room for A Tale of Two Cities, the Rattigan and Gielgud stage version of Dickens’s novel of the French Revolution, which opens in Canterbury next month ahead of a UK tour.
Rehearsals are under way in Canterbury for A Tale of Two Cities, and the Marlowe Theatre has marked the moment by releasing the first images from the rehearsal room. Shot by Marc Brenner, they catch the company at work a few weeks before the production has its premiere.
The staging uses the adaptation Terence Rattigan (The Winslow Boy, The Deep Blue Sea) wrote with John Gielgud, drawn from Dickens’s novel of love, sacrifice and redemption played out either side of the Channel as the Reign of Terror takes hold. Directing is Michael Fentiman, whose credits include Amélie, Titus Andronicus, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Loot.
Leading the company are Samuel Collings as Sydney Carton and the Marquis de St. Evrémonde, Ed Sayer as Charles Darnay, Jordan Loughran as Lucie Manette and the Seamstress, and François Testory as Dr. Manette. They are joined by Martin Bassindale, Scarlett Brookes, Daniel Hickey, Jasmine Kerr, Roger Ringrose, Robyn Sinclair and Simon Startin.
Behind the scenes, Max Jones designs the set and Kinnetia Isidore the costumes, with lighting by Ben Jacobs, sound by Richard Hammarton, music by Barnaby Race and video design by Nina Dunn for PixelLux. Susanna Peretz designs wigs, hair and make-up, Helena Palmer CDG casts, and Jonathan Holby directs the fights. Audrey Brisson is creative associate, Pip Minnithorpe associate director and Leo Butler dramaturg.
The run at the Marlowe opens on 14 September, with press night on Thursday 17 September. The Canterbury dates carry a captioned performance and post-show Q&A on the Friday evening, a British Sign Language-interpreted matinee on the Saturday and an audio-described performance that Saturday evening. The production is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
The tour so far:
- 14-19 September 2026: Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury
- 22-26 September 2026: Leeds Playhouse
- 15-23 January 2027: Theatre Royal, Bath
- 2-6 February 2027: Cheltenham Theatre
- 9-13 February 2027: Chichester Festival Theatre
- 16-20 February 2027: King’s Theatre, Edinburgh
- 23-27 February 2027: Theatr Clwyd
Further dates are to be announced.
