Full cast and creative team announced for Three Men in a Boat world premiere at the Rose Theatre
by Best of Theatre Staff on Tuesday 28 July 2026, 11:20 am in Cast Changes and Announcements
Rose Theatre has announced the full cast and creative team for the world premiere of Three Men in a Boat, a riotous new comedy by Al Smith with original songs by Tony Award nominee Grant Olding, running in Kingston upon Thames from 18 September 2026.
Rose Theatre has announced the full cast and creative team for the world premiere of Three Men in a Boat, a riotous new comedy by Al Smith with original songs by Tony Award nominee Grant Olding, based on the classic novel by Jerome K. Jerome. The production plays at the Rose Theatre in Kingston upon Thames, south west London, from Friday 18 September to Saturday 10 October 2026, with a press performance on Wednesday 23 September.
Jonny Weldon (Disney+'s Rivals, Netflix's One Day and 101 Dalmatians at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre) plays Jerome, with Bronte Barbe (Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder!, Newsies: The Musical and Oklahoma! at Chichester Festival Theatre) as Harris, Richard David-Caine (The Witches at the National Theatre and BBC's Horrible Histories) as George, and Calum Donald-Bruce as Montmorency.
The show is directed by Christopher Haydon, the Rose Theatre's Artistic Director, following the success of Ava Pickett's 21st-century adaptation of Emma. Joining Smith, Olding — who also serves as Musical Director and Sound Designer — and Haydon are John Nicholson (Movement Director and Comedy Consultant), Simon Kenny (Set and Costume Designer), Simisola Majekodunmi (Lighting Designer), Juliet Horsley CDG (Casting Director), Chris Pirie (Puppetry Director), Claudette Williams (Voice and Dialect Coach) and Rebecca Wear (Associate Director, Drama League Rose Directing Fellow).
Jerome, George and Harris are lifelong friends who set out on a carefree boat trip up the Thames, from leafy Kingston to Oxford's dreaming spires. What follows is torrential rain, alarmingly eccentric dogs, a bout of hallucination brought on by some spectacularly rancid cheese and three dozen angry swans — a story billed as Jeeves and Wooster meets Apocalypse Now.
Christopher Haydon said: "This beloved novel is over 130 years old, and when I first read it I genuinely couldn't believe how much it made me laugh! We commissioned Al Smith who has written a wonderful new stage adaptation, and what he's come up with is very, very funny; it's a mixture of verbal wit and physical comedy, and it's going to be very moving as well. It's just so brilliant to be telling a story that begins right here in Kingston upon Thames."
He added: "We've brought on a brilliant composer in Grant Olding, whose work I loved on One Man, Two Guvnors. So what had originally started out as a play has transformed into a play with songs. Grant is writing a series of comic musical numbers that also serve a key narrative purpose in the show."
John Nicholson, Movement Director and Comedy Consultant, said: "There's very little time that goes by in this show where something doesn't go catastrophically wrong. Anyone that enjoys physical comedy, whether that's the Marx Brothers or Laurel and Hardy or Steve Martin, will have a really great time."
Tickets are on sale now. The production is supported by Kingston University, London.