Full cast announced for the world premiere of Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky
by Best of Theatre Staff on Thursday 23 July 2026, 11:03 am in Cast Changes and Announcements
Michael Maloney, Alex Bhat and Lucy Gray complete the cast of Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky, Simon Reade's new stage adaptation of Patrick Hamilton's classic novel, which opens at Southwark Playhouse Borough this September.
Troupe, the production company behind the critically acclaimed stage adaptation of The Forsyte Saga, has announced the full casting for the world premiere of Simon Reade's new stage adaptation of Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky by Patrick Hamilton.
Michael Maloney (Ernest Eccles), Alex Bhat (George Perry) and Lucy Gray (Prunella/Landlady/Waitress) join the previously announced Yanexi Enriquez (Jenny Maple), Rosalind Lailey (Ella Dawson) and Jordan Scowen (Bob). Matthew Iliffe's production opens at Southwark Playhouse Borough on 16 September, with previews from 10 September, and runs until 17 October 2026.
Troupe's Ashley Cook said: "I'm delighted to bring these actors together to explore the dynamics between these classic characters from Patrick Hamilton's great London trilogy; and I look forward to audiences seeing how Matthew Iliffe translates this to the stage at Southwark Playhouse Borough."
Set in London in 1929, the play follows three lonely Londoners looking for connection in the sprawling streets of the metropolis. In the seedy Midnight Bell pub, barman Bob dreams of becoming a writer, while barmaid Ella dreams of being with Bob. When Bob becomes obsessed with the alluring Jenny Maple, he fritters his life's savings on trying to rescue her - but there is more to Jenny than meets the eye.
Adapted from the classic novel by Patrick Hamilton, the famed author of Gaslight, Rope and Hangover Square, Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky is both darkly humorous and devastating, a love letter to 1920s Jazz Age London in all its grimy glory. An acclaimed television adaptation was broadcast on BBC Four in 2005, starring Sally Hawkins.
This world premiere is directed by Off West End Award winner Matthew Iliffe (Bacon), and comes from the producer of Noel Coward's The Rat Trap and John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga Parts 1 and 2. The creative team features set and costume designer Ellie Wintour, lighting designer Alex Musgrave, sound designer and composer Elizabeth Purnell, movement director Sam Spencer-Lane and intimacy director Jess Tucker Boyd.
Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky runs at Southwark Playhouse Borough from 10 September to 17 October 2026, with press night on Wednesday 16 September at 7pm. The age guidance is 12+.