Final rehearsal photographs have been released of Little Shop of Horrors at Hope Mill Theatre, with Maisie Smith in the jaws of the plant that shares her character’s name, four days before the Manchester production opens.
There is a reason the company chose today to open the rehearsal room door. Little Shop of Horrors dates the arrival of its man-eating plant to the twenty-first day of September, and the new production has marked that anniversary by releasing its final rehearsal photographs, four days before the first performance at Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester, on Friday 25 September 2026.
The photographs, taken by Rosie Moore for The Social Sort, catch the company in the last week before an audience sees any of it. Maisie Smith, whose credits include EastEnders and who reached the final of Strictly Come Dancing, plays Audrey, and is pictured being swallowed whole by her formidable namesake.
Michael Starke plays Mr Mushnik, Jed Berry is Seymour, Marcus Ayton supplies the voice of Audrey II and Benjamin Yates takes Orin Scrivello, the Dentist. The company also includes Kai Cameron-Jay, Ella Howlett, Rio Maye, Psalms-Nissi Myers-Reid, Joseph Peacock, Nathen Scott and Gabrielle Davina Smith.
Audrey II is not one puppet but four, specially commissioned from Robert Allsopp and operated by Julia Frost, Christopher Dobson and Imogen Khan. Set and costume design is by Morgan Large. The production is directed and choreographed by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, a Tony and Olivier Award nominee whose choreography for SIX has travelled further than most.
The score is by Alan Menken, with book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, and the revival lands in the year that marks four decades since the 1986 film — which is still where most audiences meet Seymour, his flower shop and his very bad bargain for the first time. The producers are Thomas Hopkins Productions and SAMS Entertainment, in association with Hope Mill Theatre.
Little Shop of Horrors runs at Hope Mill Theatre from 25 September to 28 November 2026. Every preview in the first fortnight has sold out and the theatre is holding waiting lists. The production then runs at Liverpool Playhouse from 3 December 2026 to 9 January 2027, with Jessie Elland taking over as Audrey — she appears in these rehearsal photographs too.
Earlier this month the company released a film of Smith singing Somewhere That’s Green, which you can watch in our earlier post.
