Full casting for the National Theatre’s production of The Ocean at the End of the Lane has been announced today, with screen and stage actor Charlie Brooks joining the previously announced cast as Ursula and Jasmeen James joining as understudy. Charlie is best known for being a series regular in BBC’s EastEnders, and will be performing until 3 June 2023, with further dates to be announced.
They join Daniel Cornish (alternate Boy), Trevor Fox (Dad), Emma-Jane Goodwin (understudy), Paolo Guidi (ensemble), Millie Hikasa (Lettie Hempstock), Lewis Howard (understudy), Kemi-Bo Jacobs (Ginnie Hempstock), Ronnie Lee (ensemble), Aimee McGoldrick (ensemble), Laurie Ogden (Sis), Keir Ogilvy (Boy), Domonic Ramsden (ensemble), Joe Rawlinson-Hunt (understudy), Risha Silvera (understudy) and Finty Williams (Old Mrs Hempstock).
Charlie Brooks’ theatre credits include Beautiful Thing (UK Tour and West End) and A Streetcar Named Desire (Leicester Curve). For TV she is a series regular in BBC’s EastEnders. She was winner of ITV’s primetime celebrity survival show I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! Alongside her stage and screen work, Charlie is the founder of iampro, an online drama school and creative hub.
Jasmeen James previous theatre credits include Jekyll & Hyde schools tour for the National Theatre.
Neil Gaiman is known for his graphic novels, including The Sandman series (a major new Netflix series which in its first 10 days was watched for over 198 million hours by audiences around the world); his novels for adults and children including Stardust, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book; and multiple film and television projects including Good Omens and Anansi Boys. The Ocean at the End of the Lane was the winner of the Book of the Year at the 2013 National Book Awards and has sold more than 1.2 million copies worldwide. This first major stage adaptation of his work blends magic with memory in a tour-de-force of storytelling that takes audiences on an epic journey to a childhood once forgotten and the darkness that lurks at the very edge of it.
Returning to his childhood home, a man finds himself standing beside the pond of the old Sussex farmhouse where he used to play. He’s transported to his 12th birthday when his remarkable friend Lettie claimed it wasn’t a pond, but an ocean – a place where everything is possible… Plunged into a magical world, their survival depends on their ability to reckon with ancient forces that threaten to destroy everything around them.
The award-winning creative team includes director, Katy Rudd; adaptor, Joel Horwood; set designer, Fly Davis; costume and puppet designer, Samuel Wyer; movement director, Steven Hoggett; composer, Jherek Bischoff; lighting designer, Paule Constable; sound designer, Ian Dickinson; magic and illusions director and designer, Jamie Harrison; puppetry director, Finn Caldwell and casting director, Naomi Downham. The associate creative team includes associate director, Sophie Dillon Moniram; associate set designer, Tim Blazdell; associate movement director, Jess Williams; associate lighting designers, Rob Casey (for Ammonite) and Tom Turner; associate sound designer, Chris Reid; associate magic and illusions director, John Bulleid; and associate puppetry director, Gareth Aled.
Suggested Age Recommendation: 12+