Strictly champion Ellie Leach and Casualty’s Jason Durr head to our Quarry theatre in world premiere tour of Cluedo 2
5 Apr 2024
Reigning Strictly champion Ellie Leach will be waltzing into the Playhouse from 3-7 September. Making her stage acting debut, the Coronation Street star will be playing Miss Scarlett alongside Casualty’s Jason Durr as Colonel Mustard in the show based on the classic Hasbro board game, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.
Ellie won the hearts of the nation as she sashayed her way to victory with dance partner Vito to win the Glitterball Trophy last December. She is also known to millions of viewers as Faye Windass in Coronation Street. During her 13 years on the soap, Ellie was involved in various memorable storylines and nominated for numerous acting awards.
West End actor and TV favourite Jason Durr was most recently seen as David Hide in BBC One’s Casualty, a role he played for seven years from 2016. Audiences will also recognise him from his numerous other roles, including the motorbike-riding policeman Mike Bradley in ITV’s hugely popular series, Heartbeat.
Ellie Leach said: “I’m really enjoying bringing Miss Scarlett to life on stage. It’s so much fun to perform this iconic character and to see audiences of all ages having such a good time.”
Jason Durr said: “I’m delighted to be Colonel Mustard in Cluedo 2. The audience reaction during our first few weeks of performances has been fantastic and I can’t wait to bring this hilarious whodunnit to many more audiences around the UK.”
As the bodies pile up, the colourful cast of characters – The Honourable Mrs Emerald Peacock, Colonel Eugene Mustard, ‘Professor’ Alex Plum, Miss Annabel Scarlett, ‘The Reverend’ Hal Green and housekeeper Mrs White – move from room to room, trying to escape the murderer and survive the night. Cluedo 2 will keep audiences guessing right up to the final moment, offering budding detectives of all ages, from 8 to 80 and beyond, the opportunity to watch out for clues and unravel the secrets as they try to work out whodunnit… with what… and where!
The cast is completed by Jack Bennett (Wadsworth), Hannah Boyce (Mrs Peacock), Dawn Buckland (Mrs White), Liam Horrigan (Mr Black), Edward Howells (Professor Plum), Tiwai Muza (PC Silver) and Gabriel Paul (Reverend Green), with Kara Alberts-Turner, Audrey Anderson and Henry Lawes. Gabriel Paul will be familiar to Playhouse audiences from his role as Banquo in its 2022 production of Macbeth.
Following the huge success of the critically acclaimed original Cluedo play, it’s back with another original comedy mystery set in the Swinging Sixties. The show was written by one of the UK’s most successful TV and stage writing duos, BAFTA Award winning writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran (Birds of a Feather, Goodnight Sweetheart, Dreamboats and Petticoats) and is directed by Mark Bell (The Play That Goes Wrong, A Comedy About a Bank Robbery), who will bring all the action of this hilarious whodunnit to life.
Set and Costume Design is by David Farley, Lighting by Jason Taylor, Sound by Jon Fiber and Movement Direction by Anna Healey.
Cluedo 2 is produced by JAS Theatricals, Gabriel Creative Partners, The Araca Group and Lively McCabe Entertainment. It’s based on the Hasbro board game and the Paramount Pictures motion picture, Clue.