The final cast of this semester’s Sheffield University Theatre Company (SUTCo) shows has been announced, completing the theatre group’s 2024 lineup. The week 5 original production, Your Heart’s Too Open, Close It, was the final show to reveal their cast, following previous announcements for The Importance of Being Earnestand Margaret Beaufort: Kingmaker. The cast contains a mix of new SUTCo faces, returning cast members and some from other theatrical groups around campus.
Posting on the committee’s social media account yesterday afternoon, SUTCo congratulated “all those cast in [their] Week 5 show!”, as well as revealing both the production’s poster, art style and ticketing service. An original script by Co-Director Ambrose Robinson, Your Heart’s Too Open, Close It has been described as a “metamodern, absurdist, sci-fi romcom”, following heartbroken Pup finding love with one of the show’s stagehands whilst shadowy forces attempt to capitalise on his open heart.
The cast is led by Matthew Heppell (Shakespeare in the Park: As You Like It, Medea) as protagonist Pup, Ben Sanderson as Jay (The Shivers, Chosen Ones), Luke Hookham as Commander (The Shivers, Medea) and Mason Lugh (The Shivers, Chosen Ones) as Scientist. Completing the cast are Claudia Terry as Chao, Elliot Tyndale-Biscoe as Gable, Imogen Kerr as Lieutenant, Ellen Jones as CEO, Eleanor Johnston as Sage, Jessica Markland as Tee, Diya Shebeen as Tiga/Lauren, Emma Garde as Neu, and Ava Hall as Rali.
The production is also the first of SUTCo’s semester one shows to release tickets for their performances, running from October 30th until November 2nd at the University of Sheffield Drama Studio, with similar ticket releases expected from The Importance of Being Earnest and Margaret Beaufort: Kingmaker in the coming weeks. This production is also notable for having student ticket prices available on all nights, compared to previous years, where this has been exclusive to one performance within the run, which will hopefully see increased ticket sales for the entire production.
Just two weeks away from the opening night of Your Heart’s Too Open, Close It, the announcement of the show’s cast completes SUTCo casting for the remainder of 2024. As SUTCo prepare for their first production since May’s Shakespeare in the Park: As You Like It, anticipation is building for Robinson’s original script, and the return of SUTCo to university theatre.
Your Heart’s Too Open, Close It is playing at the University of Sheffield Drama Studio from October 30th until November 2nd. Tickets are available here
