The first of the second semester Sheffield University Theatre Company (SUTCo) casts have been announced, with week three’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist the second of the three upcoming productions to share their characters.
The play, which will be directed by Kirsty Lucas (Margaret Beaufort: Kingmaker, Why We Stay) and Ben Sanderson (Summoning Morphsuit Gary, The Shivers) have become the second SUTCo production to publicly share their cast, with a Christmas Day announcement yesterday.
A similar announcement from the team behind The Effect came earlier this week, with the cast of It Came From the Ice the final due for announcement.
Being staged at the University of Sheffield Drama Studio from February 26th until March 1st 2025, the announcement comes with only months to go until the play is set to open.
In a post on Instagram on Christmas Day, the production revealed their “Christmas present from us to you… announcing our wonderful cast!”, which was also shared to the wider society social media account.
Leading the cast is Toma Hoffman (The Importance of Being Earnest, Medea) as the Maniac, leading his second SUTCo production in as many semesters as the titular.
Now his third SUTCo role, his recent spell as Algernon Moncrieff in November’s The Importance of Being Earnest was praised for Hoffman’s “incredible stage presence, confidence, arrogance & charm whilst remaining thoroughly likeable”.
Joining Hoffman from the cast of The Importance of Being Earnest are Chantelle Winder as Superintendent and Eden Houlberg as Constable 2.
The duo, who were recently seen as Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew, respectively, we reunite for this production of Accidental Death of an Anarchist, mere months after their last appearance on stage together.
Winder’s casting is also to be noted as she was previously cast as Feletti in SUTCo’s 2022 version of the production, which was forced to be cancelled due to illness before the run could take place.
Feletti, this time, will be played instead by Barbara McLaughlin (The Shivers, Chosen Ones), returning to the SUTCo stage almost exactly one year since last appearing in Why We Stay.
Completing the cast are Matthew Heppell (Shakespeare in the Park: As You Like It, Medea) as Bertozzo, Sam Bevan as Pisani, and SUTCo Secretary Phoebe Cookson (Margaret Beaufort: Kingmaker, 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche) as Constable 1, bringing the total cast to seven performers.
Accidental Death of an Anarchist, written by Dario Fo in 1970, follows the death of a detainee in police custody, and the ensuing attempts to cover this fact up.
Whilst it is not clear whether the anarchist jumped or was in fact pushed, the play details the efforts of the police to hide this death, and the resulting chaos.
This play is the third attempt SUTCo is making at creating the production, with both previous attempts, in 2022 and 2020, cancelled due to health restrictions and the coronavirus pandemic.
This third attempt will hopefully strike lucky for SUTCo, with many hoping to break the ‘Anarchist curse’ in 2025, and finally portray the production.
With only two months until Accidental Death of an Anarchist is due to take to the Drama Studio stage, the company are already getting underway in beginning to create their production, ahead of its February staging.
Two casts revealed, we eagerly await the announcement of the remaining SUTCo cast, as well as the technical teams that will complete each show’s company.
SUTCo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist will be playing at the University of Sheffield Drama Studio from February 26th until March 1st 2025. Tickets are available here. Applications to join the production’s technical team are available here, & open until January 5th
