FIREBIRD

9 jan
- 9 feb
A play by Richard Hough.
Based on the memoir by Sergey Fetisov and the screenplay by Peeter Rebane and Tom Prior.

Drawing on a true-life Cold War story, FIREBIRD follows a handsome, soulful young soldier who embarks on a clandestine affair with a charismatic fighter pilot on an Air Force Base in Soviet-occupied Estonia at the height of 1970s Communist rule.

The story comes to the stage for the first time after an acclaimed film version and the publication of the English translation of the original memoir. It follows the acclaimed film by Peeter Rebane and Tom Prior (2021) which premiered at BFI Flare: London’s LGBTQI+ Film Festival. 

 

The rest of the creative team are:

 

Director - Owen Lewis
Designer - Gregor Donnelly
Lighting Designer - Clancy Flynn
Sound Designer & Composer - Jac Cooper
Intimacy Coordinator - Jess Tucker Boyd
Fight Director - MC_Combat (Maisie Carter & Emily Evans) 
Casting - Marc Frankum CDG
Producer - James Seabright

 

Cast

Robert Eades

Robert is known for his engaging performances on stage and screen. Recent television credits include: ‘Young Woman and the Sea’ (Disney), ‘Count Abdulla’ (Fudge Park and ITV), ‘Bad Education’ (BBC), ‘Ted Lasso’ (Apple), ‘The Larkins’ (ITV) and ‘Cheaters’ (BBC). He's also recently filmed two roles in major feature films and two global series due to come out in 2025.

Nigel Hastings

Nigel trained at LAMDA. His stage work includes productions at the Globe, the Royal Exchange, and several West End productions and UK regional tours. He starred as Jeff in the hit two-hander And Then Come the Night Jars (Theatre503 and UK tours) and in the film adaptation, which was longlisted for the 2024 Baftas. Stage credits in 2024 include leading roles in Gogol’s The Government Inspector (Marylebone) and Visit from an Unknown Woman (Hampstead). Most recently he appeared in in The Forsyte Saga (Park). Nigel’s screen credits include 'Peaky Blinders' (BBC), 'Hustle' (BBC), 'Wire in the Blood' (BBC), 'Innocent' (ITV), 'Doctor Who' (BBC), 'Call The Midwife' (BBC), 'A Very English Scandal' (BBC) and most recently 'The Way' (BBC), directed by Michael Sheen.

Sorcha Kennedy

Sorcha trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Her recent theatre credits include: Scarlet Sunday(Omnibus), UNION (Arcola), Contractions (Omnibus), Rainer (Arcola - Nominated for Best Lead Performance, 2022 Offie Awards), Diary of a Somebody (Seven Dials), Sam Wanamaker Festival (Shakespeare's Globe), Humbug! (Citizens). Her radio credits include: The Nazis: Road to Power (BBC Radio 4), Whenever I Get Blown Up… (BBC Radio Scotland). Sorcha is also a visual artist and filmmaker. Her debut short, ‘Sisyphos’, starring Leonie Benesch, was selected for various BAFTA & Oscar-qualifying film festivals.

Theo Walker

Theo trained at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. He is a successful writer and content creator with over 1.5 million followers across his socials.

Credits include: Coming Clean (Turbine Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Tour), The Nutcracker (Turbine Theatre), Dracula (Leicester Curve), Marmite (The Vaults), and Brotherhood (Edinburgh Fringe).

Creative Biographies

Richard Hough

WRITER

Richard Hough is a playwright and lyricist who started his career as a comedian and comedy writer. His theatre credits include a gender-swapped reimagining of Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice, Blood Orange and Nightschool. Richard has written book and lyrics for several musicals which include Our man In Havana (Watermill), The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Southwark & Online), Billy The Kid (National Youth Musical) and A Christmas Carol (Castle). Richard’s credits as a comedy writer include Revolver, The Now Show, Loose Ends, What’s the Story? and The News Quiz (BBC). His radio credits include Mad About The Boy and The Chiller Cabinet (Radio 4). Richard’s television credits include Dumber & Dumber (Channel 5).




Owen Lewis

DIRECTOR

Owen Lewis is an award-winning Theatre and Radio director, writer and TV Producer with shows in the West End, Edinburgh and on tour and with credits on BBC One, BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live. His stage show Eric & Little Ern about Morecambe & Wise was nominated for an Olivier Award after a West End run and national tour. Other theatre credits include The Battersea Poltergeist (National Tour), Alexander Armstrong: All Mouth & Some Trousers (National Tour), Suggs: What A King Cnut (London Palladium and National Tour), Grumpy Old Women: Fifty Shades of Beige (National Tour), The Crown Dual (Gilded Balloon), Gok Wan - Naked & Baring All (National Tour), King Kong: A Comedy (The Vaults), Johnson & Boswell: Late But Live (Traverse and UK Tour), Joe Stilgoe - Songs On Film (Assembly and UK Tour), Dad’s Army Radio Show (UK Tour), A Christmas Carol (Leicester Square Spiegeltent), The Only Way is Downton (Trafalgar, UK Tour and US Tour) and How to Lose Friends and Alienate People (Soho; Arts). Owen’s radio credits include the Award-winning drama-doc series The Fight of the Century – Ali v Frazier (BBC Radio 5 Live), Suggs: Love Letters to London (Radio 4) and The Harri–Parri Radio Show (BBC Radio Wales). His film credits include the adaptation of Suggs: My Life Story (cinema release/DVD). Owen has also produced over 40 episodes of Morning Live on BBC One.




Gregor Donnelly

Designer

Gregor is an internationally recognised, award nominated theatre designer. Gregor trained in Set and Costume design on the very last Motley Theatre Design Course. Designs highlights include, Women on the Verge of HRT (Gaiety Dublin, Grand Opera House Belfast and Tour), I Loved Lucy (Jermyn Street, Arts, Lucille Lortel, NYC and Woodstock), Rumi (London Coliseum and D’reesha Arts Festival, Qatar), Theatre Café Channelstarring a range of leading West End stars (Broadway HD), Umm Kulthum and the Golden Era (London Palladium, Dubai Opera House, Ithra, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain National Theatre), Stones in his Pockets(Barn and Belfast Lyric), Media Suite and interval show designer for the Olivier Awards (Royal Albert Hall), Broken Wings and The Throne (Charing Cross), Rags (Hope Mill, Manchester and Park, London), Celia Imrie’s Laughing Matters, (Crazy Coqs), The Great British Musicals (St James and London Hippodrome), Dirty Dating (Stockport Plaza and Epstein, Liverpool), Rumpy Pumpy (Windsor Royal and Union), Peter Pan and The Snow Queen (Park), The Astonishing Times of Timothy Cratchit (Hope Mill), The Jazz Age and Shirley Mander (Playground), Daddy Long Legs, Marry Me A Little and Peter Pan (Barn, Cirencester), Me and My Girl(Frinton on Sea), My Son Pinocchio (Southwark), Jack and the Blingstalk (Harold Pinter), Shirley Valentine(Byre), Damn Yankees (Unicorn), Cat-the Play! (Ambassadors) and Bastille’s ‘Doom Days’ album launch concert. In 2016 he was nominated for Best Set Design and Best Costume Design, Off West End Awards for Benighted (Old Red Lion). In 2017, he was nominated for Best Costume Design, Off West End Awards for The Autumn Garden (Jermyn Street). Gregor was also nominated for Best Set Design, Off West End Awards 2018 for Peter Pan (Park). In 2019, Gregor was nominated for Best Set Design, Off West End Awards for Rags (Park). Future designs include Stones in his Pockets tour 2024.




Clancy Flynn

LIGHTING DESIGNER

Clancy is a lighting designer, specialising in theatre, dance and immersive. A New York native, they studied at Trinity College Dublin before moving to London. Their theatre credits include: Exhibitionists (King’s Head), Stranger Sings (Southwark Playhouse), Twice in Time (Linbury), REBEL (Barbican), Trainspotting Live(International Tour), Mulan Rouge (Vaults), The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Southwark), How to Catch a Krampus(Pleasance), In the Winter Wood (Polka), The Yellow Wallpaper (Omnibus), Goldilocks and the Three Little Pigs (Opera Story), Little Red Riding Hood (Swansea Grand and Gaiety), and Strike! (Beckett). Clancy was a finalist for the 2020 OffWest End Award for Lighting Design and was nominated twice in 2019.




Jac Cooper

SOUND DESIGNER & COMPOSER

Jac is a composer and sound designer with experience in theatre, games and film. His recent theatre credits include Breeding (King's Head), Fame Whore (King's Head), There Was A Little Girl (Camden People's), No Place Like Home (Pleasance 10 Dome, Edinburgh), Shuga Fixx Vs The Illuminati (Pleasance, London), Cell Outs (Camden People's), Snow White (503), Call Me Vicky (Pleasance, London), Caterpillar (503), Locked Up(Tristan Bates), Kin (Salisbury Playhouse), True Cuts (Bush), Eiger (Pulse Festival, Norwich), Nest (The Vaults), All That We Found Here (New, Dublin), Snapshot (Hope, Islington), Network Diagnostics (Brighton Fringe), True Brits (N16), Madame Macadam (Bristol Old Vic Studio - music only), The Tempest (Redgrave, Bristol - music only), The Ugly One (Alma Tavern), Wake (N16), Still Here (Edinburgh Fringe 2016) and Dull and Fun (Barbican Openlab).




Jess Tucker Boyd

INTIMACY COORDINATOR

Jess is the Movement Lecturer for The University of West London and Artistic Associate at the King’s Head Theatre. Jess originally trained as an actor and theatre maker at East 15 Acting School, and later went on to complete an MA in Movement Directing and Teaching at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Jess’ theatre credits as intimacy coordinator include: Bacon (Finborough), Dangerous Liaisons, I Hate Suzy (Bad Wold), Missing Julie (Theatre Clywd), Faustus; That Damned Woman (Lyric Hammersmith), Coming Clean (King’s Head and Trafalgar Studios), Outlaws to In-laws (King’s Head), The House Of Yes (The Hope). Jess’ film credits as intimacy coordinator include ‘Taking Shots’, ‘A Piece of Forever’, ‘Do This for Me’ and ‘From A to Q’. Jess’ television credits as intimacy coordinator include ‘Both Sides Now’ (Now TV) and ‘I Hate Suzy’ (Sky).




Marc Frankum CDG

CASTING DIRECTOR

Marc has cast The Full Monty (2023 UK Tour), The Way Old Friends Do (UK Tour/West End), The New Adventures of Peter Pan, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Comedy of Errors, Baskerville, Aladdin, Moll Flanders, Pieces of String,Much Ado About Nothing, Clybourne Park, Noises Off and Macbeth (Mercury Colchester), The Children (Royal Bury St Edmunds), The Walworth Farce (Southwark Elephant), Sky Comedy Rep (Birmingham Rep), The Play what I Wrote(Birmingham Rep/UK Tour), Cinderella, Mother Goose (Cambridge Arts), Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty, Jack and the Beanstalk, Dick Whittington, Cinderella and Aladdin (Royal Norwich), Now Is Good (Chester Storyhouse), Bang Bang(Northcott/UK Tour), The History Boys (Wolverhampton Grand), Eurydice, Owners, Tonight at 8.30, Mother Adam(Jermyn Street), The Band (West End/UK Tour), Calendar Girls (UK Tour), God of Chaos, The Kneebone Cadillac (Royal Plymouth), Dracula (Touring Consortium), Out Of Order (UK Tour), Hand to God (West End), Dial M for Murder (UK Tour), The Duck House (West End), Goodnight Mister Tom (West End/Chichester Festival /The Children’s Touring Partnership), The Mousetrap (60th Anniversary Tour), The Woman In Black (West End), An Inspector Calls (UK Tour) and others. Marc is also the in-house casting director for the English Theatre Frankfurt where he has cast Nunsense, The Wasp, The Two Popes, Sylvia, Something Rotten, Now & Then, Suddenly Last Summer, Sister Act, Secret Life of Humans 2022, The Totalitarians, Young Frankenstein, The Girl on the Train, Switzerland, Secret Life of Humans, The Effect, Sweeney Todd, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Children, Apologia, Cabaret, The Lion in Winter, Jekyll & Hyde the Musical, Hand to God, Pygmalion, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Handbagged, Spamalot, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Glass Menagerie, Disgraced, Death and the Maiden, Other Desert Cities, Ghost, The Musical and Strangers on a Train.




Peeter Rebane

FIREBIRD (2021) Producer, Director and Co-writer

Born in Estonia, Peeter has studied, worked and lived around the world, including USA and the UK. His directing credits include feature films Firebird (2021) and Sailing to Freedom (development); documentaries Tashi Delek! (2015) and Robbie Williams: Fans Journey to Tallinn (BBC Worldwide, 2014); his music video credits include Wait for Me (Moby) and Together (Pet Shop Boys).

Peeter produced and directed the 22-camera concert film Robbie Williams: Live in Tallinn (2013). He has also produced the 2010 European Film Awards, the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest, and hundreds of shows in the Baltic region for various artists including Elton John, Bob Dylan, Madonna, Sting, Lady Gaga, Metallica, Queen, and others. In 2013, Peeter was named Entrepreneur of the Year in Estonia.




Tom Prior

FIREBIRD (2021) Co-writer, producer, music supervisor & performer

Tom trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. His film credits include Sergey Serebrennikov in Firebird, The Theory of Everything, Kingsman: The Secret Service and Blood on The Crown. His television credits include Endeavour (ITV). Tom’s theatre credits include Tory Boyz, Romeo and Juliet and Prince of Denmark (Ambassadors). For his performance in Firebird, Tom was nominated for a Breakout Performance award at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA).




James Seabright

Producer

James is an Olivier Award winning independent commercial theatrical producer and general manager. Current productions as lead producer include Potted Potter by Dan and Jeff, which is in the sixth year of its Las Vegas residency, Black Is The Color Of My Voice by Apphia Campbell, the immersive Trainspotting Live adapted from Irvine Welsh, Buffy Revamped and FRIEND (The One With Gunther) by Brendan Murphy, the world tour of Yippee Ki Yay by Richard Marsh, an international tour of In Pour Taste – A Comedy Wine Tasting Experience, and the acclaimed new musicals Police Cops The Musical (Edinburgh Fringe & Southwark Playhouse, co-production with ROYO) and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Richard Hough and Ben Morales Frost, which premiered as a digital show in 2021 and can now be seen globally via BroadwayHD. Previous West End productions include The Way Old Friends Do by Ian Hallard, Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho by Jon Brittain and Matt Tedford, Adam Kay’s This Is Going To Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor, the Olivier Award winning Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, The Boys in The Band by Mart Crowley, Our Boys by Jonathan Lewis, and several seasons of Potted Panto and Potted Sherlock with Dan and Jeff. James chairs the board of the League of Independent Producers, was chair of the King’s Head Theatre from 2016 to 2024 (during which time he spearheaded the venue’s move to its new multimillion pound venue in Islington Square), and is an associate artist of Wilton’s Music Hall. His book, So You Want to Be a Theatre Producer, is published by Nick Hern. www.seabright.org




"Thoroughly engaging… should not be missed"
London Living Large
"Compelling and irresistibly moving piece"
Adventures in Theatreland
"Firebird shows when love is stronger than its obstacles"
Harrytheatrelife
"Grabs you by the heart and doesn’t let go"
Squirrp Reviews
"Great night out… hugely compelling story"
Gay Times
"Wonderfully done - tremendous performances"
Broadway World
"Moving, gripping and immersive… must-see"
Theatre News
"Steamy, sentimental and poignant"
West End Best Friend
"Stellar cast and a creative team at the top of the game"
Everything Theatre
"Beautiful and poignant"
Theatre Audience Podcast
"Compelling performances bring depth and nuance"
Theatre Weekly
"A gripping piece of theatre."
Theatre Reviews Design
"A tale well told"
Reviewsgate

CONTACT

Marketing: kate@seabright.org
Press: kevinwilsonpr@gmail.com
Seabright Live London office: office@seabright.org