Michelle Austin, Tito Fagbenle, Jenny Jules, Alistair Mackenzie, Danny Sapani & Jodie Whittaker join cast of Almedia’s chain play

Michelle Austin, Tito Fagbenle, Jenny Jules, Alastair Mackenzie, Danny Sapani and Jodie Whittaker will perform the Almeida’s first ever Chain Play for one night only on Friday 23 March at the theatre’s major 2007 fundraising event, supported by Coutts & Co.

Directed by Tom Cairns, playwrights Samuel Adamson, Moira Buffini, David Hare, Charlotte Jones, Frank McGuinness and Roy Williams have been writing the play over the past few months, with each writer given just two weeks to add a scene of between ten and fifteen minutes, before passing the script to the next writer.  In their fifth year of support, the Almeida’s principal sponsor Coutts & Co have generously extended their sponsorship by supporting this unique benefit.

Michelle Austin’s theatre work includes Generations for the Young at the Vic Theatre, Out In The Open for Hampstead Theatre, Breath Boom for the Royal Court, Our Country’s Good for Out of Joint/Young Vic and  It’s A Great Big Shame for Stratford East. Her film credits include Valentine’s Day, All or Nothing, Secrets and Lies and Park Stories.  On television she played Yvonne Fletcher for over two years in The Bill.  Her other television credits include Gimme Gimme, Kiss Me Kate, Secret Life and Night & Day.

Tito Fagbenle is currently training at the UK’s first black drama school - Identity Drama School.  Winner of the Best Actor of the Year Award 2005 at Identity and having recently played the lead in a school production of Mark Ravenhill's Totally Over You at the Arcola Theatre, Tito is making his professional debut at the Almeida Theatre in A Chain Play.

Alastair Mackenzie is best known for playing Archie in the BBC’s prime-time series Monarch of the Glen.  His other TV work includes Reichenbach Falls, Hamish Macbeth, Lovejoy, Psychos, Soldier, Soldier and Game On.  His theatre credits include The Gigli Concert at the Assembly Rooms, The Sorceror’s Apprentice for the Citizen’s Theatre in Glasgow, Beauty and the Beast for Boderline Theatre and The Interrogation for the Thakery Players.  His film work includes The Last Great Wilderness, California Sunshine, Misadventures of Margaret (Granada) and Dragonworld.

Jenny Jules’ theatre work includes Fabulation, Gem of the Ocean, Walk Hard, Talk Loud, The Promise and The Colour of Justice all for the Tricycle Theatre, Born Bad at Hampstead and When we are Married at Birmingham Rep. Her television credits include Casualty, Golden Hour, Judge John Deed and I Saw You. Jenny Jules can be seen in the Almeida’s production of Big White Fog which runs from 11 May – 30 June.

Notes to Editors

·Coutts is the international private banking arm of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is one of the world's largest banking groups.

·Coutts manages the wealth of 96,000 high net worth clients worldwide through a network of over 40 offices globally.

·The first Coutts regional office to be opened was Eton in 1961. Today, Coutts has regional offices in Bath, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Eton, Guildford, Hampshire, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford and Tunbridge Wells.

·Coutts offers clients a range of products and services covering sophisticated investment products together with expertise in trust and fiduciary services and UK tax and banking services.

·Coutts & Co is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Coutts & Co Registered in England No 36695Registered Office 440 Strand London WC2R 0QS.

·Calls may be recorded.

www.coutts.com