Papatango and Pentabus Reveal Casts for UK Premieres of Award-Winning Plays

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Deborah Olat and Joe Dolan star in THE SILENCE AND THE NOISE, while Lucy Mangan leads BIRDCATCHER in a collaboration addressing the decline in touring theatre.

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Papatango Theatre Company and Pentabus have announced the full cast and creative teams for the UK premieres of two award-winning shows, The Silence and The Noise, written by Tom Powell , and Birdcatcher, written by Laura Waldren.

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Papatango and Pentabus' collaboration on these two plays marks a writing partnership which presents world premieres on stages across the UK, giving opportunities for new writers to showcase their works on a bigger scale. The aim is to redress the devastating 64% drop in touring plays since 2019 (Audience Agency 2026 Report). Both Tom Powell and Laura Waldren have won the Papatango New Writing Prize, in 2021 and 2023 respectively, and also been a Pentabus CRF Writer in Residence.

In The Silence and The Noise, Deborah Olat plays Daize and is joined by Joe Dolan as Ben in Tom Powell 's play which won the Papatango New Writing Prize in 2021. The play originated as an audio drama during the COVID-19 pandemic by Papatango and was then turned into a filmed version in 2023 by Pentabus and Rural Media. The Silence and The Noise will open at The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury before embarking on a tour in Autumn 2026 to Bristol Old Vic and Minerva Theatre at Chichester Festival Theatre, before completing its run at Park Theatre (London).

Joining Papatango's Artistic Director George Turvey, who returns as Director after helming the original audio production, are Stella Backman (Set and Costume Designer ), Si Cole (Lighting Designer), and Asaf Zohar (Composer and Sound Designer).

Tom Powell , said, “Ben and Daize are very close to my heart, and I'm delighted Joe and Deborah will be bringing them to the stage, with all their tenderness, spikiness, and humour. The play has come to mean even more to me over the last year, since the death of my brother, and the campaigning I've done with my family in his memory. I'm glad to have a cast who can hold the lightness and joy in this story, as well as its weight.”

Director, George Turvey, added, “I'm delighted to be working with Deborah and Joe on Tom's wonderfully subtle yet hopeful play. Ben and Daize have a wit, warmth and resourcefulness that transcend their circumstances. I can't wait to get into rehearsals and explore their relationship together.”

In Birdcatcher, Lucy Mangan performs as Eliza, directed by Pentabus' Artistic Director and BAFTA-winner Elle While . Written by Laura Waldren, Birdcatcher continues Pentabus and Papatango's long-standing support of her work, following the premiere of her Papatango Prize-winning play Some Demon at the Arcola Theatre in June 2024 and its subsequent transfer to Bristol Old Vic. Birdcatcher is presented in association with Hull-based new writing theatre company Middle Child, opening this autumn at the company's new venue at 69 Humber Street before embarking on a two-week rural tour.

Joining Director Elle While to complete the creative team are Amy Jane Cook (Designer, Set and Costume), Jessie Addinall (Lighting Designer), Helen Skiera (Sound Designer) and Asha Jennings-Grant (Movement Director).

Laura Waldren said, “I feel so lucky to have someone as phenomenally talented as Lucy playing this character. She's a thrilling, fascinating actor to watch, both effortlessly funny and totally heart-breaking, and it's a privilege to watch her bring the story to life.”

Pentabus' Artistic Director and Director of Birdcatcher, Elle While , commented, “It's wonderful to welcome Lucy Mangan to Pentabus to play Eliza. Her presence is electric and the rigour, wit and heart she is bringing to the room will ignite Laura's complicated, funny and deeply human play. It's a real privilege to bring Birdcatcher to the stage for the first time, and particularly to be taking Laura's play home to Hull and across rural communities before reaching more audiences throughout the UK.”

Cast: Deborah Olat (Daize), Joe Dolan (Ben) Director: George Turvey; Set & Costume Design: Stella Backman; Lighting Design: Si Cole; Composition and Sound Design: Asaf Zohar

Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury 4-6 November Then on UK tour

Daize has a sharp tongue and a sharper blade. Ben has killer trainers and not much else. She's determined to protect her mum from his drug-dealing boss – but can two neglected teenagers change their destinies? These natural enemies start to find something in each other no adult has ever given them.

Tom Powell 's play portrays two young people finding hope together. It is partly inspired by his own family experience.

Deborah Olat plays Daize. Olat is a Nigerian-British actor, writer and dancer from East London. The Silence and The Noise marks her professional stage debut. Her other credits include The Score (short film) and YOUTHQUAKE (Yard Theatre).

Joe Dolan plays Ben. Dolan recently graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. The Silence and The Noise also marks his professional stage debut. His television credits include The Woods and Casualty.

Tom Powell won the 2021 Papatango New Writing Prize. He was the 2020/21 CRF Writer-in-Residence at Pentabus, where he is now an Associate Artist. Tom was selected for the BBC Studios Writers Academy 2019/20, and his first short as writer/director is currently in post-production. He has completed a residency at The National Theatre 's Immersive Storytelling Studio, and his narrative virtual reality piece Underneath the Forest is in development, with support from the RSC and the Centre for Creative and Immersive Extended Realities. Following the death of his brother, Antony Irvin, Powell has become a campaigner for humane drugs policy. Theatre includes Surfacing (VAULT Festival and UK Tour, Off West End Award Finalist), The Silence and the Noise (Papatango audio production UK tour, Pentabus/Rural Media digital production streamed and screened in London, Ludlow, and Milan, winner of Off West End Award for Best Online Production and Broadstairs International Film Festival Best Film), Little Echoes (Hope Theatre, Off West End Award nominated), and I Dare You (UK Tour, shortlisted for Soho Theatre Young Writers Award). Television includes EastEnders, Holby City and original work in development with Clerkenwell Films. Radio includes Love Beyond the Zoo (BBC Radio 4X). His work is published by Methuen and Nick Hern Books, and has been translated into Polish and Korean.

George Turvey co-founded Papatango in 2007 and became its sole Artistic Director in January 2013. He has won the Genesis Foundation Prize and was also named in The Stage 25. As a dramaturg, he has developed all of Papatango's productions, including Olivier, Susan Smith Blackburn and Critics' Circle award-winning world premieres. Direction for Papatango includes The Meat Kings! (Inc.) Of Brooklyn Heights ( Park Theatre ), The Watch House and The Silence and the Noise (UK tours), Some Demon (Arcola Theatre and Bristol Old Vic, nomination for the OffWestEnd Award for Best Director), Here (Southwark Playhouse, nominated for 3 OffWestEnd Awards), Shook (Southwark Playhouse/UK tour, nominated for 7 OffWestEnd Awards including Best Director and Best Production, also broadcast on Sky Arts ), Hanna (Arcola Theatre, UK tour), The Annihilation of Jessie Leadbeater (ALRA), After Independence, winner of the Alfred Fagon Audience Award (Arcola Theatre/BBC Radio 4), Leopoldville (Tristan Bates Theatre), and Angel (Pleasance London/Tristan Bates Theatre). He is the co-author of Being A Playwright: A Career Guide for Writers.

A new play by Laura Waldren

Cast: Lucy Mangan (Eliza)

Director: Elle While ; Designer (Set & Costume): Amy Jane Cook ; Lighting Designer: Jessie Addinall; Sound Designer: Helen Skiera ; Movement Director: Asha Jennings-Grant ; Access Consultant: Samuel Brewer ; Casting Director: Emma Sylvester; Production Manager: Dave Beever; Production Mentor: Charlotte Ranson

Middle Child 16-17 October 2026 Then on UK tour

Birdcatcher is a darkly comic drama about a teenage girl navigating life inside a doomsday cult. Set in East Yorkshire, the play shines a light on the murky, repressive underworld of religious “high control groups” in the UK - and asks how you find yourself in a world you think is about to end.

Pentabus is the Nation's Rural Theatre. This world premiere production is directed by BAFTA-winning Artistic Director Elle While (Mother Courage, Richard III, Shakespeare's Globe) and written by award-winning playwright Laura Waldren, whose first play Some Demon won the 2023 Papatango Prize.

The production will open at Middle Child before embarking on a rural autumn tour across Yorkshire and Shropshire and returning for a tour in Spring 2027 to Ludlow Assembly Rooms as well as other dates to be announced.

Lucy Mangan plays Eliza. Her theatre credits include The Manningtree Witches (Mercury Theatre, Colchester), Playfight (Soho Theatre, Edinburgh Festival), Macbeth (London/tour/USA), Harry Potter And The Cursed Child (Palace Theatre), Living Newspaper ( Royal Court Theatre ), Queen Margaret (Royal Exchange Theatre), Let The Right One In ( National Theatre of Scotland ), Danger Brigade (Crybabies Comedy), Trip (Stockwell Playhouse), Before I Was A Bear (CentrE17), Alice In The Cuckoo's Nest (Librarian Theatre), and Moonface (Guttersnipe Theatre), INK 2 minute plays (INK Theatre). Television credits include The Great, Doctors and The Magic Finger. Film credits include Disconnected. Radio credits include The Christchurch Murder and Vampirella.

Laura Waldren is a prize-winning writer from Hull. Her first play Some Demon won the 2023 Papatango Prize and premiered at the Arcola in June 2024 to critical acclaim, before transferring to a sell-out run at the Bristol Old Vic. Laura was the 2023 Writer-in-Residence for Pentabus Theatre. For television, she has an original series in development with Drama Republic and was part of BBC Voices (North and Midlands) 2025. She has written three short plays for Completed works for their London Fashion Week shows in 2025 and 2026, starring Jerry Hall , Jemima Kirke and Debi Mazar , all of which are available on YouTube.

Elle While is a BAFTA winning director, the Artistic Director of Pentabus Theatre and an Associate Artist of Shakespeare's Globe. Directing credits include Even More Ghost Stories by Candlelight, Driftwood, Make Good, One Of Them Ones & Idyll (Pentabus), The Silence and The Noise (OFFIE Winner) and Destiny (Pentabus/ Rural Media), Pinocchio (The Watermill Theatre ), As You Like It (BAFTA Winner and Int. kidscreen Nomination) and Twelfth Night (CBeebies), Private Peaceful ( Nottingham Playhouse , UK tour), Mother Courage and Her Children, Richard III, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merry Wives of Windsor, As You Like It and Hamlet (Shakespeare's Globe), Blue Stockings (Storyhouse Theatre), Glory Dazed (Holden St. Theatre Award winner and Critics' Choice Award winner - Soho Theatre, Adelaide Festival and Underbelly, Edinburgh), Country Music ( West Yorkshire Playhouse ), Frisky and Manish: Just Too Much (Udderbelly, London and Edinburgh), and recording director for The Old Vic's production of Cause Célèbre on Radio 4.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/Cast-Set-THE-SILENCE-AND-THE-NOISE-and-BIRDCATCHER-UK-Premieres-20260930)._