Press Contact: Natalie Thomas
June 2026
A Theatre Royal Plymouth production
In association with Bristol Old Vic
A new play by Malaika Kegode
Originally commissioned by Theatre Royal Plymouth
To premiere at the Traverse Festival 2026
Theatre Royal Plymouth (TRP) has today announced the full cast and creative team, for its new production Badgers, which will premiere at the Traverse Festival during this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Writer Malaika Kegode, alongside previously announced cast members Beth Roberts and Joe Williams, is joined by Stephanie Jacob (playing Bridget Brock), Mary Woodvine (Dora), Hanora Kamen (Meles), and Joseph Tweedale (Jack).
The creative team comprises director Jenny Davies; composer Jakabol; set and costume designer Rebecca Wood; sound designer Jack Drewry; co-lighting designers Mike Gunning and Natalia Chan; video designer Christopher Harrisson; and music supervisor Harry Miller.
Badgers, a Theatre Royal Plymouth production in association with Bristol Old Vic, is a hybrid theatre piece exploring the art of letting go and the ethics of true crime, weaving together myth, memory and music. It will preview at Bristol Old Vic from 30 July – 01 August, before playing at the Traverse Theatre from 06 – 30 August as part of the Traverse Festival. The show will then transfer to The Drum at TRP for a limited engagement in the autumn and return to Bristol Old Vic in September.
Tickets for preview performances at Bristol Old Vic are available from www.bristololdvic.org.uk. For Traverse Festival performances, visit www.traverse.co.uk. Tickets for Theatre Royal Plymouth are on sale now https://theatreroyal.com/whats-on/badgers/.
Biographies:
Stephanie Jacob – Bridget Brock
Theatre includes: For the National Theatre: Nye, Small Island, Absolute Hell, Saint George and the Dragon, Burnt by the Sun, Her Naked Skin, Major Barbara, Philistines, The Rose Tattoo and Stanley.
In London’s West End: As You Desire Me, Cyrano de Bergerac and Sweeney Todd.
Other theatre includes: As You Like It and Women Beware Women at Shakespeare’s Globe; Woman In Mind and Nicholas Nickleby at Chichester; The Winter’s Tale, The Beggar’s Opera and The Changeling for the RSC; The Strongbox at The Vaults; A Streetcar Named Desire at the Young Vic and St Ann’s Warehouse, New York; Flare Path for Original Theatre Company; Dangerous Corner at Salisbury Playhouse; The Quick at Tristan Bates; Be My Baby at Soho Theatre; The Importance of Being Earnest at the Watermill; Romeo and Juliet for the English Shakespeare Company; Candida at Theatre Royal Plymouth.
TV includes: Kennedy, Black Cake, Maternal, Call the Midwife, Doctors, Genius: Einstein, Mr Selfridge, The Ones Below, Vincent Van Gogh: Painted with Words, The Crimson Petal and the White, Foyle’s War, Midsomer Murders, Daniel Deronda, EastEnders, Home Farm Twins and Casualty.
Film includes: In the Heart of the Sea, Sightseers, The Iron Lady and The Life and Death of Peter Sellers.
Writing includes plays Again at Trafalgar Studios, The Strongbox at Vault Festival, A Night Visitor on BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Drama (Writers’ Guild Award), Shifts on BBC Radio 3 and a collection of poetry, Three-Eyed Wolf, telling the story of Boudica.
Mary Woodvine – Dora
Mary is probably best known for her collaborations with film director Mark Jenkins, having starred in his BAFTA award-winning debut ‘Bait’, his second feature ‘Enys Men’ (Cannes Directors Fortnight’), as well as alongside George MacKay and Callum Turner in ‘Rose of Nevada’ that premiered at Venice this year. Other credits include the Independent Feature ‘DADDY’S HEAD’ (Dir Benjamin Barfoot), ‘Poldark‘ (BBC) and the Jed Mercurio ITV series ‘BREATHTAKING’.
Hanora Kamen – Meles
Theatre credits include:
Henry V (RSC), Macbeth (Shakespeare’s Globe), A Gig For Ghosts (Soho), Tess (Ockham’s Razor), Education, Education, Education (Trafalgar Studios), Macbeth (English Touring Theatre), The Ballad Of Maria Marten (Wilton’s Music Hall), Brief Encounter (New Wolsey/ Salisbury Playhouse); The Importance Of Being Earnest, The Gangs Of New York (Storyhouse), 1972 The Future Of Sex, C-Word Club House, Riot (Bristol Old Vic), Four Seasons, (Little Bulb/Bristol Old Vic), Chloe And The Colour Catcher (Theatre Ad Infinitum/Bristol Old Vic), The Money (Kaleider/International And Uk Tour), Nel (Battersea Arts Centre), Mog The Forgetful Cat (Royal & Derngate/ The Old Vic), Winners, Edgar And The Land Of The Lost (The Wardrobe Ensemble), Five Children & It (The Egg, Theatre Royal Bath), Eloise And The Curse Of The Golden Whisk, Great Train Robbery (Greenwich Theatre), Pippi Longstocking (Royal & Derngate) Rebellion Playground (Exeter Phoenix), The Snowbeast, A Fools Proof (UK Tour), Blok/Eko (Exeter Northcott)
TV credits include:
Hijack (Apple Tv+), The Undeclared War (Channel 4), Breadline (BBC Four), Mimis World (Channel 5)
Film credits include:
The Crossing (Broadside); Borderline (Future Proof Films/Jeff Rice Films)
Radio credits include:
The Flock (A Ton Of Feathers)
Joseph Tweedale – Jack
Joseph is a Welsh actor from Cardiff and studied at Bath Spa University.
Theatre includes: Alice: Return To Wonderland, The Borrowers, Alice In Wonderland, The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe (Sherman Theatre), The Meaning Of Zong (Bristol Old Vic), Oz, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Our Country’s Good, A View From The Bridge, And Macbeth (Tobacco Factory), Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (Tobacco Factory And Wiltshire Creative), Operation Julie (Theatr Na Nóg), To The Bone, Brief Encounter, And Gypsy (Pitlochry Festival Theatre), The Ruff Tuff Cream Puff Estate Agency (Cardboard Citizens), Wendy – A Peter Pan Story, Five Children & It And Rapunzel (The Egg, Theatre Royal Bath), Babe The Sheep Pig (Mercury Theatre), A Christmas Carol (Hull Truck Theatre), The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice (Theatr Clwyd), Northanger Abbey (Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds), Barnbow Canaries (West Yorkshire Playhouse)
Film and Television includes: Dirt Ash Meat (Ffilm Cymru) And Casualty (BBC).
Radio includes: Artan And Jordan, Man Friday, Sappho In Fragments, English Rose, The Attendant And Wild Swimming (BBC Radio 4).
Creatives:
Director: Jenny Davies
Jenny Davies is a Bristol-based director, theatre-maker, audio producer and workshop facilitator originally from Abergavenny. She brings a holistic, people-centred approach to her practice, rooted in a belief that rehearsal rooms should be places of growth, trust, and playful curiosity.
Jenny trained at the University of Bristol and with Bristol Old Vic, where she was awarded the prestigious Leverhulme Arts Scholarship in 2019. She was Resident Assistant Director at Tobacco Factory Theatres 2018/19, and is an associate of artist-led collective Interval. She is a finalist for the JMK Award (2026) and a recipient of a Theatr Clwyd Tearing the Roof Off residency, where she was mentored by Marianne Elliott.
As a director, her work includes Outlier and Waldo’s Circus of Magic and Terror for Bristol Old Vic; Wendy: A Peter Pan Story for Theatre Royal Bath; and staff director on Nye for the National Theatre (also Wales Millennium Centre). Further credits include associate director on The Odyssey Episodes 3 & 5 for Public Acts, and associate director on Death Drop at the Criterion.
Jenny’s audio work has garnered significant recognition: she is the winner of a 2025 Charles Parker Audio Prize for her short documentary The T-Shirt (In the Dark Radio). Other audio work includes Artan & Jordan by Florence Espeut-Nickless for BBC Radio 4, and A Duet in Half-Light, part of Between the Ears: Miniatures (Midsummer Dreaming) for BBC Radio 3, produced by Falling Tree Productions.
She is a passionate advocate for the transformative power of artistic practice, and continues to work as a workshop leader and collaborator with artists across the UK.
Set & Costume Designer: Rebecca Wood
Cornish-born and Bristol-based set and costume designer Rebecca Jane Wood previously collaborated on Malaika Kegode’s acclaimed gig-theatre production Outlier and is currently designing Bristol Old Vic’s upcoming adaptation of Max Porter’s novel Lanny. Her practice combines genre defying collaboration, family work and is passionate about inclusive practices with bold narratives. She is a founding member of the award-winning theatre company Bucket Club, designing all of the company’s productions to date including Arthur (currently running at Polka), Five Children and It (The Egg, Theatre Royal Bath) and Fossils (New Diorama/Brits Off Broadway and tour). Her additional credits include Fel Anifail (Sherman Theatre), Further Than the Furthest Thing (Minack Theatre), Tachwedd and Out of Sorts (Theatre503).
Sound Designer: Jack Drewry
Jack is a sound designer, composer and theatre maker based in Bristol. He is artistic director of Tremolo Theatre, musical director of Closer Each Day: The Improvised Soap Opera and associate artist of The Wardrobe Ensemble and The Wardrobe Theatre.
Sound design credits include: The Tempest (Firebird Theatre), The Unicorn (Nina Productions), Muppits Die Hard (Wardrobe Theatre), The Place At The Bridge, Beautiful Thing (Tobacco Factory), WINNERS (The Wardrobe Ensemble), Undersong (Verity Standen), Robinson: The Other Island (Give It A Name).
Composing credits include: Falkland Sound, First Encounters: The Tempest (Royal Shakespeare Company), If You Fall (Theatre Ad Infinitum), Oz, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Little Mermaid (Pins and Needles), Drac and Jill, Notting Hell (Wardrobe Theatre), As You Like It, Caucasian Chalk Circle (Bristol Old Vic Theatre School), Vet Detective, The Darts (Bad vs Evil), The Star Seekers, The Time Seekers,The Deep Sea Seekers, The Seekers Podcast (The Wardrobe Ensemble).
Co – Lighting Designer: Mike Gunning
Lighting Designer Mike Gunning’s extensive career includes opera and theatre work with Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Met Opera NYC, Broadway and across Europe.
Theatre includes: Chat Noir! (The Lost Estate), Kneehigh’s Ubu! (Kneehigh); The Brothers Size, The Emperor, Kafka’s Monkey (Young Vic/International tour); Measure for Measure (RSC); Uncle Vanya, Inkheart, The Fun Fair, Romeo and Juliet (HOME Manchester); Medea (Broadway); I Capture the Castle (Watford Palace Theatre); Crime and Punishment (Moscow Musical Theatre); Rime of the Ancient Mariner (BAM); The Drowned Man (Punchdrunk/NT); Alice Underground (Vaults/Shanghai); The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Liverpool).
Opera includes: Curlew River (Britten Pears) The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, The Pirates of Penzance, St John’s Passion, Ernani, Il Trovatore (ENO); Il Trovatore (ROH);
Macbeth, Albert Herring, Lucio Silla(Buxton Festival); La Traviata (Vienna); Dido and Aeneas (Vienna/Paris/Amsterdam); Manon Lescaut, Fedora, Madame Butterfly (Holland Park Opera).
Dance includes: A Thing of Beauty, 10 Soldiers, Double Points:K/Motel, 5 Soldiers (Rosie kay Dance Company); The Five and Boy Blue (Barbican) Caracalla Dance Company (Baalbek Festival)
Co – Lighting Designer: Natalia Chan
Natalia is a Bristol-based lighting designer from Hong Kong, with credits across theatre, musicals, and events. She is Deputy Head of Lighting and Lighting Programmer at the Bristol Old Vic, and a Theatre & English graduate from the University of Bristol. Recent lighting design credits include: Macbeth (Tobacco Factory); How Do You Sleep At Night? (Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic); Moulin Scrooge (The Wardrobe Theatre); Prayers for a Hungry Ghost (The Pit, Barbican); Stampin’ in the Graveyard (The Cockpit / Tour); Wild Thing! (Summerhall / Tour); Jekyll & Hyde (Barn Theatre); Taste (Fyfe Hall, Trinity); Scraps (The Wardrobe Theatre); Gurt Haunted (Weston Studio / Tour); Company (Barn Theatre); and Four Seasons (Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic). She regularly designs for Bristol Old Vic’s Made in Bristol and Young Company productions, including This is Not A Garden (Paper Cow Ensemble); Home Ground (Young Company); Dead on Our Feet (Dimba Damba); and Tenants (ThisThat). Upcoming projects include: The Secret Garden (the egg, Theatre Royal Bath); The Tempest (Weston Studio, BOV); and Pieces of My Life (Spielman Theatre, Tobacco Factory / Tour).
Video Designer: Christopher Harrisson
Christopher is an award-winning, multi-disciplinary artist based in Bristol. He works mainly in animation and projection mapping, but his practice also spans writing, XR and performance. Using a mixture of digital and analogue media, his personal projects frequently touch on themes of myth, memory and nature.
He was the winner of the 2024 Dublin Winter Lights mapping contest and a Silver Award winner at the 2025 Chongqing Light Festival. He has shown work at light festivals in the UK, including Blackpool and Lancaster, and internationally, in China, Japan, Bulgaria and Brazil.
Credits for video design in theatre include: Outlier (Theatre Royal Plymouth and Bristol Old Vic), Romeo and Juliet (Graeae and Shakespeare North Playhouse), Last Rites (Theatre Ad Infinitum), Wendy: A Peter Pan Story (The Egg, Theatre Royal Bath), Wild Thing! (Mechanimal), Minny Stynker (Soap Soup Theatre), Indestructible (Proteus Theatre), Vinland (Jack Dean & Company).
Composer: Jakabol – Joe Williams, Luke Saxton & Owen Gatley
The Guardian has described folk-prog chameleons Jakabol as “bucolic one moment, psychotic the next.” The Bristol-based experimental outfit carve their own path through a kaleidoscopic, genre bending, musical world. They are as at home in the landscape of pastoral folk as they are in the maelstrom of heavily distorted metal and psych rock freak outs.
Music Supervisor: Harry Miller
Harry is a multi instrumentalist, actor and composer based in Bristol who has previously worked as an actor/musician in How To Win Against History (FMP/Bristol Old Vic), Makebeth (Cardboard Adventures/Shakespere’s Globe), David Copperfield: A Life (Bath Theatre Royal/Engage), The Little Mermaid (Bristol Old Vic), The Colour of Dinosaurs (Bristol Old Vic, OTIC), Peter Pan (National Theatre/Troubadour) The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (Bridge Theatre), A Jaffa Cake Musical (Gigglemug).
Composition and MD work include Picture This (Beyond Face Youth Theatre), The Sycamore Gap (TRB Theatre School), Selecting a Ghost (Birdgang/Two Lines), Stolen Winter Light and Be (Greedy Pig Theatre Co.)