Set in a fictional London polling station, The Vote dramatises the final ninety minutes before the polls close in this year’s General Election. on that exact day May 7, and at that precise time (8:30 to 10 PM) that the play will be broadcast on TV.
Joining the previously announced cast are Eddie Arnold, MyAnna Buring, Stavros Demetraki, Tommy French, Joanna Griffin, Gerard Horan, Chukwudi Iwuji, Stephen Kennedy, Beverley Longhurst, Andrew McDonald, Bhasker Patel, Penny Ryder and Michael Shaeffer.
The full cast now comprises Fisayo Akinade, Madalena Alberto, Jade Anouka, Eddie Arnold, Rita Balogun, Myanna Buring, Nicholas Burns, Paul Chahidi, Jackie Clune, Pandora Colin, Rosalie Craig, Heather Cranley, Stavros Demetraki, Judi Dench, Rachel Denning, Tommy French, Hadley Fraser, Mark Gatiss, Llewella Gideon, Joanna Griffin,Alice Hewkin, Gerard Horan, Chukwudi Iwuji, Stephen Kennedy, Kadiff Kirwan, Aicha Kossoko, Beverley Longhurst, Andrew McDonald, Wanda Opalinska, Bhasker Patel, Bill Paterson, Prasanna Puwanarajah, Penny Ryder, Michael Shaeffer, Nina Sosanya, Catherine Tate, Yusra Warsama,Timothy West and Finty Williams. Between them, they represent the team of polling station volunteers, polling officers, and the diverse array of characters that are the voting public.
The production is designed by Robert Jones, with lighting by Oliver Fenwick, sound by Nick Lidster for Autograph, movement by Stephen Mear and music composed by Michael Bruce.
According to press materials, The Vote looks at what happens in Britain on election night through the eyes of those at the polling station. Every five years we assert our right as citizens to uphold or replace our government – but, characteristically, we do it in the most unremarkable and understated of ways – at local parish churches, primary schools and community centres across the country. Set in a fictional polling station, James Graham’s new play shines an affectionate light on the diverse, diligent and often hilarious individuals who turn these unglamorous settings into places where history is made. Alongside The Vote, the Donmar has also announced My Mark, a new documentary theatre project tracking a generation of the British electorate from childhood to their first vote. The first-time voters of 2025 are currently in primary school. Working with the Donmar's associate director Robert Hastie (My Night With Reg), writer Michelle Terry and documentary film makers, Tea Films, the Donmar has been to over 15 primary schools in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and recorded the voices and opinions of over a hundred children who will shape the course of our political future.
Based on conversations with these young people across the UK, an entirely new and unique piece of theatre will be created throughout the next decade, tracking the views of one generation over the course of at least three general elections.
On April 28, a rehearsed reading will mark the culmination of the first phase of this project on the stage of the Donmar Warehouse.
In a press statement, Kate Pakenham, Executive Producer at the Donmar Warehouse, commented, "As The Vote examines our democracy in 2015, we also want to look to the future and ask the voters of tomorrow to have their say. Our Education work on programmes like The Tomorrow Project shows us every week quite how informed, imaginative, and creative young people can be, and we want to reflect their ideas on our stage. We are thrilled to have embarked on the first stage of this hugely exciting project, which will span the next ten years and which is truly national in its scope and ambition. This feels like the start of an extraordinary journey, and it is wonderful to be working with our Associate Director Robert Hastie and Michelle Terry, who returns to the Donmar in her capacity as a writer after her brilliant performance in Privacy last year."
Tickets for The Vote were allocated via ballot, which is now closed. 20 standing tickets will be available on the day of performance in person from the Donmar Box Office. On May 7, the play will be broadcast live on More4. Tickets for My Mark are available from the Donmar Warehouse box office on 0844 871 7624, or via www.donmarwarehouse.com
