GWB Entertainment has announced Tony Award® winner and international screen star, Owen Teale will play the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in the triumphant return season of A Christmas Carol at Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre from 12 November 2023.
Teale previously starred in the role of Scrooge to great acclaim in The Old Vic’s 2022 London production.
“We are so delighted to welcome Owen Teale back to Australia to lead the 2023 Melbourne production of A Christmas Carol. Owen [Teale] is such an outstanding actor and we are so thrilled to provide Australian audiences with the opportunity to see him on stage alongside the incredible Australian company,” said Torben Brookman, executive producer of A Christmas Carol.
Best known for his recurring role of Alliser Thorne in HBO’s epic fantasy Game of Thrones, Teale currently appears in the BBC detective thriller Wolf, and has starred in comedy-drama series Stella and police drama Line of Duty. Other screen credits include The Rig, The Pembrokeshire Murders, Spooks, Doctor Who, Robin Hood, Tolkien, The Last Legion and King Arthur.
A Christmas Carol will mark Teale’s first time on an Australian stage since the 2004 tour of the West End production Dance of Death. His recent international stage credits include A Doll’s House (West End/Broadway) for which he won a Tony Award® for Best Featured Actor in a Play, No Man’s Land (West End) and King Lear (RSC).
“I’ve never been happier to be getting on a plane brimful with humbug knowing that Melbourne is to knock it out of me every night in this great piece of theatre,” said Teale.
“Jack Thorne, Matthew Warchus, Rob Howell and Chris Nightingale have adapted Charles Dickens’ legendary tale into something greater than the sum of its parts. It gets into people’s hearts and minds and changes them – it’s theatre at its best. Come and be part of it.”
Teale will star alongside Debra Lawrance (Fisk) as Ghost of Christmas Past, Bernard Curry (Wentworth) as Bob Cratchit, Grant Piro (Death of a Salesman) as Fezziwig, Sarah Morrison (Come From Away), Samantha Morley (Girl from the North Country), Anthony Harkin (Marley), Andrew Coshan (The Phantom of the Opera) as Fred and Stephanie Lambourn as Mrs Cratchit, Aisha Aidara (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) as Little Fan, Deirdre Khoo (The Rocky Horror Show) as Jess and Kaya Byrne (Come From Away) as Nicholas in the smash hit production of Charles Dickens’ immortal classic.
The company is completed by Cameron Bajraktarevic-Hayward, Ben Colley, Jack Van Staveren and Jasmine Vaughns.
“The goodwill it inspires should uplift even the most inveterate of Scrooges.” – The Age
A Christmas Carol will play at Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre from 12 November 2023. For more information, visit: www.christmascarolaustralia.com.au for details.
Image: Owen Teale to star as Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol (supplied)