Theatre sets stage for biggest ensemble cast in 250 years of treading the boards

York Theatre Royal is set to raise the curtain on the largest ensemble cast in its 250-year history.

The core company of 12 actors will appear in eight plays being staged at the theatre between May and November this year, with other actors being brought in to bolster the ensemble for individual plays.

The practice of using an ensemble, also known as repertory or rep, harks back to a golden age of theatre but is little in use today when theatres usually audition and cast actors on a play by play basis.

The York Theatre Royal Ensemble will stay with theatre for seven months, appearing in plays including My Family and Other Animals, Peter Pan and Alan Bennett’s 40 Years On.

Martin Barrass, the theatre’s pantomime veteran who will appear in his 25th show in December, said: “What’s really exciting is that audiences will be able to see us play lots of different characters throughout the summer. I’m playing Judge Hathorne in The Crucible and then Smee in Peter Pan. I think people will enjoy seeing us play such different roles and it’s great for us to get the opportunity to do that.

“I’ve been acting here for 25 years and this is the biggest thing the theatre has done in that time.”

Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre is one of the few other theatres in the country to run a rep system. York Theatre Royal’s artistic director Damian Cruden decided last year to introduce the system which will see a number of the core 18 performing in one play in the evening and rehearsing another through the day. It has taken until now to plan the logistics and find the right actors.

The season opens on May 7 with Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, featuring TV actors Stephen Billington and Helen Kay as husband and wife John and Elizabeth Proctor.

Mr Billington, best known for his role as villain Greg Kelly in Coronation Street, said: “When actors form an ensemble it’s a really special thing. You get to know and trust each other and it frees you up and allows you to be more experimental in your work.”

Ms Kay, whose husband Simeon Truby is also part of the ensemble, said: “It’s very special to be part of something like this.”