Nottingham Playhouse announces the illustrious cast and creative team for the world premiere of William Ivory’s The Market Deeping Model Railway Club. Featuring a host of household names, many of the cast are making a welcome return to Nottingham Playhouse.
Actor and comedian Babatunde Aléshé (Celebrity Gogglebox, C4; I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, ITV) joins the cast as Jordan; Matt Bardock (Dear England, National Theatre; Measure for Measure, Donmar Warehouse) plays Chris; Geoffrey Beevers (A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story, Nottingham Playhouse; The Audience, West End/Broadway) returns to the Nottingham Playhouse stage as George; Paul Bradley (Nigel in EastEnders, BBC One; Beyond Paradise, BBC One) takes on the role of Jerry; James Bradshaw (The Way Old Friends Do, dir. Mark Gatiss, Park Theatre and UK Tour; Endeavour, ITV) is Neil; two time Olivier award winner Adrian Scarborough (The Clothes They Stood Up In and The Madness of George III, Nottingham Playhouse; film The King’s Speech) makes a welcome return to Nottingham Playhouse as Chairman Graham and Deka Walmsley (An Enemy of the People and Wonderland, Nottingham Playhouse; Ghosts, Lyric Hammersmith) also returns to the Nottingham Playhouse stage as Ken. Further casting to be announced.
Playwright William Ivory (The Great Escaper, Made in Dagenham, Common as Muck) is joined by Director Adam Penford (Punch, Nottingham Playhouse, Broadway and West End; Dear Evan Hansen, Nottingham Playhouse and UK Tour); Designer Soutra Gilmour of SG Scenography (the multiple Olivier-Award nominated Sunset Boulevard for the Jamie Lloyd Company; Woman in Mind, Duke of Yorks Theatre); Lighting Designer Howard Hudson (Starlight Express, Troubadour Theatre; & Juliet, Broadway, West End, UK, European and Australian Tours); Sound Designer & Composer Alexandra Faye Braithwaite (Punch, Nottingham Playhouse, Broadway & West End; Summerfolk, National Theatre); Voice Coach Kay Welch (The Real and Imagined History of the Elephant Man, Nottingham Playhouse; The Sound of Music, Chichester Festival Theatre) and Casting Director Ginny Schiller DCG.
Adam Penford, Artistic Director at Nottingham Playhouse, said:
“We’re thrilled to have assembled a fantastic cast and powerhouse creative team for the world premiere of Billy’s new play. It’s such a warm-hearted, funny but poignant script, with a whimsical British eccentricity running through it, we can’t wait to start rehearsals.”
The Market Deeping Model Railway Club’s chances of victory at the Annual Show have been ripped apart by vandals, and the group must rally to piece their miniature world back together.
When their story goes global, help floods in from unexpected sources – including fellow enthusiast Sir Rod Stewart. But what lies ahead for the club? Chairman Graham, his astute wife Linda and the eclectic bunch of enthusiasts must face the question: what exactly is it about their everyday lives, that makes recreating the England of the past in miniature so appealing?
Based on a true story, Nottingham playwright William Ivory brings warmth and wit to this comedy of high stakes drama in a small-town setting – celebrating community, friendship, and British eccentricity.
The Market Deeping Model Railway Club is sponsored by LNER.
Tickets are now on sale: nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk
The play has been written in consultation with members of the Market Deeping Model Railway Club, and whilst this play is inspired by real events, characters, names and events have been fictionalised for the purposes of the play.
Commissioning William Ivory to write The Market Deeping Model Railway Club is part of Nottingham Playhouse’s on-going commitment to support local writers and creatives. In May, the world premiere of Jane Upton’s Scenes from a Friendship opens, and Beth Steel’s West End hit, Till the Stars Come Down, makes its regional premiere in the autumn at Nottingham Playhouse.
Posted on 13 May 2026
