We're thrilled to announce the cast for Franz Xaver Kroetz’s dark unnervingly funny family drama Tom Fool will be Anna Francolini, Jonah Rzeskiewicz and Michael Shaeffer.
Don't miss out on limited tickets from £15 with previews from 12 March.
Every night Martha listens to the minute details of husband Otto’s day at the factory. He’s a man with big dreams, stuck in a job where he feels like a cog in the machine. Their teenage son Ludwig just wishes he had a job, or at least his own space, far far away from his parents.
They are each frustrated with a life they can’t seem to escape.
When money goes missing, a family on the brink hurtles over the edge, and Martha has to decide whether she will stay to pick up the pieces.
Anna Francolini plays Martha. She has previously performed at the OT in Taking Steps. Her other credits include Strictly Ballroom (Piccadilly Theatre), Peter Pan, wonder.land, Caroline, or Change, Almost Like Being in Love and Metropolis Cabaret (National Theatre), Our Town (Almeida Theatre), That Day We Sang, A View from the Bridge (Royal Exchange Theatre), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Theatre Royal Northampton), Into the Woods (Royal Opera House), Merrily We Roll Along (Donmar Warehouse), Company (Gielgud Theatre), and Little Shop of Horrors (Watermill Theatre). Her television credits include The Ipcress File, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Roadkill, Homeland, Vera, Portrait, Game Over, Lie With Me, Down to Earth and Jonathan Creek; and on film, Emma, The Kill Team, Han Solo: Star Wars Anthology, and Topsy-Turvy.
Jonah Rzeskiewicz plays Ludwig. He has appeared on stage in Coming Clean (Trafalgar Studios) and Edward II (Royal Exchange, Manchester), and on TV recently in the Apple series Masters of the Air. Films include The Dig and Death on the Nile.
Michael Shaeffer plays Otto. His theatre credits include A Very Expensive Poison, Girl from the North Country, All About My Mother (The Old Vic), How to Hold Your Breath, Burn, Friday Night Sex (Royal Court Theatre), The Illiad, Little Revolution, Mr Burns (Almeida Theatre), The Vote (Donmar Warehouse), Godchild (Hampstead Theatre), Table, London Road, The Threepenny Opera (National Theatre), Hamlet (Theatre Royal Northampton), The Beautiful Game, Jesus Christ Superstar, Oliver! (West End). His television credits include Karen Pirie, Rogue Heroes, The Treasure of the Black Swan, The Liberator, The Salisbury Poisonings, Chernobyl, The ABC Murders, Bodyguard, Rellik, Trauma, Oasis, Taboo, Vera, Grantchester, SS-GB, The Last Panthers, Luther, Black Mirror, Mrs Biggs, Game of Thrones, Parade’s End, and Silent Witness; and on film in All the Old Knives, Radioactive, Star Wars: Rogue One, London Road, London Fields, Trance, Anna Karenina, Broken, Breaking and Entering, and Kingdom of Heaven.
Franz Xaver Kroetz, Germany’s most frequently performed playwright, is the author of over 60 plays including The Nest, Through the Leaves and Request Programme.
Directed by Diyan Zora, the 2021 winner of the Genesis Future Directors Award and directed Klippies (Young Vic). Other theatre credits include Othello (Barons Court Theatre), Ms Y. (Young Vic), Chronicles of a City We Never Knew (Gate Theatre) and Gather Ye Rosebud (Theatre503); and as an associate director, her work includes Faith, Hope and Charity and Love (National Theatre) and The Ferryman (Gielgud Theatre).
Completing the creative team is Zoe Hurwitz (Designer), Christopher Nairne (Lighting Designer), Joe Dines (Sound Designer), Chris Evans (Movement Director), and Christopher Worrall (Casting Director).
With performances in person from 12 March to 16 April, there will also be a one-off livestreamed performance via OT On Screen on 7 April.
