Cast confirmed for Lee Blessing’s Down the Road

The production will head to the stage of Playhouse East this spring…

The casting has been finalised for Down the Road the thriller from award-winning playwright Lee Blessing. The latest production is set to open at Playhouse East, a newly established independent theatre and creative arts hub in the heart of East London. The production will run from 4th to 29th March 2025.

Down the Road tells the story of a true-blue, journalist couple, hired to interview Bill Reach, a young, sadistic serial killer, for his tell-all book. With dreams of starting their own family and hopes of this being their big break, Iris and Dan are drawn closer into Reach’s chilling yet alluring orbit and unwittingly take their work home with them. When grisly tales captivate and shock value sells, how will Dan and Iris navigate the fine line between journalistic integrity and glorifying the actions of Bill Reach?

American Theatre of London’s modern revival of Down the Road, directed by Tracy Matthewson, sets the compelling morality play from the 90s firmly within a 21st century context, to see how far our enchantment with true crime goes. This gripping psychological thriller explores the complex intersection of true crime, ethics, and the allure of killers in our culture.

Joshua Collins plays Bill Reach.

Joshua trained at RADA and is a dual UK/US national. Theatre credits include 9 Circles (Park Theatre & Sheen Center – New York), The Great Divide (Finborough Theatre), The Events, Bully Boy (Mercury Theatre), Richard III (Almeida Theatre), Lady Anna (Royal Opera House). TV credits include Surface (Apple TV+), Das Boot (Sky Atlantic), The Last Kingdom (Netflix), Shakespeare and Hathaway (BBC), The Novels that Shaped our World (BBC), Against the Law (BBC), Doctors (BBC). Film credits include What’s Love Got To Do With it? (Working Title), Lancaster Skies (Amazon), Between the Lines (KODE – LA Shorts Awards for Best Actor).

Annelise Bianchini plays Iris Henniman.

Annelise is a dual US/Italian citizen who has worked in TV, film, commercials, and theatre in the US and Europe. Including Trudie in Apologia (English Theatre of Hamburg), Virginia Woolf in A Walk Through Literature (Kulturfoerderung), Snitches (Nominated for Best Feature at the Long Island Film Fest), Burn Pile (Best Picture winner at the James Franco Short Film Awards) and, most recently, the title character in Pictures of Dolores. She is a graduate of AADA NYC and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Aaron Vodovoz plays Dan Henniman.

Aaron has worked in film, TV, theatre, and games, including Killing Eve, Messiah, A Spy Among Friends, The King’s Man, and Tetris. Recently, he appeared as Jesus in an adaptation of Master and Margarita opposite Claes Bang, a Russian Jewish immigrant in Michael Winterbottom’s Shoshana, and Lancelot Gobbo in The Globe’s Merchant of Venice. Aaron speaks four languages – Dutch, Russian, Hebrew, and English – and is a graduate of LAMDA.

Winner of the Great American Play Award, the play premiered in 1989 at La Jolla Playhouse, California, and gained further acclaim in 1991 at the prestigious Actors Theatre of Louisville during the Festival of New American Plays. This production marks the play’s first UK revival since 2003. American Theatre of London has partnered with CrimeCon UK for this inaugural production.

Down the Road will run from 4th to 29th March at Playhouse East, a newly established independent theatre and creative arts hub in the heart of East London.

Tickets are available via: https://www.americantheatreoflondon.co.uk/whatson

PLAYHOUSE EAST 258 Kingsland Road, London E8 4DG
www.playhouseeast.com