Photo Flash: Harry Melling and More in I AM A CAMERA at Southwark Playhouse

Harry Melling, best known for playing Dudley Dursley in five of the Harry Potter films, is to play Christopher Isherwood in I am a Camera, which will run in a three-week season at The Vault at Southwark Playhouse, in London from Wednesday September 5 - Saturday September 22. Press night is Thursday 6 September at 7.30pm. Get a first look at Melling and the rest of the cast onstage in the photos below!

Melling was last seen on stage in When Did You Last See My Mother? at Trafalgar Studios, The School for Scandal at the Barbican and Mother Courage and Women Beware Women, both at The National Theatre.

The rest of the cast are confirmed as Rebecca Humphries (Sally Bowles), Freddie Capper (Fritz Wendel), Rosemary?Smith (Fraulein Schneider), Sherry Baines?(Mrs Watson-Courtneidge), Oliver Rix (Clive?Mortimer).

Humphries (Sally Bowles) was last seen as Molly in The Kitchen at The National Theatre and in 24 Hour Plays at the Old Vic. On TV she was Beth in Big Bad World, Kate in Cardinal Burns and Holly in Come Fly With Me. Rix (Clive Mortimer) made his professional debut in 2011 playing the title role in Cardenio, directed by Gregory Doran at the RSC. He was also in Marat/Sade and The?City?Madam in the same RSC?season. Capper (Fritz) was Herbert Pocket in Great Expectations (Baroque Theatre Company) Dr. Benjamin in Waiting for Lefty (Theatre Royal Haymarket). On TV he was Archie in Behind Bars.

Based on Isherwood's memoirs Goodbye to Berlin, and the inspiration for the musical Cabaret, I am a Camera, by John Van Druten, directed by Anthony Lau, is part glamorous whirlwind of Berlin Bohemia, part harrowing depiction of the Nazi's rise to power.

I am a Camera’s title is a quote taken from Isherwood’s first page—"I am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking." The play’s Broadway premiere in 1951 was a triumph for Julie Harris as the insouciant Sally Bowles, winning her the first of her four Tony Awards for Best Leading Actress in a play. A subsequent 1955 film adaptation was also called I Am a Camera. With a screenplay by John Collier and music by Malcolm Arnold, it starred Julie Harris, Laurence Harvey and Shelley Winters. The play and film in turn went on to inspire the musical Cabaret in 1966 by John Kander and Fred Eband the 1972 film Cabaret with Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey and Michael York.

The creative team features director Anthony Lau, set designer James Turner, costume designer Sarah Booth, composer and musical director Angus MacRae and producers Paulden Hall Productions and Folie A deux.

For tickets, scheduling and futher information, visit www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk.

Photo Credit: Nicolai Kornum