Cast announed for Scarborough's Stephen Joseph Theatre's anniversary show - includes Tamzin Outhwaite and Laura Doddington

They are: Valerie Antwi, Andy Cryer, Christopher Godwin, Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong, Annie Kirkman, Jacky Naylor, Tamzin Outhwaite and Charlie Ryan. They’ve all appeared in shows at the theatre over the years.

Christopher Godwin first joined the Stephen Joseph in 1971 to play Leonard in Time and Time Again and has returned many times, becoming one of the very few actors to have performed at all three of the theatre’s homes.

Andy Cryer was born and brought up in Scarborough and started his professional career here as a 14-year-old in 1983, playing the title role in The Winslow Boy. He has performed at the venue many times, most recently in Alan Ayckbourn’s Constant Companions two years ago.

Tamzin Outhwaite was in the chorus of They’re Playing Our Song at the theatrein 1996, returning in 1997 for a revival of Ayckbourn’s Absent Friends. Since then, she’s become one of the most familiar faces on British TV including leading roles in EastEnders and New Tricks.

Jacky Naylor first appeared here in John Godber’s Lost and Found in 2012; last year, she played Edna Whelan in The Whitby Rebels.

Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong helped the theatre to re-open after Covid – he was in Alan Ayckbourn’s 2021 show The Girl Next Door, the Stephen Joseph’s first full production post-pandemic.

Valerie Antwi was the ‘material girl’ in the first of theatre’s off-the-wall adaptations of Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors (more or less), co-produced with Shakespeare North Playhouse in 2023.

Annie Kirkman joined the company two years ago for Beauty and the Beast and has since been seen in Dracula: The Bloody Truth, Love’s Labour’s Lost (more or less) and John Godber’s Perfect Pitch.

Charlie Ryan was also in the UK Theatre Award-winning Christmas show Beauty and the Beast.

Host EastEnders star Laura Doddington performed regularly at the theatre between 2004 and 2012.

They will perform script-in-hand extracts from some of theatre’s favourite plays from its seven decades. They’ll be directed by the Stephen Joseph Theatre’s associate director Chantell Walker.

On 14 July 1955, young theatrical pioneer Stephen Joseph opened a revolutionary new theatre on the first floor of Scarborough Library.

The Library Theatre was the first in-the-round theatre in the UK in modern times – it’s since been replicated worldwide. Theatregoers in Scarborough and beyond embraced the new format, and the ‘temporary’ Library Theatre hosted performances until 1976, when it moved to another – also ‘temporary’ – home in a former school at the town’s Westwood.

That ran until 1996, when the theatre found its final home in Scarborough’s former Odeon Cinema. The Stephen Joseph Theatre is now a cultural beacon on the Yorkshire coast, attracting audiences from across the globe.

The Stephen Joseph Theatre is a Registered Charity (253606). All money raised at this event will go towards its New Work Fund.The 70th Birthday Party will take place at the theatre from 2.30pm on Sunday July 13.

A limited number of tickets are still available – standard tickets are from £20, with VIP tickets, which include a gala event in the bar after the show with buffet, a glass of prosecco and souvenir programme, at £70. Tickets are available from the box office on 01723 370541 and online at www.sjt.uk.com