The cast has been announced for Mad Friday Productions’ exhilarating drama Children of the Nightthat is touring the UK this spring. Audiences are invited on a trip that will transport them back to the euphoria and chaos of Northern England in the 1990’s, as the company dance their way through Doncaster, Salford, Hull and Birmingham, before making their London debut at Southwark Playhouse Borough in March.
Shortlisted for both the 2023 Women’s Prize for Playwriting and the 2024 New Diorama Untapped Award, the cast will star writer and one half of Mad Friday Productions, Danielle Phillips (The Merry Wives of Windsor & The Comedy of Errors,Shakespeare’s Globe; The Upstart Crow, West End; Trying It On, RSC & Royal Court) as Lindsay. She will be joined by Gareth Radcliffe (War Horse, UK Tour; Oliver Twist,International Tour; King Lear, International Tour), in the role of Terry, alongside Charlotte Brown (The Lost Lionesses, UK Tour; Coronation Street, ITV) as Jen.
The on-stage cast will be joined vocally by Luke Broughton (The Big Opera Adventure, Opera North; Horrible Histories, Birmingham Stage Company/Sydney Opera House) reprising his role from the 2023 production as DJ Don, alongside a vocal ensemble of local community actors providing the wider voices of Doncaster.
Children of the Nightis a love letter to the working-class cultural pulse of the North, mixing kitchen-sink drama with spoken word dance floor euphoria. Living amidst the electric finale of 90s nightlife, post-Thatcher Britain and during the UK’s first heterosexual HIV cluster, it tells the story of Lindsay Jenkins a young Donny lass with an undeniable thirst for hedonism. Inspired by her single dad (an ex-miner and old school raver), she navigates sexual health, grief and the
perceived ‘lack of ambition’ in working-class towns, across three long summers on Doncaster’s relentless dancefloor.
The production will be led by co-founder and producer Lauren Yvonne Townsend (Standing at the Sky’s Edge,West End). She is joined by Kimberley Sykes (Piaf,Watermill Theatre; The Whip, Royal Shakespeare Company), as Director and Dramaturg and Hannah Sibai (Sing, Dance, Leap,Royal Opera Theatre; No Such Thing as Wolves,Birmingham Hippodrome) leading on set and costume design, the predominantly female team will showcase the most exciting creatives coming out of Northern England. Lighting design is from Jessie Addinall (Oliver Twist!,Hull Truck Theatre) alongside sound design and composition from Ben McQuigg (Next Generation Hamlet, RSC). Movement direction will be led by Jennifer Kay, with additional dramaturgy from Stephanie Dale and casting provided by Ellie Collyer-Bristow.
Developed using the testimonies of over 30 local Doncaster people, Children of the Nightis a tapestry of personal truth that proudly centres the resilience and spirit of ordinary people, the power of female friendships and the importance of the nightlife economy within local communities.
Children of the Nightis supported by Arts Council England, Right Up Our Street, Cast and Stage One.
This post was last modified on January 16, 2026 9:05 am