An Oak Tree Programme
Brighton Corn Exchange, Thursday, 30 October 2025
Written by Tim Crouch
Co-directed by Tim Crouch, Karl James and Andy Smith
Original music by Peter Gill
Piano played by Simon Crane
Technical direction by Jonny Reed
Casting for Brighton by Amy Ball Casting
A note from Tim
On the last night of this Brighton run, that experiment will have been performed 415 times with 415 different actors. There’s no definitive version. Each performance is a fraction of its whole; the last night in Brighton will be 1/415th of the idea of the show. It resists completion. No results. There’s just this one. Which will be different to that one. And so on.
The experiment is nothing without you. Thanks for coming.
Tim Crouch, October 2025
Tonight’s second actor is
RUTH WILSON
Two-time Olivier Award winner, Golden Globe winner, and Tony and BAFTA-nominated actress Ruth Wilson has paved her way in theatre, television, and film. Best known for her portrayals of Mrs Coulter in His Dark Materials, Alison Bailey in The Affair, Alice Morgan in Luther, and for her Olivier Award-winning work on the London stage, Wilson has quickly become one of Britain’s most lauded actresses.
Wilson’s television performances include Mrs Coulter in the BBC/HBO adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials; Showtime’s Golden Globe-winning original series The Affair, for which she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama Series in 2015; and the BBC miniseries Jane Eyre, for which she received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress along with a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film. Wilson also appeared in the acclaimed UK psychological police drama Luther as the sociopath Alice Morgan.
In 2023, Wilson starred as Lorna Brady in the BBC One mystery drama The Woman in the Wall for the BBC. In 2024, she portrayed Emily Maitlis in the Amazon drama miniseries A Very Royal Scandal, a dramatisation of the infamous Prince Andrew interview. Wilson also leads the 2025 Apple TV+ thriller, Down Cemetery Road as Sarah Tucker, a gripping eight-part adaptation of Mick Herron’s novel.
Wilson also starred in The Second Woman, a 24-hour live performance piece at the Young Vic Theatre—an innovative exploration of gender, performance, and endurance.
Film performances have seen Wilson team up with a diverse list of directors, including Oscar-nominated Lenny Abrahamson in The Little Stranger; BAFTA-nominated director Clio Barnard in Dark River, for which Wilson received a BIFA Best Actress nomination; and collaborations with Joe Wright, Gore Verbinski, Steven Knight, John Cameron Mitchell, and John Lee Hancock.
Wilson remains a mainstay on the London and Broadway stages. The Broadway production of King Lear saw Wilson play both Cordelia and The Fool opposite Glenda Jackson—earning her a second Tony Award nomination. Her first was received in 2015 for her Broadway debut in Constellations, playing opposite Jake Gyllenhaal. In London, she has worked at prestigious theatres such as The National, the Donmar Warehouse, and the Almeida Theatre. Her performance as Hedda Gabler, directed by Ivo van Hove in 2016, earned her a third Olivier Award nomination. This year, Wilson returned to the Almeida Theatre to star in A Moon for the Misbegotten opposite Michael Shannon, in a highly anticipated revival of Eugene O’Neill’s classic directed by Rebecca Frecknall. Wilson’s previous Olivier wins were for her work at the Donmar Warehouse with director Rob Ashford: Best Actress for Anna Christie opposite Jude Law and Best Supporting Actress for A Streetcar Named Desire opposite Rachel Weisz. In 2013, Wilson made her directorial debut with The El. Train, a series of Eugene O’Neill one-act plays at Hoxton Hall, which received five-star reviews for both the production and her performance.
In 2018, Wilson moved into production, serving as Executive Producer on the BBC/PBS Masterpiece mini-series Mrs Wilson alongside Snowed-In Productions. Based on her own family history, Mrs Wilson received four BAFTA nominations including Best Mini-Series and Best Actress for Wilson’s portrayal of her grandmother. And in 2020, produced True Things, written and directed by Harry Wootliff, premiered to critical acclaim and earned Wilson a BIFA nomination for Best Actress.
The Second Actors so far in this production of An Oak Tree
Rehearsal 2005: Ian Golding, Cath Dyson, Hannah Ringham.
German previews 2005: Alex Miller, Tom Hartmann.
UK previews 2005: Deborah Asante, Emma Kilbey, Dan Ford, Alister O’Loughlin, Jo Dagless, Anna Howitt, Matthew Scott, Natalie Childs.
Edinburgh Festival Premiere 2005: Rebecca Thorn, Claire Knight, Sandy Grierson, Ant Hampton, Tom Brooke, Annie Ryan, Sarah Belcher, Al Nedjari, Paul Blair, Hilary O’Shaughnessy, Brian Ferguson, Stevie Ritchie, Matthew Zadjac, Gabriela Murray, Ciaran Bermingham, Mark Ravenhill, Waneta Storms, Andrew Clark, Tom Espiner, Jon Spooner, Ross Manson, Jason Thorpe.
Ireland 2005: Barry McGovern, Deirdre Roycroft, Dennis Conway, Martin Murphy.
UK Touring 2006: Amelda Brown, Johnny O’Hanlon, Richard Talbot, Nick Walker, Nic Jeune, Pooja Kumar, Richard Croxford, Maria Connolly, Miche Doherty, Kathy Keira Clark, Tristan Sturrock, Mary Woodvine, Emma Rice, Kevin Johnson, Chris Bianchi, Toby Jones, Helen Kane, Hayley Carmichael, Toby Park, James Wilby, Christine Molloy, Christopher Eccleston, Gin Hammond, Roger Lloyd Pack.
Lithuania 2006: Sakalas Uzdavinys.
Latvia 2006: Ivars Puga.
Israel 2006: Marcello Magni, Kathryn Hunter.
Russia 2006: Roman Indyk, Alexander Vartanov, Maria Popova.
Portugal 2006: Beatriz Batarda, Cathy Naden, Andre e Teodosio, Joao Pedro Vaz.
Finland 2006: Taisto Oksanen, Auvo Vihro.
Italy 2006: Lella Costa, Elio de Capitani, Laura Curino.
US previews 2006: Richard Kamins, Angela Reed, Carmela Marner, Gene Marner, David Bridel, Peter Gaitens, Camilla Enders, Johana Arnold, Ed Vassallo.
Barrow Street Theatre, New York 2006/7: Peter Van Wagner, Rachel Fowler, Lucas Caleb Rooney, Michael Cullen, Mark Blankenship, F. Murray Abraham, Charles Busch, Reed Birney, Randy Harrison, James Urbaniak, Kristin Sieh, Leslie Hendrix, Steve Blanchard, Laurie Anderson, Amy Landecker, John Shuman, Jeremy Bieler, Kelly Calabrese, Michael Countryman, Laila Robbins, Pearl Sun, Joan Allen, Maja Wampuszyc, Christopher Cook, Maura Tierney, Alison Fraser, Frances McDormand, Mary Bacon, Tamara Tunie, Ray Dooley, Brooke Smith, John Judd, Richard Kind, Matthew Arkin, Craig Wroe, Michael Cerveris, Marin Ireland, Peter Dinklage, Alysia Reiner, Tim Blake Nelson, Chuck Cooper, Ben Walker, Austin Pendleton, Alix Elias, Mark Consuelos, David Pasquesi, Mike Myers, David Rasche, Chris Eigeman, Lili Taylor, Kathleen Chalfant, Joey Slotnick, Bob Balaban, Adam Rapp, Mary Testa, Hunter Foster, David Hyde Pierce, Stephen Lang, Kathryn Grody, Scott Foley, Jay O. Sanders, Alan Cox, Denis O Hare, Alan Ruck, Lisa Emery, Frank Wood, Mark Saturno, Nicole Orth-Pallavicini, Erik Jensen, David Mogentale, Alexandra Neil, Brian Logan, Katie Finneran, Walter Bobbie, Wendy Vanden Heuval, Tovah Feldshuh, Carolyn McCormick, Maryann Plunkett, George Demas, Christopher Durang, Judith Ivey, Jim Dale. Canada 2007: Patrick MacEachern, Kelly Dawson, Joel Smith, Heather Kolesar, Maiko Bae Yamamoto, Kathryn Shaw, Marcus Youssef, Jonathan Young, John Krich, Erin Ormond, Trevor Hinton.
Soho Theatre 2007: Paterson Joseph, Sophie Okonedo, Ruth Sheen, Tracy-Ann Oberman, David Morrissey, Ed Woodall, Phelim McDermott, Amanda Lawrence, Anna Francolini, David Harewood, John Ramm, Selina Cadell, Anthony Vendetti, Tracey Childs, Jeremy Killick, Gina McKee, Juliet Aubrey, Michael Simkins, Saskia Reeves, Celia Meiras, Tricia Kelly, Hugh Bonneville, Paul Hunter, Adrian Scarborough, Linda Bassett, Eve Best, Kwame Kwei Armah, Gary Winters, Janet McTeer.
UK Tour 2007/2008: Richard Headon, Sam Troughton, Josie Lawrence, Richard Katz, Ben Keaton, Jonathan Keeble, Brigit Forsyth, Claudia Elmhirst, Bill Champion, Louise Dearden, Mark Calvert, Terry O’Connor, Deka Walmsley, Jon Whittle, Nathan Rimell, Cora Bissett, Julie Brown, Murray Wason, Siwan Morris, Richard Elis, Ged Stephenson, Vic Llewellyn.
Brazil 2007: Rodrigo Nogueira, Guilherme Leme.
BBC World Service 2007: Tim McInnerny.
Singapore 2008: Loong Seng Onn, Jean Ng, Karen Tan, Ivan Heng.
Quebec 2008: Kevin McCoy, Robert Bellefeuille, Anne-Marie Cadieux.
Melbourne 2008: Jane Turner, Geoffrey Rush, Julia Zemiro, Kim Gyngell.
Hong Kong 2009: Lynn Yau, Jonathan Douglas, Fredric Mao.
Brown University, USA 2009: Matt Clevy.
Odyssey Theatre, Los Angeles 2010: Meagan English, Peter Gallagher, Clancy Brown, Lisa Wolpe, John Rubinstein, Kurtwood Smith, Jesse Burch, Dan O’Connor, Jennifer Leigh Warren, Beth Grant, Joe Orrach, Peter Van Norden, Stu Levin, Jason Alexander, Peter Macon, Stacie Chaiken, Christopher Michael Moore, Michelle Monaghan, Anne De Salvo, Miguel Sandoval, Lauryn Cantu, Alanis Morissette, Alexandra Billings, Kathleen Early, Carolyn Seymour, Floyd Van Buskirk, Kyle Secor, Alan Cumming, Rich Sommer, Michael Gladis, Megan Gallagher, Alex Kingston, Wendie Malick, Josh Radnor.
UMASS, Amherst, USA 2010: Marcus Gardley, Milan Dragicevich, Julie Nelson.
Bios, Athens, Greece, 2011: Yota Argyropoulou, Yannis Sarakatsanis.
Bangkok, Thailand, 2012: Pattarasuda Bua Anuman Rajadhon, Nophand Boonyai.
Dublin 2012: Nyree Yergainharsian.
Rehearsals 2015: Gerard Bell, Peter Hobday, Hannah Cooper-Dean, Amy Griffiths.
National Theatre 2015: Conor Lovett, Maggie Service, Kate Duchêne, Philip Quast, Stephen Dillane, Naomi Wirthner, Samuel Barnett, Kiruna Stamell, Nicholas Karimi, Sharon D Clarke, Penny Layden, Nick Holder, Ashley McGuire, Trystan Gravelle, Chook Sibtain, Pearce Quigley, Richard Henders, Jodie McNee, Patrick Marber, Sarah Cameron, John Heffernan, Samuel West.
Traverse Theatre 2015: Ewen Bremner, Jamie Michie, Aoife Duffin, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Caitríona Ní Mhurchú, Gary McNair, Lucy Ellinson, Ned Dennehy, Simon McBurney.
Bristol Old Vic 2015: Neve McIntosh, Akiya Henry, Fionn Gill, Simon Shepherd, Kate O’Flynn, Jon Beedell.
Warwick Arts Centre 2015: Luke Barnes, Lou Platt, Charlie Josephine.
RADA 2018: Susan Wokoma.
Orange Tree, London 2018: Kate Hardie.
Central School of Speech and Drama, London 2018: Shelby Bond, Claudia Heinrichs.
Teatro Sarmiento, Argentina 2018: Ingrid Pelicori, Luciano Suardi
Wickham Theatre, Bristol, 2023: Pippa Hayward, Adele James, Polly Frame
Cloître des Céléstins, Avignon Festival, July 2023: Vítor Roriz, Natacha Koutchomov, David Geselson, Teresa Coutinho. Cynthia Loemij, Adama Diop.
Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, August 2023: Marc Mackinnon, Imogen Stirling, Morven Macbeth, Nicole Cooper, Helen Monks, Archie Backhouse, Pippa Evans, Isobel McArthur, Letty Thomas, Yasser Zadeh, Jessica Hardwick, Nathan Queely Dennis, Josette Bushell-Mingo, Rufus Norris, Dawn Sievewright, Alexa Davies, Sally Reid, David Threlfall, Ben Target, Paul Higgins, Chris Thorpe, Corey Montague-Sholay, Neshla Caplan.
Jersey Arts Centre, February 2024: Jenny McCarthy
Den Nationale Scene, Bergen, Norway, May 2024: Vidar Magnussen, Kåre Conradi
Duke Arts, North Carolina, 2025: Khiyali Pillalmarri, Adam Sampiere, Sam Kebede
Young Vic, London, 2025: Remy Beesley, Jessie Buckley, David Tennant, Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, Indira Varma, Russell Tovey. Julie Hesmondhalgh, Adjoa Andoh, Mark Gatiss, Nina Sosanya, Rozalind Eleazar, Eddie Marsan, Luke Thompson, Arthur Darvill, Lorraine Ashbourne, Alfred Enoch, Meera Syal, Michelle Terry, Alex Jennings, Paapa Essiedu, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Monica Dolan, Alex Lawther.
Luminato Festival, Toronto, 2025: Christina Kozak, Karen Robinson, Rebecca Henderson, Qasim Khan, Daniel MacIvor, Amrit Kaur, Jean Yoon, Allegra Fulton, Mark McKinney, Luke Kirby, Amanda Cordner.