Full cast announced to join Sheridan Smith in West End run of WOMAN IN MIND
Oliver Rosser
Wessex Grove and Gavin Kalin Productions are delighted to announce that Romesh Ranganathan will make his West End stage debut in a new production of Alan Ayckbourn’s psychological comedy WOMAN IN MIND, in a strictly limited West End run at the Duke of York’s Theatre from 9 December 2025 until Saturday 28 February 2026.
Romesh Ranganathan will play Bill alongside the previously announced Sheridan Smith as Susan.
Also announced today are Louise Brealey as Muriel, Tim McMullan as Gerald, Sule Rimi as Andy, Chris Jenks as Tony, Safia Oakley-Green as Lucy and Taylor Uttley as Rick, and Katie Buchholz and Michael Woolfitt, who complete the company.
Following its West End run, WOMAN IN MIND will then play at the Sunderland Empire from 4 March until 7 March 2026 and Theatre Royal, Glasgow from 10 March until 14 March 2026. Tickets on sale now. www.womaninmindplay.com
Romesh Ranganathan said today “I’m honoured to be stepping onstage in a play for the first time (since primary school) alongside the incredible Sheridan Smith and company. It’s very much a mix of feeling excited about such an amazing experience as well as a real rich vein of extreme nerves. Alan Ayckbourn’s Woman in Mind is an amazing play and I look forward to helping to bring it to life. I’m also playing a doctor which means that my mum might finally feel something approaching pride.”
Directed by Michael Longhurst, this spellbinding revival explores one woman’s fractured reality with heart and humour. When Susan sustains a bump to the head, her world splits in two—one mundane, one imagined—and the lines begin to blur. Ayckbourn’s groundbreaking play is a gripping exploration of identity, family, and mental escape.
Multi award-winning comedian Romesh Ranganathan is known for fronting hugely popular series The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan, BAFTA-winning Rob & Romesh Vs, A League Of Their Own, Parent’s Evening, The Ranganation, Asian Provocateur, and BBC One’s Weakest Link. Romesh is the much-loved host of BBC Radio 2’s Saturday 10am – 1pm show. He also hosts several podcasts, including The Romesh Ranganathan Show and For The Love Of Hip Hop (BBC Sounds/Radio 2), which won him the prestigious Radio Academy ARIA Gold award for Best Specialist Music Show in 2023. He is also the co-host of Wolf & Owl with Tom Davis, which is touring as a live podcast to venues all over the UK in 2025. A Sunday Times Bestseller with his autobiography Straight Outta Crawley: The Memoirs Of A Distinctly Average Human Being, Romesh’s second book As Good as It Gets: Life Lessons from a Reluctant Adult was published worldwide in October 2020. 2023 saw Romesh turn his hand at writing for a middle-grade audience in his debut novel, Lil’ Muffin Drops the Mic, which he followed up in 2025 with Yasmin Bandara Levels Up! Romesh made his return to acting, both writing and starring in two sitcoms produced with his own production company, Ranga Bee. Avoidance returned to BBC One for a second series in 2024, and Romantic Getaway for Sky Max launched in January 2023. Romesh has also made his animation debut in Netflix’s Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, produced by the legendary Aardman Studios. Romesh’s 2022 stand up tour, The Cynic’s Mixtape, was a sold-out success, culminating in a taping at his hometown venue The Hawth in Crawley, which was released as a special on Netflix in 2022. Romesh’s latest tour, Hustle, also sold out across the UK, and culminated in two nights at the O2 in London. After performing Hustle to audiences around the world, Romesh decided to fact-check his tour in the Sky travelogue series Can't Knock The Hustle, which premiered in 2025. Romesh made his first foray to America in 2018 with the launch of Showtime docu-series Just Another Immigrant, and he has also appeared twice on James Corden's Late Late Show as well as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. In 2023 he returned stateside with a sold-out stand up show at the iconic New York Town Hall and will tour to sold-out audiences across the USA and Canada in the Autumn of 2025. There’s no stopping “the hardest working man in comedy”.
Sheridan Smith is an award-winning stage and screen actress, currently starring in ITV’s I Fought the Law. Her most recent West End credits include Myrtle in the world premiere of John Cassavetes’ Opening Night at the Gielgud Theatre and the title role in Shirley Valentine at the Duke of York’s Theatre. Her performance as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde at the Savoy Theatre, and as Doris in Flare Path at Theatre Royal Haymarket, both garnered her Olivier Awards, and the latter the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress. She received further Olivier nominations for her performance as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors at the Menier Chocolate Factory and Duke of York’s Theatre, and Fanny Brice in Funny Girl at the Savoy Theatre. Other notable performances include Hedda Gabler at The Old Vic, Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Noel Coward Theatre, the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the London Palladium, and her stage debut as Little Red Riding Hood in Into the Woods at the Donmar Warehouse. Amongst her prolific screen roles, Sheridan was Emmy-nominated and won a BAFTA as Mrs Biggs, and further BAFTA-nominated for The C Word and her titular role in Cilla, for which she was also Emmy-nominated. Big screen credits include Dustin Hoffman’s Quartet and most recently The Railway Children Return. She has released two albums, titled Sheridan and A Northern Soul, resulting in two Classic BRIT Award nominations.
WOMAN IN MIND is directed by Michael Longhurst, with set and costume design by Soutra Gilmour, lighting design by Lee Curran, sound design by Paul Arditti and casting by Jim Carnahan CSA and Liz Fraser CSA.
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