LMH Alumnus Tom Littler (2003, English Language and Literature) has gained positive reviews for his latest production at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, London, where he has been Artistic Director and Joint COE since December 2022. The play, a 250th anniversary production of Oliver Goldsmith’s comedy of manners, She Stoops to Conquer, stars Freddie Fox (The Great, House of the Dragon), David Horovitch (Miss Marple, Mr Turner), Greta Scacchi (Heat and Dust, War and Peace) and Tanya Reynolds (Sex Education).
Described by The Telegraph as: “Gloriously funny. Splendidly cast and perfectly played… A gem of a production”, Tom’s re-imagining of this classic play is set in the 1930s, with the Hardcastle family gathering for Christmas at their ancestral home, Hardcastle Hall. The play centres on the budding relationship between daughter Kate Hardcastle and her intended fiancé, Charles Marlow. Under the watchful eye of Kate’s parents and their guests, the pair must overcome Marlow’s awkward shyness and several comical misunderstandings before they finally declare their love for one another at the end of the play.
The production received a host of positive reviews from publications including The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph, Time Out and the Financial Times, among many others.
Before joining the Orange Tree Theatre, Tom was Artistic Director of the Jermyn Street Theatre, which during Tom’s tenure became the West End’s smallest producing theatre. In 2003, he founded his own theatre company, Primavera Productions, and he also served as Associate Director of Theatre503 in Battersea.
Tom’s next directorial projects at the Orange Tree Theatre include a revival of Noël Coward’s Suite in Three Keys, a trio of plays set in the same hotel suite, which consists of full-length production A Song at Twilight and a double-bill of Shadows of the Evening and Come into the Garden, Maud. In November, Tom will premiere a new production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night starring Oliver Ford Davies (Star Wars, Game of Thrones).