‘Casting announcement’
Casting has been confirmed for TWO, Jim Cartwright’s sharply observed and deeply human portrait of life behind the bar, directed by Lisa Allen, CEO and Creative Director at Shakespeare North.
Set over the course of a single evening in a Northern pub, TWO introduces a landlord and landlady whose marriage is quietly fracturing, alongside a gallery of customers who drift in and out, carrying their own stories of love, grief, hope and resilience. By turns raw, funny and unsettling, the play remains one of Cartwright’s most enduring and recognisable works.
The production stars Sarah White and Michael Starke, who between them bring extensive experience across theatre, television and film.
Sarah White trained at Rose Bruford College.
- Theatre credits include: The Derby Days (Liverpool Royal Court); Vignettes (Hope Mill Theatre); The Salon and The Salon 2 (St Helens Theatre Royal and The Epstein); The Netherley Hillbillies (Liverpool Royal Court); Janine And Jessie (532); The Naked Truth (3 national tours); A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg (Nottingham Playhouse); Drama Queen (The Unity); Mums The Word (2 national tours); The Morris (Liverpool Everyman); Abigail’s Party (The Torch Theatre).
- TV credits include: Coronation St (ITV); Moving On (BBC); Doctors (BBC); Edge Of Heaven (ITV); Overlanders (BBC); and Brookside (Channel4), in which she played Bev McLaughlin for many years. As Bev she won two soap awards, including one for best comedy performance.
- Film credits include: Ammonite; Gods Own Country; Tom Cat.
Sarah has just completed filming for the new series of This City Is Ours for the BBC. She lives in Liverpool with her husband and two kids and is delighted to be making her debut at Shakespeare North.
Michael Starke is a British actor and singer from Liverpool, England.
- Theatre credits include: White Christmas (National Tour) Waitress (National Tour) Sister Act (National Tour); Hairspray (National Tour); The Rocky Horror Show (National Tour); Bouncers (Liverpool’s Royal Court); The Play What I Wrote (Wyndham’s Theatre and Liverpool Playhouse); Hamlet (Liverpool Everyman Theatre); Haunted Scouse (Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool); Rapunzel (Liverpool Everyman Theatre); The Seagull (Liverpool Everyman Theatre).
- TV credits include: Brookside (Channel 4) in which he played Thomas ‘Sinbad’ Sweeney for 16 years; The Royal (ITV); Coronation Street (ITV); Stig of the Dump (BBC); Casualty (BBC); Benidorm (BBC); Holby City (BBC); The Virtues (Channel 4); Moving On (BBC); Tin Star (Sky Atlantic); The Responder (BBC); Casualty (BBC); Hollyoaks/Brookside Crossover (Channel 4).
- Films credits include: The 51st State (Focus Films) Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit (Paramount Pictures) No Surrender (Channel 4 Films) Stephen (Hurricane Films).
CREATIVE TEAM
Director: Lisa Allen
Assistant Director: Siobhan Noble
Producer: Shakespeare North Playhouse
Writer: Jim Cartwright
Designer: Kay Buckley
Sound Designer: Adam Harper
Movement Director: Sundeep Saini
Fight Director: Kaitlin Howard
TWO runs from Friday, 2 March to Saturday, 28 March 2026 at Shakespeare North Playhouse. Tickets are on sale now: https://shakespearenorthplayhouse.co.uk/event/two/