Dave is the long-suffering husband. Martin is the psychopath who’s been exchanging erotic letters with Dave’s wife from a high-security hospital.
When Dave finally gathers up the courage to confront him, Martin proposes a bargain: he will help Dave reignite his marriage if Dave helps convince Martin’s psychiatrist he’s actually made a friend.
Dear Martin is a darkly comic play about mental health, redemption, and two men finding a moment of connection in their otherwise lonely lives.
-
Running time
80 minutes -
Age guidance
15+
Production reviews
“Surreal, thought-provoking comedy”- Liam O'Dell
“Sharply written, laugh-out-loud... well worth seeing”- West End Best Friend
- London Theatre1
“an entertaining and thought provoking evening”- Broadway World
- London Box Office
“Alex Mugnaioni is electric...A show not to be missed.”- Fairy Powered Productions
“a first rate cast”- Reviews Gate
“very funny, eliciting gut-level laughter”- Shadows on the Wall
Production photos
Rehearsal photos
The Company
-
Alex Mugnaioni
Martin
Alex Mugnaioni
Martin
Alex trained at Rose Bruford.
He has worked with the Globe Theatre five times to date, in productions of TheTaming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night, Othello, King Lear, and a six-month tour of Much Ado About Nothing around South America and the US. He led in Straight White Men at the Southwark Playhouse to great acclaim.
Alex’s other theatre credits include the titular character in Captain Corelli’s Mandolin at the Harold Pinter Theatre, after touring the show throughout the UK.
He played John Wilkes Booth in Sondheim’s Assassins at Nottingham Playhouse and The Watermill Theatre, and Belsha in The Visit with Lesley Manville, directed by Jeremy Herrin at the National Theatre. He featured in Alice in Wonderland, The Beggar’s Opera, The Tempest, and Much Ado About Nothing at Storyhouse Chester. Recent stage credits include leading roles in Robin Hood at Regent’s Park and Jules and Jim at Jermyn Street.
His work on screen includes Mr Sloane and The Borgias for HBO, Romeo & Juliet for the National Theatre/SkyTV/PBS. Alex appeared in the feature film The Son with Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern, and will feature in a major returning series for BBC/Amazon in 2025. -
Ben Simpson
Dave
Ben Simpson
Dave
Ben graduated from the University of Westminster with a degree in Film and Television productions. He has developed his onscreen and stage skills for the last two decades working across commercials, film, television and theatre.
Ben’s film credits include: Death of Kings (Outer Dark Pictures), No Plan B (Dirty Negative Films), Time Lapse (NKW), Super Party (NKW), The 5 Stages (NKW), Polaroid (WYM) and The Man with Big Eyes (NKW).
His Television and Stage credits include: Call The Midwife S13 (Neal Street Productions), Rhyme Time Town (Netflix/Dreamwrks), Love’s Labour’s Lost and Found (Five One Productions) and Clue (Portcullis Productions). -
Edward Judge
Ben/Tom
Edward Judge
Ben/Tom
Television credits include: Ted Lasso (Apple TV+), The Rising (Sky), Cursed (Netflix), The First Team (BBC), Sherlock (BBC), You, Me & The Apocalypse (Sky), Galavant (ABC), Doctors, Holby City, Sarah Jane Adventures (all BBC).
Film credits include: Wicked Little Letters (StudioCanal), Tom & Jerry (Warner Bros), Iron Sky II (Iron Sky Universe).
Theatre credits include: Gentlemen (Arcola Theatre); Of Mice & Men (Birmingham Rep & Tour); Manor (RNT); The Play That Goes Wrong (West End, UK & International Tour); History Boys (Crucible Theatre); Avenue Q (Bath Theatre Royal & No 1 Tour), and Spring Awakening (Lyric Hammersmith & Novello Theatre). -
Amelia Donkor
Dina/ CeeCee/ Ava/Maria/ Lucy/ Security Guard
Amelia Donkor
Dina/ CeeCee/ Ava/Maria/ Lucy/ Security Guard
Amelia trained at LAMDA.
Theatre includes: The City and the Town (Riksteatern/Matthew Linley Productions); Private Lives, Under Another Sky (Pitlochry Festival Theatre); Little Women (Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Watford Palace); Duende, My Last Duchess, Richard III (The Faction); Prince Charming’s Christmas Cracker, The Culture (Hull Truck); As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew (RSC); The 39 Steps (Stephen Joseph theatre); What Shadows (Birmingham Rep/Edinburgh Lyceum Theatre/The Park theatre); Villette (Leeds Playhouse); Vassa Zheleznova (Southward Playhouse/The Faction); The Fruit Trilogy (Southbank Centre/Leeds Playhouse); Wanted! Robin Hood, Mother Courage (The Lowry/Manchester Library Theatre); Manchester Lines (Manchester Library Theatre); I Have a Dream (Polka); Six Seeds (National Theatre/Told by an Idiot); Arabian Nights (Young Vic).
Television includes: Midsomer Murders; Steel Town Murders; Manhunt II; Eastenders; Guilt; Emmerdale; Casualty; In the Dock; Wizards Vs Aliens; Hollyoaks; Doctors; The Bill; Trial & Retribution; Holby City.
-
Madeleine Brettingham
Writer
Madeleine Brettingham
Writer
Madeleine Brettingham is a comedy writer for TV and radio whose credits include Frankie Boyle’s New World Order, That Mitchell and Webb Look, The Kumars, Have I Got News For You, Would I Lie To You, Harry Hill’s TV Burp, Horrible Histories and Radio 4’s The News Quiz. As well as scripts, Madeleine writes about comedy for The Times Literary Supplement.
-
Wiebke Green
Director
Wiebke Green
Director
Wiebke Green trained at the Orange Tree Theatre and as Intern Director to Katie Mitchell on Orlando (Schaubühne Berlin) and Anatomie eines Suizids (Schauspielhaus Hamburg).
Her recent work includes: The New York Times Critics’ Pick The Poltergeist (Southwark Playhouse & Arcola Theatre), multiple Offie nominated The Journey to Venice (Finborough Theatre), Union (Arcola), amongst others.
Assistant Direction includes Scrounger (dir. Lily McLeisch, Finborough Theatre), Dealing with Clair (dir. Richard Twyman, Orange Tree), The Frontier Trilogy and Sirenia (dir. Jethro Compton, Edinburgh Fringe).
-
Kit Hinchcliffe
Set & Costume Design
Kit Hinchcliffe
Set & Costume Design
Kit trained at Central St Martins College of Art and Design. Since graduating, her work has spanned theatre, dance and installation. She is Co-Artistic Director of Lidless Theatre and regularly collaborates with Architecture Social Club as Designer/Fabricator.
Work includes: Tarantula (Arcola Theatre), Miss Julie (Park Theatre), Copper Beaches (Corbett Theatre), Leaves of Glass (Park Theatre), Oresteia (Corbett Theatre), The Journey to Venice (Finborough Theatre),The Poltogist (Arcola), Camino Real and Cymbeline (Bridewell Theatre), Mapping Gender (BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Cambridge Junction and The Place), A Hideous Monstrous Verminous Creature (The Place), La bohème (King’s Head Theatre), Boys (Barbican Centre), Festen (Corbett Theatre), Tender Napalm (King’s Head Theatre), Well Lit (Dansstationen Malmö and The Place), Moonfleece (Pleasance), Pebbles (Katzpace), Heroes (Bridge House Theatre), Beetles from the West (Hope Theatre), Fundamentals (Platform TheatreKX). -
Julian Starr
Sound Designer
Julian Starr
Sound Designer
Julian studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA), was detailed in Australia’s Stage Whispers as one of the ‘Top 4 Sound Designer and Composers in Australia’ and is currently the Associate Sound Designer at the Finborough Theatre.
Recent sound design work includes: Acid’s Reign (Pleasance Theatre); Miracle on 34th Street (HOME Manchester); The River (Greenwich Theatre); The End (Bush Theatre); Bombay Superstars (UK Tour); 23.5 Hours (Park Theatre); F**king Men (Waterloo East); The Picture of Dorian Gray (Associate to Clemence Williams – Theatre Royal Haymarket); Sharon Osbourne – Cut The Crap! (Fortune Theatre); The White Factory (Marylebone Theatre – Offie Nomination for Best Sound Design); Miss Peony (Australian Tour); Song From Far Away (HOME Manchester, Hampstead Theatre and BBC Radio 4); ZOG (West End and UK tour); Rose (Hope Mill, Park Theatre, Ambassadors Theatre – Offie Nominated for Best Sound Design); Return To The Dirt (Queensland Theatre Company); Animal (Park Theatre and UK Tour); Sleepwalking (Hampstead Theatre); Scrounger (Offie Nomination for Best Sound Design); The Dwarfs (White Bear Theatre – Offie Nomination for Best Sound Design) and Aisha (Tristan Bates – Offie Nomination Best Sound Design).
-
Madison Coby
Artwork Design
-
Lola Glading
Stage Manager
-
Lucía Sánchez Roldán
Lighting Designer
