Unicorn Theatre names the cast for Huddle’s return
Sam Pay and Rhiannon Skerritt will lead Huddle’s return to the Unicorn Theatre from 27 November to 3 January 2027. Filskit Theatre’s penguin story is made for children aged one to four. Sarah Shephard directs the production, which uses movement, projected images and sound to follow a new father caring for his chick. It follows the theatre’s 2024 run.
Arts··Morning
A new pair for the winter run
The Unicorn Theatre, a London venue specialising in work for young audiences, has named Sam Pay and Rhiannon Skerritt as the cast of Huddle. Filskit Theatre’s production returns from 27 November to 3 January 2027, with a press performance scheduled for 4 December. The show is designed for children aged one to four and their families, and follows a penguin family in the frozen Antarctic landscape.[1], [2]
Pay’s earlier work includes The BFG, while Skerritt has appeared in The Box of Delights. Both performers have worked at the Unicorn before: Pay’s credits there include Odd and the Frost Giants and Pinocchio, and Skerritt appeared in The Princess and the Pea. That production later travelled to the New Victory Theater in New York. The pair take over a story returning to the venue after its 2024 run.[1], [2]
Mr Penguin learns to care for a chick
Mr Penguin receives an egg of his own. Its arrival begins a story about a new father discovering how to care for his chick after it hatches. Parenting brings pleasures as well as difficulties as the family learns to live in its icy surroundings. Huddle tells that story through physical performance, projected animation and sound, using very little dialogue. The production places its penguin characters within a visual narrative made for its youngest spectators.[1], [2]
The collaboration began in 2018
Katy Costigan and Sarah Shephard of Filskit Theatre created the show, and Shephard directs it. Maxwell Nicholson-Lailey made the original design, with additional design by Rachel Baynton. Ric Mountjoy designs the lighting and Ioanna Varsou for animation. Owen Crouch composed the music and designed the sound, assisted by associate sound designer Yoyo Yao. The Unicorn produces this return of a piece first developed through its 2018 collaboration with Filskit.[1]
Tickets sold out during Huddle’s 2024 presentation at the Unicorn. Shephard said the forthcoming run would be the work’s third appearance at the theatre. She described the show as especially important to her company and said she looked forward to introducing its penguin pair to another generation of young theatregoers. The new cast is joining that returning production for the winter engagement.[1]
