CONGRATULATIONS to two York actors, Samuel Edward-Cook and Toby Gordon, for landing roles alongside the French star of stage and screen Juliette Binoche in Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone at the Barbican in London.

Belgian director Ivo van Hove’s production of poet Anne Carson new translation has now left London for an international tour that takes in Antwerp, Amsterdam, Paris, the Ruhrfestspiele festival in Germany and the King’s Theatre at the Edinburgh Festival, from August 8 to 22, with Samuel in the role of Haimon. The travels will move on to dates across the United States before ending in New York.

Samuel, who trained at RADA, will be better known in York as Sam Coulson from his early steps on the stage before joining Equity, the actors’ guild. Toby, meanwhile, was undertaking his first professional role in London in the sold-out March 4 to 28 run after graduating from LAMDA in July.

He played both the body of Antigone’s brother, Polyneikes, over whom Binoche’s Antigone mourns, and the Boy, who leads the blind prophet Tiresias, having signed up for the roles only a week before opening night, with his own dressing room, flowers and all.

The London performances marked the first time that Samuel and Toby had worked together in seven years, since their student days together at York College, where they trained under Tony Ravenhall and Paul Dale-Vickers.

“Samuel and Toby’s progress is a sign that the connection between amateur theatre in York and professional theatre is really strengthening,” says Toby’s mother, Gweno Williams, Professor of Creative Arts Education at York St John University.

“There’s a spirit of generosity to young talent in the city of York, giving them an opportunity to thrive. They’re not squashed out; older actors are supportive and you certainly see that in such companies as the York Shakespeare Project.”

Should you not be venturing north to the Edinburgh Festival this summer, the good news is that the March 12 performance in London was filmed for broadcast on Sunday at 8pm in Juliet Binoche: Antigone At The Barbican for BBC4’s The Age Of Heroes: Ancient Greece Uncovered season.