As a child Kiera Milward dreamt of performing in a West End show such as Les Misérables or Wicked. Aged just 21, straight out of Drama School, she has been cast in the spectacular debut of arguably the biggest production of 2025 – ‘The Hunger Games: On Stage’. This is the world’s first theatrical adaptation of Suzanne Collins’s iconic story and it is to be staged in a purpose-built state-of-the-art venue, the Troubadour Canary Wharf. The design of the dynamic 1200 seat theatre, situated in the heart of London’s financial district, promises immersive, in-the-round storytelling. The fabulous venue is the perfect setting for this tale of courage, defiance and unbreakable human spirit which follows the fearless heroine Katniss Everdeen on her journey of self-discovery, as she emerges as a beacon of rebellion and hope.
There is no doubt that Kiera has been living the dream since she joined Hurtwood, leaving in 2022 with a place to study Musical Theatre at Mountview. Being cast in the Hunger Games is her ‘dream role’ as she read all the books as a child. Not only is Kiera joining the original cast as a swing (understudying roles such as Mrs. Everdeen, Clove, and Effie), but she is first cover for Katniss which means that she will be playing the starring role every Sunday from November 16th. She recalls “screaming with delight in her kitchen” when she got a recall for Katniss. Ever since that moment her schedule has been extremely full on with 6 weeks of rehearsals in Stratford before they moved into the Troubadour for 4 weeks of technical rehearsals. “There has been so much dance and movement coaching and I have particularly loved learning the stage fighting techniques.”
At Hurtwood, Kiera was rarely off stage and her performance in ‘Into the Woods’ was superb. In Kieras’s first year at school Covid meant that we were unable to perform in front of an audience, but in true Hurtwood fashion, the Drama, Media and Music departments collaborated to give the students the best possible experience, spending 16 days filming different numbers from our favourite musicals. Kiera’s performance as Roxie Hart from ‘Chicago’ was nothing short of extraordinary. She remembers that time fondly “Playing Roxie was so much fun and gave me so much confidence- I never looked back”. There is no doubt that the volume of performance at Hurtwood, together with our Drama School Preparation Programme set Kiera up perfectly to succeed in getting a place at Mountview. She commented “I am so grateful to Nick and Andy and the Hurtwood team for all their help getting into Mountview. It was a major turning point in my life. I joined Hurtwood because I knew Emily Blunt had studied at the school and I wanted to follow in her footsteps and I know that if I had stayed at my previous school there is very little chance that I would be doing what I am doing today.”
Having been spotted by the director in her final graduation show at Mountview, ‘The Hunger Games’ was Kiera’s very first audition and her first role! There cannot be any more exciting debuts than being part of such blockbuster entertainment.
With multi award-winning playwright Conor McPherson and director Matthew Dunster bringing the story to life with extraordinary stunts and illusions, this will surely be an epic, electrifying theatrical experience.
Everyone at Hurtwood is so proud of Kiera and we cannot wait to see the production and cheer her on! The production opens on October 20th. Don’t miss Kiera as Katniss every Sunday from November 16th.
