EXCLUSIVE: Jamie Neumann (Lovecraft Country) and Amy Darton (Sleeping Beauty) are set for heavily recurring roles in AMC’s upcoming series Invitation to a Bonfire based on the novel by Adrienne Celt of the same name. Additionally Emmy-nominated Cherien Dabis (Only Murders In The Building) has been tapped to direct the first two episodes of the six-episode series and executive produce. Premiere is slated for next year.
Created by Rachel Caris Love, Invitation to a Bonfire is a psychological thriller set in the 1930s at an all-girls boarding school in New Jersey. Inspired by Vladimir and Vera Nabokov’s co-dependent marriage, the series follows Zoya (Freya Mavor), a young Russian immigrant and groundskeeper, who is drawn into a lethal love triangle with the school’s newest faculty member — an enigmatic novelist, Leo (Pilou Asbæk)— and his bewitching wife (Maslany).
Darton will play Daphne. In the complex social hierarchy of the all-girls Donne School, Daphne is the unquestioned queen. But her social standing, silver spoon upbringing and posh clothes cannot save her from the indignities of 1930s womanhood. Daphne may lord over the schoolgirls with unchecked power, but it’s only because she has so little real power of her own.
Neumann portrays Nadine. Raised in rural Appalachia, Nadine now works in the kitchen at the Donne School, a tony, all-girls boarding school in New Jersey. Unbeknownst to the current schoolgirls, Nadine was a Donne student herself, many years prior, thanks to the largesse of a generous scholarship.
In addition to Maslany, Freya Mavor, Pilou Asbaek and Ngozi Anyanwu also star. Robin Schwartz and Kyle Laursen will also serve as executive producers along with Maslany, and Carolyn Daucher as producer. Neumann’s recent credits include Lovecraft Country and The Deuce and a guest-starring role on Atlanta. She’s repped by MGMT. Entertainment and APA.
Darton, whose credits include Sleeping Beauty and Invisible, is repped by Authentic Talent & Literary Management, CAM and Lucy Popkin.
Dabis most recently was Emmy-nominated for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series for “The Boy From 6B” episode on Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building. Her other episodic directing credits include Hulu’s comedy Ramy and Netflix’s Ozark. Her television writing and producing credits include Showtime’s The L Word and Fox’s Empire.
