Ben Kingsley

Character: Dmitri Shostakovich

Sherry Baines

Character: Nina Shostakovich

Magdalen Asquith

Character: Galya Shostakovich

Mark Asquith

Character: Maxim Shostakovich

Terence Rigby

Character: Joseph Stalin

Ronald Pickup

Character: Marshall Tukhachevsky

John Shrapnel

Character: Andre Zhdanov

Robert Reynolds

Character: Brutus

Vernon Dobtcheff

Character: Gargolovsky

Brook Williams

Character: H.G. Wells

Peter Woodthorpe

Character: Alexander Glazunov

William Squire

Character: Khatchaturyan

Dorota Kwiatkowska

Character: Anna Akhmatova

Liza Goddard

Character: English Humanist

Murray Melvin

Character: Film Editor

Robert Urquhart

Character: Journalist

Chris Barrie

Character: Carnival Thin Man

Frank Carson

Character: Carnival Fat Man

Ed Bishop

Character: American Commentator

Collin Hurst

Character: Stalin's Secretary

Joyce Grundy

Character: Stalin's Mother

Mark Thrippleton

Character: Young Stalin

Robert Stephens

Character: Vsevolod Meyerhold

Murray Melvin

Character: The Film Editor

Jane Cox

Character: The Widow

Julian Stanley

Character: Andre Gide

David Sharpe

Character: Mandelstam

Rowen Parr

Character: Galya (aged 39)

Bronco McLoughlin

Character: Cossack

Christopher Bramwell

Character: Vanya

Marita Philips

Character: Madam Lupinskaya

Mitzi Mueller

Character: The Nun

Tracey Spence

Character: Tsvetayeva

Andrew Brittain

Character: Malko

Curly Carter

Character: Cross Eyed Man

Rosemary Chamney

Character: Concierge

Chris D'Bray

Character: Dorian Gray

Val Elliott

Character: French Schoolmarm

Peter Faulkner

Character: Mayakovsky