Donmar's new season - Weisz, West and Molina star
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
THE Donmar’s new summer/winter season kicks off with a revival of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, starring British actress Rachel Weisz as Blanche DuBois. The production, directed by Rob Ashford, runs from July 28 (previews from July 23) to October 3, 2009.
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A Streetcar Named Desire is followed by Helen Edmundson’s new version of Pedro Calderon de la Barca’s Life Is A Dream, which runs from October 13 (previews from October 8) to November 28, 2009.
To protect the country from the horrors prophesied, Segismundo is banished to a secret world high in the mountains and cut off from the sun, where he can only dream of palaces, empires, freedom and revenge.
Jonathan Munby directs a cast that includes Dominic West, whose previous London theatre credits include the National Theatre’s production of The Voysey Inheritance in which he played Edward Voysey; As You Like It (Wyndham’s Theatre); The Seagull and Cloud Nine (Old Vic); The Silver Tassie (Almeida Theatre) and Rock ‘N’ Roll (Duke of York’s Theatre).
His television credits include the acclaimed The Devil’s Whore (as Oliver Cromwell) and the American drama series The Wire (as Detective James ‘Jimmy’ McNulty).
Joining West are Rupert Evans (Astolfo), Kate Fleetwood (Rosaura), David Horovitch (Clotaldo), Lloyd Hutchinson (Clarion), Sharon Small (Estrella), David Smith (Soldier/Servant), Malcolm Storry (Basilio) and Dylan Turner (Soldier/Servant).
The season’s final production, the world premiere of John Logan’s new play Red, runs from December 8, 2009 (previews from December 3) to February 6, 2010.
Under the watchful gaze of his young assistant and the threatening presence of a new generation of artists, Mark Rothko takes on his greatest challenge yet – to create a definitive work for an extraordinary setting.
The Donmar’s artistic director, Michael Grandage, directs a cast that includes Alfred Molina (as Rothko) and Eddie Redmayne (as Ken).
Molina’s theatre credits include Howard Katz, The Cherry Orchard, Fiddler on the Roof, Molly Sweeney and Art (all in America) and Night of the Iguana (National Theatre). His numerous films include The Da Vinci Code, Spiderman II, Frida, Chocolat, Boogie Nights and Anna Karenina.
Redmayne has previously appeared on stage in Now or Later (Royal Court) and The Goat (Almeida and Apollo Theatres). His screen credits include 1939, Powder Blue, The Other Boleyn Girl and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (film); Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Elizabeth I and In Search of Shakespeare (TV).
Athol Fugard’s Dimetos, starring Jonathan Pryce, continues at the Donmar Warehouse until May 9, 2009.
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It will be followed – from May 19 (previews from May 14) to July 18, 2009 – by Ibsen’s 1879 classic, A Doll’s House which stars Gillian Anderson and Christopher Eccleston.
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