Donmar Warehouse - future plans revealed
Feature by Lizzie Guilfoyle
MICHAEL Grandage, Artististic Director of the Donmar Warehouse for the past five years, has confirmed his commitment to the venue with a programme that covers not only the Earlham Street Theatre but also the West End’s Wyndham’s Theatre.
For as well as purchasing the 125-year lease of the Earlham Street Theatre which will give the Donmar sole possession when ATG’s lease expires in nine years time, a year-long residency at the Wyndham’s Theatre has been secured, beginning in September 2008.
Productions at the Donmar itself include the already announced Parade (September 14 to November 24, 2007) which, based on a true story, is set in 1913 Altanta, where a Jewish man from Brooklyn is accused of a young factory worker’s murder; and Othello (November 29, 2007 to February 23, 2008) which stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as Othello and Ewan McGregor as Iago.
Othello will be followed by Arthur Miller’s The Man Who Had All the Luck (February 28 to April 5, 2008) which will be directed by Sean Holmes (The Entertainer, Old Vic) and star newcomer Andrew Buchan. Following its Donmar run, the production will tour to Salford and Truro.
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And still to come but with dates yet to be confirmed, are David Grieg’s new translation of Strindberg’s rarely seen 1890 comic tale of obsession Creditors; Pedro Calderon de la Barca’s Life Is a Dream; and another rarely seen work, TS Eliot’s 1939 play The Family Reunion.
Meanwhile, four productions are scheduled for Wyndham’s Theatre, beginning with Tom Stoppard’s new version of Chekhov’s Ivanov (September 12 to November 29, 2008) in which Grandage will direct Kenneth Branagh in the title role.
Grandage will also direct the second production, Twelfth Night (December 5, 2008 to March 7, 2009) starring Derek Jacobi as Malvolio. This in turn will be followed by Japanese playwright Yukio Mishima’s 1965 play, Madame de Sade (March 13 to May 23, 2009), a rarely seen drama which centres on five women affected by the debauchery of the Marquis de Sade. Grandage will once again direct.
And finally, Kenneth Branagh will return to direct Jude Law in the title role of Hamlet (May 29 to August 22, 2009).
The lauch of the Donmar’s West End residency will coincide with the reopening of Wyndham’s Theatre following its extensive refurbishment by owner Cameron Mackintosh. It will also enable more people to see bigger Donmar productions than the 280-seat Earlham Street venue allows.