London Assurance - National Theatre (Olivier)
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
NEXT year, Nicholas Hytner will direct Dion Boucicault’s London Assurance at the National Theatre.
With a cast that includes Richard Briers, Paul Ready, Simon Russell Beale, Fiona Shaw and Michelle Terry, it opens in the Olivier Theatre on March 10, 2010 (previews from March 2) before continuing in repertoire.
Dion Boucicault, the Irish genius of London theatre in the age of Dickens, wrote London Assurance in 1841 and thereby created in Lord Harcourt and Lady Spanker two of the great comic roles for the English stage, played in this new production by Simon Russell Beale and Fiona Shaw.
Sir Harcourt Courtley is lured away from the epicentre of fashionable London by the promise of a rich and beautiful bride, Grace, forty-five years his junior. Arriving at Oak Hall, Gloucestershire, he marvels at this rural Venus until her charms are eclipsed by her hearty cousin, the foxhunting Lady Gay Spanker.
Meanwhile his disguised son turns up in flight from his creditors and falls head over heels for Grace. When Lady Spanker discovers the young couple, she needs little prompting from the visiting chancer Dazzle to lead Sir Harcourt astray.
A National Theatre Associate, Simon Russell Beale‘s extensive theatre work includes Major Barbara, Much Ado About Nothing, The Alchemist, The Life of Galileo and Hamlet (Evening Standard & Critics’ Circle Awards) for the National Theatre; The Winter’s Tale and The Cherry Orchard (New York and Old Vic); Monty Python’s Spamalot (West End and New York); and The Philanthropist (Evening Standard & Critics’ Circle Awards) for the Donmar Warehouse.
Fiona Shaw is currently playing the title role in Mother Courage and Her Children at the National Theatre, where her work also includes Happy Days, Richard II, The Good Person of Sichuan (Critics’ Circle Award for Best Actress), The Powerbook, Machinal (Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Actress), The Way of the World and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
Her other theatre credits include Medea (West End and Broadway), Electra (RSC), Hedda Gabler (Abbey Theatre and West End) and The Waste Land (Wilton’s Music Hall and international tour).
The cast also includes Mark Addy, Matt Cross, Fiona Drummond, Mark Extance, Richard Frame, Junix Inocian, Tony Jayawardena, Simon Markey, Laura Matthews, Prasanna Puwanarajah, Nick Sampson, Maggie Service and David Whitworth.
Since becoming Director of the National Theatre in April 2003, Nicholas Hytner has directed Henry V, His Dark Materials, The History Boys, Stuff Happens, Henry IV, Southwark Fair, The Alchemist, The Man of Mode, The Rose Tattoo (with Stephen Pimlott), Rafta, Rafta… , Much Ado About Nothing, Major Barbara, England People Very Nice, Phèdre and The Habit of Art.
London Assurance will be designed by Mark Thompson, with lighting by Neil Austin, music by Rachel Portman and sound by John Leonard.
It’s the third National Theatre production sponsored by Shell, following Much Ado About Nothing and Oedipus.