Macbeth/Nicholas Nickleby - Gielgud Theatre
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
TWO Chichester Festival productions will transfer to the West End’s Gielgud Theatre later this year – the current sell-out production of Macbeth starring Patrick Stewart, and last year’s hit production of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby.
Macbeth, which runs for a limited season – from September 26 (previews from September 24) to December 1, 2007 – will mark Stewart’s third West End appearance in a Shakespeare play this year.
It follows the Royal Shakespeare Company transfers of Antony and Cleopatra and The Tempest at the Novello Theatre from January to March, 2007.
Although he will always be remembered for his roles in the sci-fi films Star Trek and X Men, Stewart is, in fact, a classically trained actor. His other West End credits include Ibsen’s The Master Builder, Mamet’s A Life in the Theatre, and his own one-man adaptation of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Joining Stewart in the cast of Macbeth will be Kate Fleetwood, reprising the role of Lady Macbeth; Paul Shelley (Duncan), Scott Handy (Malcolm), Ben Carpenter (Donalbain), Mark Rawlings (Lennox), Tim Treloar (Ross), Bill Nash (Angus), Christopher Knott (Old Seyward), Christopher Nolan (Seyton), Hywel John (Bloody Captain), Suzanne Burden (Lady Macduff) and Polly Frame, Niamh McGrady and Sophie Hunter (the Witches).
Macbeth will be followed by The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby – from December 5, 2007 to January 27, 2008. The two-part adaptation of Dickens’ classic tale follows Nickleby on a thrilling journey through 1830s England.
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Following the conclusion of Equus, the Gielgud Theatre has undergone a brief refurbishment. It became available when Desperately Seeking Susan unexpectedly changed venues – to the larger Novello Theatre where The Drowsy Chaperone closed ahead of schedule. The Gielgud will remain dark until September.