The Chalk Garden - Donmar Warehouse
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
THE DONMAR Warehouse is presenting the first major London revival in 30 years of Enid Bagnold’s dark comedy The Chalk Garden – from June 5 to August 2, 2008.
Raised in a manor house by the sea, where flowers struggle to grow, 16 year-old Laurel runs wild. As her eccentric grandmother tends to the garden, Laurel’s need for love forces her into a world of fantasy.
However, things begin to change with the appointment of a governess who brings a mysterious new presence to the already dysfunctional household.
Michael Grandage – Artistic Director of the Donmar – directs a cast that includes Steph Bramwell, Linda Broughton, Suzanne Burden, Jamie Glover, Felicity Jones (Laurel), Clifford Rose, Margaret Tyzack (Mrs St Maugham) and Penelope Wilton (as Miss Madrigal).
Wilton’s theatre credits include John Gabriel Borkman, The Little Foxes and A Kind of Alaska (all at the Donmar); Women Beware Women (RSC); and The House of Bernada Alba (National Theatre). Her screen credits include Doctor Who, Bob and Rose, Victoria and Albert and Wives and Daughters (TV); The History Boys, Match Point, Pride and Prejudice, Calendar Girls and Iris (film).
Tyzack’s theatre credits include Southwark Fair, His Girl Friday, Tartuffe and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (all at the National Theatre) – for the latter, she won an Olivier Award for Best Actress; As You Desire Me (Playhouse Theatre); and Lettuce and Lovage (Gielgud Theatre and Broadway) for which she received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress.
On screen she has appeared in Doc Martin, Wallis and Edward and Our Mutual Friend (TV); Match Point, Mrs Dalloway, The Clockwork Orange and 2001: A Space Odyssey (film).
The Chalk Garden is designed by Peter McKintosh, with lighting by Paule Constable and sound by Adam Cork.