The Entertainer - Gawn Grainger replaces John Hurt
Casting news
GAWN Grainger will replace John Hurt as Billy Rice in John Osbourne’s 1957 drama The Entertainer, which runs at the Garrick Theatre from August 20 to November 12, 2016, as part of the year-long Kenneth Branagh Season.
Previously Posted: John Hurt, who was to have played Billy Rice in The Entertainer, which opens at the Garrick Theatre in August, has withdrawn from the production due to ill health.
Hurt was recently in hospital with an ‘intestinal complaint’ and has been advised by doctors not to continue with the show. He said:
“Although I am much improved and on the road to a full recovery, my doctors have advised that it is too soon for me to undertake a lengthy and arduous stage role. It is therefore with great sadness and disappointment that I must withdraw from The Entertainer.
His replacement will be announced in due course.
Previously Posted: John Hurt (Merlin, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, The Elephant Man) returns to the stage after a ten year absence to play Billy Rice in John Osbourne’s 1957 drama The Entertainer.
Directed by Rob Ashford and part of the year-long Kenneth Branagh Season at the Garrick Theatre, it runs from August 20 to November 12, 2016.
Set against the backdrop of post-war Britain, John Osborne’s modern classic conjures the seedy glamour of the old music halls for an explosive examination of public masks and private moments.
Joining Hurt and the previously announced Kenneth Branagh as Archie Rice will be Phil Dunster as Graham, Greta Scacchi (Brideshead Revisited, War and Peace) as Phoebe, Sophie McShera (Downton Abbey) as Jean, Crispin Letts as Brother Bill, and Jonah Hauer-King (Punk Rock) as Frank.
On joining the cast Hurt said: “I am thrilled to be invited to play Billy Rice in this production of what I believe to be one of the great plays of the twentieth century. This has been a wonderfully successful season for Ken Branagh and his company, and I feel proud and privileged to be joining them.”
The Entertainer will be broadcast live to cinemas worldwide in the autumn, the date to be announced shortly.
Also part of the Kenneth Branagh Season: The Painkiller, starring Kenneth Branagh and Rob Brydon (March 5 to April 30) and Romeo and Juliet, starring Lily James as Juliet) and Richard Madden as Romeo (May 12 to August 13, 2016).