The Portrait of a Lady - Rose Theatre
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
SIR PETER Hall directs Henry James’ nineteenth century masterpiece, The Portrait of a Lady, at the Rose Theatre Kingston – from August 26 to September 6, 2008.
Set in London, Rome and Florence, The Portrait of a Lady is the story of Isabel Archer, a beautiful young American heiress, who travels to Europe on a voyage of self-discovery. She is accompanied by the delightful Madam Merle who seems to have many friends, but no past.
Having turned down an English Lord and a wealthy American industrialist, Isabel marries Gilbert Osmond, a man of exquisite taste and sensibility, who claims to care nothing for worldly possessions. However, as Gilbert and Madam Merle reveal their true faces, Isabel is forced to confront her future alone…
The cast includes Catherine McCormack, Niamh Cusack, Finbar Lynch, Anthony Howell and Jean Marsh.
Although McCormack is probably best known for her role in Braveheart, she has also appeared in The Land Girls, This Year’s Love, The Tailor of Panama and Spy Game.
Her stage credits include Vermillion Dreams (Salisbury Playhouse), Lie of the Mind (Donmar Warehouse) and Dinner (National Theatre). In 2001, she was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in All My Sons, also at the National. She was seen most recently in Patrick Barlow’s comic adaptation of The 39 Steps both in the West End and on Broadway.
Lynch’s stage credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ghosts, Three Sisters, Translations and Pinter’s The Hothouse. He received a Tony Award nomination on Broadway for the National Theatre’s production of Tennessee Williams’s Not About Nightingales.