Old Vic - 2013 Season
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
THE OLD Vic has announced its programme for 2013 and it includes revivals of Terence Rattigan’s The Winslow Boy, Tennessee Williams’ Sweet Bird of Youth and William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.
The season opens with The Winslow Boy, which runs from March 19 (previews from March 8) to May 25, 2013.
Lindsay Posner will direct Rattigan’s compelling play, which is based on a true story of a father’s fight to clear his son’s name when he is expelled after being convicted of theft.
First staged in 1946, the battle between personal principles and conscience plus an impenetrable establishment under the media spotlight makes The Winslow Boy as relevant today as it was then.
Last Christmas, Posner directed a revival of Noises Off, Michael Frayn’s multi award-winning backstage comedy, at the Old Vic. Following its universally acclaimed run, it transferred to the Novello Theatre and is scheduled to tour the UK from March 2013. Posner’s other credits include Uncle Vanya (currently at the Vaudeville Theatre); Butley starring Dominic West (Duchess Theatre); An Ideal Husband (Vaudeville Theatre); and House of Games, Tom and Viv, The Hypochondriac and Romance (Almeida Theatre).
Born in 1911, Terence Rattigan became one of Britain’s most important dramatists. His other plays include French Without Tears, After the Dance, Flare Path, The Browning Version, The Deep Blue Sea and Separate Tables. Several were adapted for film and television.
Casting for The Winslow Boy has yet to be announced.
Next, Marianne Elliott will direct Kim Cattrall as a fading Hollywood legend ravaged by the bitterness of failure and despair in Tennessee Williams’ powerful and poetic, Sweet Bird of Youth, which runs from June 12 (previews from June 1) to August 31, 2013.
Fleeing the disastrous premiere of her comeback film, Alexandra Del Lago (Cattrall) travels incognito as The Princess Kosmonopolis seeking refuge in drink, drugs and the arms of Chance Wayne, an idealistic young dreamer turned gigolo, who is hellbent on achieving his own movie stardom.
Cattrall is probably best known for her role as Samantha in the popular TV series Sex and the City, for which she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. She has, however, appeared on the UK stage in Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Cryptogram and Private Lives alongside Matthew MacFadyen.
Marianne Elliott is an Associate Director at the National Theatre, where her productions include The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Season’s Greetings, All’s Well That Ends Well, Harper Regan, Saint Joan (Olivier Award for Best Revival, South Bank Show Award for Theatre), Pillars of the Community (Evening Standard Award for Best Director) and the award-winning War Horse, which she co-directed with Tom Morris.
Further casting for Sweet Bird of Youth has yet to be announced.
Finally – from September 19 (previews from September 7) to November 16, 2013 – Mark Rylance will direct James Earl Jones and Vanessa Redgrave in Shakespeare’s timeless comedy Much Ado About Nothing.
While young lovers Claudio and Hero threaten to have their imminent nuptials thwarted by the resentful scheming of a Prince, marriage seems inconceivable for reluctant lovers Beatrice (Redgrave) and Benedick (Earl Jones).
Redgrave and Earl Jones, who last year starred as Daisy Werthan and Hoke Coleburn in David Esbjornson’s acclaimed production of Driving Miss Daisy, will take on the roles of Beatrice and Benedick for the first time.
Rylance can currently be seen starring in the West End transfer of the Globe’s acclaimed productions of Richard III and Twelfth Night at the Apollo Theatre. His other recent credits include his Olivier Award-winning portrayal of Johnny ‘Rooster’ Byron in Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem (Royal Court, Apollo Theatre and Broadway) and La Bête (Comedy Theatre and Broadway).
Further casting for Much Ado About Nothing has yet to be announced.
Kiss Me, Kate continues at the Old Vic until March 2, 2013.