Labute's 9/11 Mercy Makes Move for Almeida???
Date: 30 August 2002
Neil Labute's latest play, a two-hander about a post-11 September affair between a married man and his older lover, receives its world premiere in New York in December and there's already talk about a possible London transfer to the Almeida, which has mounted Labute's plays so regularly in recent years. Ironically, the new piece, which is called The Mercy Seat and will star Hollywood's Sigourney Weaver Stateside, replaces Labute's The Distance from Here in the winter schedule at Manhattan's MCC Theatre. Distance premiered at the Almeida at King's Cross in May 2002, and was due to follow in the footsteps of the American playwright's The Shape of Things, which transferred to Broadway and was adapted for the big screen following its Almeida opening in 2001. If Labute is to return to the Almeida, he'll need to find favour with the theatre's new artistic director, Michael Attenborough, who took over from joint leaders Ian McDiarmid and Jonathan Kent last month, and he'll have to be patient. The theatre's home venue in Islington is still being renovated and is not due to reopen until spring 2003, while they have now vacated their temporary premises in the converted bus shelter at King's Cross. An announcement of Attenborough's first season, and the first season back home, is expected in December.
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