Richard Eyre Returns to NT in 2007???

Next month, it’s the turn of Trevor Nunn; further ahead, another former NT artistic director, Richard Eyre, is planning to return once again to the South Bank, with an as-yet undecided production in February 2007. After nearly a decade in the job, Eyre stepped down as NT artistic director (succeeded by Nunn, who was in turn succeeded by current incumbent Nicholas Hytner) in September 1997. He returned in 2002 to direct Nicholas Wright's Vincent in Brixton, which transferred to the West End and Broadway and won a string of awards after its world premiere in the NT Cottesloe. Eyre’s most recent London stage production - his own version of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, which starred Eve Best and transferred to the West End after its season at the Almeida – brought him a fresh round of trophies, including this year’s Olivier for Best Director. He’s now off to New York to direct the Broadway premiere of musical Mary Poppins, which is due to open in November 2006. Oh yes, and switching mediums, Eyre’s latest film, Notes on a Scandal starring Judi Dench, is currently in post-production and the screen version of his 1997 NT production of King Lear, starring Ian Holm, is released this week on DVD. Not much on his plate then.

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