Wilde's Woman Follows Godot into Haymarket???

We hear that Lindsay Posner will be reviving Oscar Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance at the Theatre Royal Haymarket (See Michael Coveney's blog). Presumably, it will follow the return of Sean Mathias’ production of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot (See News, 26 Nov 2009), in which Ian McKellen and Ronald Pickup are newly joined by Roger Rees and Matthew Kelly for a run from 21 January to 3 April 2010.

If it happens, it’ll be another significant return for the venue. Wilde’s comedy premiered at this very address in 1893, and as recently as 2004, the play was dusted off again in a high-profile Haymarket production, directed by former RSC artistic director Adrian Noble and starring Rachael Stirling, Prunella Scales, Samantha Bond and Rupert Graves (See News, 26 Jun 2003).

In A Woman of No Importance, the upper classes have gathered for a weekend house party at Lady Hunstanton's country estate. The devilishly attractive Lord Illingworth is free to flaunt his seduction skills while the ladies, including young Hester Worsley must hide their desires. When it's announced that Gerald Arbuthnot has been appointed as Illingworth's secretary, his mother's scandalous secret threatens to upset her son's success.

No word yet on casting for the new production, but director Lindsay Posner’s most recent credits include A View from the Bridge with Ken Stott and Hayley Atwell and Carousel with Lesley Garrett, all of whom figure in the shortlists for the 2010 Whatsonstage.com Awards, announced last week (click here to vote now!).

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