Theatre News

Casting: Robert Vaughn and Oliver Lansley cast in world premiere of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

The star of BBC drama ”Hustle” will narrate the production which opens at the Park Theatre next month

Academy and Emmy Award nominated Robert Vaughn, recently seen on stage at the Garrick Theatre in Twelve Angry Men will star opposite Oliver Lansley (The Best Possible Taste, Sherlock, Misfits) in the world stage première of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, which opens at the Park Theatre, London on 16 May.

Directed by Jethro Compton, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valancev is a story of good versus evil. When Ranse Foster (Lansley), a young scholar from New York City, travels west in search of a new life he arrives beaten and half-dead on the dusty streets of Twotrees. Rescued from the plains, the town soon becomes his home as he finds the love of a local girl. This love gives him purpose in a broken land, but is it enough to save him from the vicious outlaw who wants him dead?

Other cast members include Niamh Walsh (The Middlemarch Trilogy, Orange Tree Theatre), Paul Albertson (Carver, Arcola Theatre; Damages, Bush Theatre), Lanre Malaolu (Marat/Sade, RSC; Macbeth, Shakespeare’s Globe), Robert G Slade (The Hot Zone, Brady Centre), Lanre Malaolu, James Marlowe and Hayden Wood.

Originally written by Dorothy M.Johnson in 1949, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance became a Hollywood sensation when John Ford directed James Stewart and John Wayne in the 1962 film version. Now for the first time this tale of love, hope and revenge set against the vicious backdrop of a lawless society will take to the stage for a new audience to experience the Wild West of 1890.