Theatre News

Stephen Fry makes Broadway debut alongside Mark Rylance in Globe transfer

The Globe’s Whatsonstage.com Award-winning revivals of Richard III and Twelfth Night are transferring to New York in November

Stephen Fry & Mark Rylance in Twelfth Night
Stephen Fry & Mark Rylance in Twelfth Night

Stephen Fry will make his Broadway debut later this year when the Globe’s all-male productions of Twelfth Night and Richard III – which star the venue’s former artistic director Mark Rylance – transfer to New York in November.

Rylance, a two-time Tony Award winner, will reprise his role as Olivia in Twelfth Night and as the ruthless and conniving title monarch in Richard III.

The productions, which ran in the West End earlier this year, will open 10 November 2013 at the Belasco Theatre, with previews from 15 October.

Fry won a Whatsonstage.com Award (see his acceptance speech below) for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the gullible Malvolio.

The role marked his first return to the acting stage since he famously walked out of a production of Simon Gray’s Cell Mates in 1995. Fry hit headlines recently after admitting to a suicide attempt last year.

The productions, which will play a limited 16-week run, also mark the Broadway debut of Shakespeare’s Globe.

Producers commented: “These productions show how laugh-out-loud funny, thrillingly theatrical and immediate Shakespeare plays can be. To see Mark Rylance, who is one of the world’s greatest, most accomplished and acclaimed stage actors, and the remarkable Shakespeare’s Globe company in these two uniquely staged extraordinary productions is an unforgettable experience.”