Donnellan Brings Russian Winter's Tale to UK

Former Cheek by Jowl director Declan Donnellan and designer Nick Ormerod have teamed up with St Petersburg's Maly Drama Theatre Company for a unique international touring production of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. The production kicks off its UK tour this month, opening in Warwick on 29 April and continuing to Brighton, Plymouth, Sheffield and London before concluding in Newcastle on 3 June. All performances will be in Russian with English surtitles.

This is the first Maly production of Shakespeare and the first play the company has performed with a British director. It has met with both public and critical success in Russia where it was nominated this year for three Golden Mask Awards, the country's most prestigious theatrical awards, announced this week. Nominations included Best Production (which it also won), Best Male Lead for Pyotr Semak as Leontes, and Best Director for Donnellan. This was the first time that a non-Russian director had ever been nominated for the accolade.

Donnellan and Ormerod first encountered the Maly Theatre team when they toured previous Cheek by Jowl productions to Russia. In 1997, they were invited by the company to return and direct The Winter's Tale.

The Maly Theatre premiered in the UK in 1988 with its production of Stars in the Morning Sky and has returned seven times with productions of Gaudeamus, Claustrophobia, Brothers and Sisters, The Cherry Orchard, House and The Possessed. The company will also be performing at the Barbican Centre this June with Platonov.

The full schedule for The Winter's Tale UK tour is: Warwick Arts Centre (29 April - 1 May), Theatre Royal Brighton (4 - 8 May), Theatre Royal Plymouth (12 - 15 May), Crucible Theatre Sheffield (19 - 22 May), Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, west London (25 - 29 May) and Newcastle Playhouse (1 - 3 June).

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