Ninth Cast Announced for West End Art

The West End production of Yasmina Reza's Art has announced its new cast - the production's ninth since opening at Wyndham's Theatre on 15 October 1996. From Tuesday, 2 February 1999, Tom Mannion ('Marc'), Danny Webb ('Serge') and Gary Olsen ('Yvan') will take over from comedian Jack Dee, Larry Lamb and Tim Healy as the trio of friends who feud over modern art.

Mannion has most recently appeared on the London stage in Patrick Marber's Closer (as 'Larry') at the Lyric Theatre and the Almeida production of The Storm. He has also spent several seasons with the RSC. Webb's stage credits include Dead Funny at the Vaudeville and Serious Money at the Royal Court and on Broadway. Olsen is best known for his role as 'Ben' in BBC TV's 2.4 Children. He was last seen on the West End in John Godber's April in Paris

The London production of Art - translated by Christopher Hampton and directed by Matthew Warchus - has long attracted top-notch actors for its three-month stints. The original cast starred Albert Finney, Tom Courtney and Ken Stott. Subsequent casts have featured the likes of Richard Griffiths, Henry Goodman, David Haig, Anton Lesser and Nigel Havers as well as an all-American cast of Stacey Keach, George Wendt and David Dukes.

Last year, the Broadway production of Art, also directed by Warchus, opened to critical acclaim with a cast featuring Alan Alda, Victor Garber and Alfred Molina. Art received five Laurence Olivier nominations in 1997. It won both the Evening Standard and Olivier Awards for Best Comedy. In New York, the play is breaking box office records and has won the Tony and New York Critics Circle Awards for Best Play.

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