Ambassadors Premieres New McPherson Play

The New Ambassadors 2001 winter/spring programme will include the world premiere of Weir author Conor McPherson's latest play, as well as revivals of George Eliot and Steven Berkoff.

Berkoff's Women opens the new schedule. The one-woman show stars Linda Marlowe and combines a number of scenes, both tragic and comic, from earlier Berkoff works including Greek, Decadence, Medea and East, which transferred to the West End's Vaudeville Theatre last year. It plays 5 to 10 February 2001.

McPherson's Port Authority opens on 22 February (previews from 19 February) and continues to 15 March 2001. The play tells disparate tales of three generations of men facing up to love and responsibilities. A boy leaves home for the first time; a man starts a job he's unqualified for; and an old man receives a mysterious package. The cast and director have not yet been confirmed for Port Authority.

McPherson is best-known for his hit Irish ghost story play, The Weir, which ran several times in London at the Royal Court, on its way to winning two Olivier Awards (Best New Play and Best Supporting Actor) and transferring to Broadway. Additional accolades for The Weir include the Evening Standard Most Promising Newcomer Award for McPherson and Best New Play honours in 1997 at both the Critics Circle and George Devine Awards. McPherson's other plays include This Lime Tree Bower, St Nicholas and Dublin Carol, seen at the Royal Court earlier this year.

In April, Shared Experience, currently presenting A Doll's House at the New Ambassadors, returns to the theatre with Helen Edmundson's adaptation of George Eliot's Mill on the Floss. First seen in the West End in 1994, the play is again directed by Nancy Meckler and Polly Teale. In it, Maggie Tulliver - played by three actresses at different stages of the character's life - struggles against the conventions of Victorian society. Casting has yet to be announced. Mill on the Floss runs from 3 April to 5 May 2001.

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