Redgraves Co-star in NT's Cherry Orchard
Date: 22 May 2000
The famous Redgrave siblings - Vanessa and Corin - are getting together for another stage collaboration this autumn. They'll co-star in a new production of Anton Chekhov's 1904 The Cherry Orchard in September at the National's Cottesloe Theatre.
This will be the second production the pair has done together in less than a year. Last autumn, as part of the Noel Coward centenary, the sister and brother starred in the revival of Song at Twilight at the Gielgud Theatre. That turned into a real family affair with Corin's wife Kika Markham also appearing.
Vanessa has just started previews of The Tempest at Shakespeare's Globe where she stars as a male Prospero. Corin's other recent stage credits include the National's production of Tennessee Williams' Not About Nightingales, in both London and New York.
In The Cherry Orchard, the aspirations and tensions of the Russian middle class at the turn of the century are borne out in a country family's discussions about the future of an orchard. Vanessa will play Madame Ranevskaya to Corin's Gaev. They'll be joined in the cast by Eve Best and Michael Bryant.
The play, in a new version by David Lan, is directed by RNT artistic director Trevor Nunn and is designed by Maria Bjornson. Lan's work includes The Ends of the Earth (Cottesloe, 1996) and a version of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya for the RSC (Young Vic, 1996).
The National's will be the second major staging of The Cherry Orchard this year. English Touring Theatre's production, starring Prunella Scales, is currently touring regionally until 1 July 2000.
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