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Daldry Directs Churchill's Number at Court, 18 Sep

The world premiere of Caryl Churchill's latest play will open the Royal Court's autumn season. A Number, directed by former Court artistic director Stephen Daldry, will open on 18 September (previews from 12 September) and will run until 2 November 2002.

A Number revolves around Bernard, who has come to tell his father some shocking news. But who exactly is Bernard and what will happen to him when he finds out?

Daldry and Churchill last teamed up on the Olivier-nominated Far Away, which premiered at the Royal Court Upstairs in December 2000, before transferring to the West End's Albery Theatre.

Renowned for her sparseness and slight surrealism, Churchill is one of Britain's leading contemporary playwrights. In addition to Far Away, her many plays include Top Girls, Serious Money, Cloud Nine, Skriker and Blue Heart.

Director Daldry has been a darling of the London stage since his 1991 expressionist revival of JB Priestley's An Inspector Calls, which won a string of awards and only finished in the West End in May 2002. While artistic director of the Royal Court, he helped to spearhead the theatre's recent £26m refurbishment, and his acclaimed productions included David Hare's Via Dolorosa.

Daldry left the Royal Court in 1997 (though he remains an associate director) to pursue his film career but, in spite of his success with Billy Elliot, for which he is now internationally famous, the director has said he has no intention of abandoning either London or the theatre.

A Number will also reunite Churchill and Daldry with designer Ian MacNeil, who designed Far Away. Casting for the production has not yet been announced.

- by Terri Paddock

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