Hare Revives Rapture As Permanent Way PremieresDate: 22 October 2003
As previously tipped (See The Goss, 8 Oct 2003), David Hare's 1988 play The Secret Rapture will be revived in London this autumn. The new production, directed by Guy Retallack, opens on 26 November 2003 (previews from 17 November) at the West End's Lyric Theatre, where it's initially booking to 21 February 2004.
The revival coincides with the premiere of Hare's latest play (See News, 8 Oct 2003). The Permanent Way, about the managerial chaos that's engulfed Britain's railway network, is directed by Out of Joint artistic director Max Stafford-Clark and embarks on a UK-wide tour on 13 November 2003, ahead of a four-month season at the National's Cottesloe Theatre from 6 January to 1 May 2004.
Hare's many other award-winning plays include The Blue Room, Amy's View, Skylight, Via Dolorosa (a monologue which he himself performed - pictured) and, seen last year in the West End with Dames Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, The Breath of Life. In a Big Debate poll earlier this year, Whatsonstage.com theatregoers voted Hare one of the top ten "Greatest Living Playwrights".
In The Secret Rapture, following the death of their father, Isobel is pressured by her conservative MP sister Marion into giving their alcoholic stepmother a job in her design firm. When the play first transferred to Broadway, in a production directed by Hare himself, it famously sparked off a war of words between the playwright and legendary New York Times critic Frank Rich.
The new production will star Peter Egan (recently seen in Noises Off in the West End) as Tom, Belinda Lang (Life x 3 on stage, 2 Point 4 Children on TV), Jenny Seagrove (The Constant Wife, The Odd Couple), Simon Shepherd (Art, Peak Practice) and Liza Walker (Closer, Real Classy Affair).
The Secret Rapture is presented in the West End by Bill Kenwright, whose transfer of Camut Band's Life Is Rhythm finishes its brief season at the Lyric this week.
- by Terri Paddock
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