Beacham in Dinner
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Janus Tours Betrayal, Beacham & Roslin Do Dinner

Two recent West End plays – Peter Hall’s 25th anniversary revival of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal and Moira Buffini’s Dinner - head out on the road with new casts over the coming weeks.

Betrayal opens on 18 May 2004 at Richmond Theatre before continuing, until 19 July, to Cambridge, Stoke on Trent, Woking, Lincoln, Bromley and Brighton. On tour, TV’s Samantha Janus (Strange, Game On, Babes in the Wood and Liverpool One) Antony Byrne and David Michaels take over from Janie Dee, Hugo Speer and Aden Gillett.

In 1978, Hall directed the world premiere of the drama about adultery in which, famously, the scenes are played backwards in time. Last year, he staged this anniversary revival as part of his repertory season at Theatre Royal Bath, ahead of a brief regional tour and a limited West End engagement at the Duchess Theatre.

The production is designed by John Gunter, with lighting by Peter Mumford, and is presented by Theatre Royal Bath Productions.

Dinner, which just finished its limited West End season earlier this month, launches its two-month regional tour at Cambridge Arts Theatre on 19 June 2004 before continuing, until 7 August, to Guildford, Malvern, Newcastle, Richmond, Cardiff, Brighton and Oxford.

On tour, Stephanie Beacham (best known for TV’s Dynasty, The Colby’s and Bad Girls) takes over from Harriet Walter as Paige, the dinner party hostess from hell, serving guests including Gaby Roslin (Channel 4’s Big Breakfast, Chicago on stage) and Louise Jameson (EastEnders).

Dinner premiered in November 2002 in the National Theatre's Lyttelton Loft, a 100-seat studio specially created for the NT's five-month Transformation season, which was extended to accommodate the production directed by the playwright's sister Fiona Buffini. It reopened at the West End’s Wyndham’s Theatre in December 2003.

To the dinner of the title, Paige has invited an artist, a scientist and a sexpot to celebrate the publication of her husband's bestseller. The arrival of Mike, marooned in the foggy lane having crashed his van, provides an unexpected addition to the evening's entertainment. A silent waiter, sourced from an obscure website, completes the picture. Primordial Soup is first on the menu...

Once again directed by Fiona Buffini, Dinner is designed by Rachel Blues, with lighting by Mark Henderson and sound by Rich Walsh. It’s presented on tour by Michael Codron, Lee Dee and J & C Nederlander.

- by Terri Paddock

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