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Opening: Louis, Whose Life, Anniversary Complicite

Amongst the major shows opening in London this week are:

OPENING TONIGHT, 24 January 2005 (previews from 20 January), the world premiere of Simon Mendes da Costa’s Losing Louis at north London's Hampstead Theatre (See News 9 Dec 2004). Robin Lefevre directs Alison Steadman, Lynda Bellingham and Jason Durr in the comedy where secrets that refuse to be buried erupt as family members are brought together to face it out in the bedroom where all the confusion began. It runs until 19 February 2005.

OPENING TUESDAY, 25 January 2005 (previews from 7 January), at the West End's Comedy Theatre, Peter Hall’s new production of Whose Life Is It Anyway?. Sex and the City’s Kim Cattrall (pictured) makes her West End and British theatre debut playing a paraplegic in this updated version of Brian Clark’s 1978 play. Cattrall is joined by Janet Suzman, Ann Mitchell, Amita Dhiri and William Chubb (See News, 25 Oct 2004). The limited run continues until 30 April 2005.

OPENING WEDNESDAY, 26 January 2005 (previews from 20 January), Sheila Hancock stars as the mother-in-law from hell in The Anniversary at the West End's Garrick Theatre (See News, 12 Nov 2004). Bill McIllwraith's comedy, which centres around the formidable widow whose beloved sons and their bedevilled wives gather for the annual party celebrating Mum and her late husband’s wedding anniversary, comes to London from Liverpool Playhouse and is directed by Denis Lawson and Jonathan Munby. The limited 12-week season continues until 23 April 2005.

ALSO ON WEDNESDAY, 26 January 2005, legendary theatre director Peter Brook returns to the Barbican for BITE:05 with Ta Main Dans La Mienne. The original play - Your Hand in Mine - was written in English by Carol Rocamora and is based on the 400+ love letters Anton Chekhov and his wife Olga Knipper exchanged from 1989 until his death in 1904 during their frequent separations due to his banishment and her job as an actress for Stanislavsky’s Moscow Arts Theatre. This French adaptation is by Marie-Helene Estienne and is performed with English surtitles. It stars Natasha Parry and French film star Michel Piccoli. It runs until 12 February 2005.

OPENING THURSDAY, 27 January 2005 (previews from 20 January), pioneering theatre troupe Complicite return to the National Theatre with a 21st anniversary revival of its second-ever show, A Minute Too Late. The vaudevillian “comedy of mourning” is devised by the company and redirected by Simon McBurney, who will also appear along with Jozef Houben and Marcello Magni. Complicite has previously been seen at the National with Mnemonic, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, The Street of Crocodiles and, as part of last year’s Travelex £10 season, the Whatsonstage.com Award-nominated Measure for Measure. A Minute Too Late, will run in repertory in the NT Lyttelton until 26 February 2005.

- by Hannah Kennedy

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