Photos: Hancock & Chancellor Rehearse Last of the Duchess

Former National Theatre artistic director Richard Eyre helms the Hampstead Theatre's production of The Last of the Duchess, Nicholas Wright's new play based on Caroline Blackwood’s 1995 book about the last days of Wallace Simpson.

The production, which stars Anna Chancellor alongside Olivier Award winner Sheila Hancock, Angela Thorne, John Heffernan, Jasmina Daniel, Conrad Asquith and Helen Bradbury, opens at the Hampstead on 26 October (previews from 20 October) where it runs until 26 November 2011.

An American divorcee who became the Duchess of Windsor after marrying and necessitating the abdication of Edward VIII, Blackwood was originally commissioned to write an article about Wallace Simpson, who died in 1986, for the Sunday Times in 1980.

The Last of the Duchess focuses on her attempts to organise interviews, while being obstructed by the Duchess’ lawyer Maitre Suzanne Blum (Hancock), who Blackwood (Chancellor) accused of essentially imprisoning the royal in her villa in Paris’ Bois de Boulogne.

The Hampstead Theatre recently released photos showing Sheila Hancock and Anna Chancellor in rehearsal for the upcoming production.

- by Andrew Girvan

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	Review Round-up: Wright's Duchess Bows in Hampstead - 1st Nov 2011 roundup
	The Last of the Duchess - 27th Oct 2011 reviews
	Cast: Britton Leads RSC Sade, Full Hampstead Duchess - 17th Aug 2011 news
	Naughty Pythons, Chancellor & Hancock in Last Days - 5th Jul 2011 news
	Hall Lures Eyre, Wright & Mitchell to Hampstead - 22nd Mar 2011 news