Cast: Joseph Fiennes, Manville, Brief, Royal Court
Joseph Fiennes (pictured), brother of Ralph, will return to the stage next month to star in the UK premiere of 2,000 Feet Away, which runs from 16 June to 12 July 2008 (previews from 11 June) at the 81-seat Bush Theatre in west London (See News, 5 Feb 2008).
In Eldon, Iowa, a tiny community in the American heartland, the deputy sheriff (Fiennes) must enforce a new law banning sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of anywhere children may gather. When the deputy has to evict his neighbour’s son AG, the new law hits home.
Fiennes is joined in the cast by Ian Hart as paedophile AG and Phyllis Logan as AG’s mother. The production, which marks the UK debut for Australian-British playwright Anthony Weigh, is directed by Bush artistic director Josie Rourke and designed by Lucy Osborne.
Well known internationally for his screen successes in the likes of Shakespeare in Love, Elizabeth, Enemy at the Gate and The Merchant of Venice, Joseph Fiennes was last on stage in the 2005 West End revival of John Osborne’s Epitaph for George Dillon. His other theatre credits have included Love’s Labour’s Lost, Real Classy Affair, Edward II, The Woman in Black, A View from the Bridge, As You Like It, The Herbal Bed and A Month in the Country.
Ian Hart’s screen credits include Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, The End of the Affair, Finding Neverland and the US drama series Dirt. He was last on stage in the 2001 West End revival of Pinter’s The Homecoming. Phyllis Logan is best known for playing Monica in Mike Leigh’s Secrets and Lies.
In other play casting news:
– by Terri Paddock