Cast: Donmar Homburg, Parsons in Deathtrap
The Donmar Warehouse has announced full casting for Dennis Kelly‘s new version of The Prince of Homburg, which runs from 27 July to 4 September 2010 (previews from 22 July).
The Prince of Homburg, written by Heinrich von Kleist in 1809 and first performed in 1821, tells the story of the heroic commander of the Prussian cavalry who dreams of victory, glory and fame, but whose reckless disobedience during a crucial military operations leads to his greatest battle yet.
The production reunites the creative team behind last year’s Spanish Golden Age revival of Life Is a Dream: director Jonathan Munby, designer Angela Davies, lighting designer Neil Austin, sound designer Christopher Shutt and composer Dominic Haslam.
Oscar-winning actress Estelle Parsons has replaced Anna Massey as Dutch psychic Helga Ten Dorp in Matthew Warchus‘ West End revival of Ira Levin’s comic thriller Deathtrap this autumn (See News, 16 Apr 2010).
The production, which also stars Simon Russell Beale, Claire Skinner and Glee‘s Jonathan Groff, opens at the Noel Coward Theatre on 7 September 2010 (previews from 21 August).
Roseanne star Parsons, who has many Broadway credits to her name and won a best supporting actress Oscar for Bonnie And Clyde (1967), was, according to the Daily Mail, persuaded to join the show by her friend Mark Rylance, who is currently working with Warchus on La Bete. Massey has withdrawn for private reasons.
First opened in 1978 in New York, Deathtrap went on to become Broadway’s longest running thriller. That same year, it premiered in London at the West End’s Garrick Theatre in a production starring Dennis Quilley and Rosemary McHale. In 1982, it was made into a film starring Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve.
The action focuses on Sidney (Russell Beale), a once-celebrated thrillers author who’s now suffering from writer’s block. While waiting for inspiration, he receives a brilliant script from one of his former writing students, Clifford (Groff). The temptation is too much. With the help of his wife, Sidney plots to murder his protégé and market the young man’s sure-fire thriller as his own. But, as in any good thriller, twists and turns follow in abundance.
