Stott, Friel & West to star in Posner’s West End Vanya
As previously tipped, Ken
Stott will be returning to the West End this autumn in a new
production of Uncle Vanya directed by Lindsay
Posner. With previews from 24 October, Chekhov’s intimate family
drama will open at the Vaudeville Theatre on 2 November.
Stott will lead a cast
that includes Anna Friel and Samuel West. Stott and West star as
Vanya and Astrov, a pair of friends whose lives are disrupted by the
arrival of the beautiful young Yelena (Friel) with her elderly
husband to the rural estate which funds their urban existences.
Posner directed Stott, who
is best known for his film and television roles, in his 2009
production of A View from the Bridge in the West
End. The actor’s stage credits include the UK premiere of Yasmina
Reza‘s God of Carnage in 2008, as well as appearing in the
original cast of Reza’s Art. He will appear in the new film of The Hobbit, which is due for release this winter.
Friel returns to the West
End three years after she starred as Holly Golightly in Breakfast
at Tiffany’s at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. Whatsonstage
Award-winning West was last seen in Rupert Goold‘s hit financial
satire, Enron, for which he was nominated for a
Best Actor award at the Oliviers.
Posner directs
Christopher Hampton‘s 1970 adaptation of the 1897 drama. Another adaptation of the play, by Mike Poulton, ran at the Print Room this spring. That production, which starred Iain Glen and Charlotte Emmerson, will return to the Off West End venue from 18 June to 7 July.
