Rylance & Crook Lead Jerusalem to Apollo, 10 Feb
As previously tipped (See The Goss, 13 Aug 2009), Jez Butterworth‘s new play Jerusalem, which had a sell-out premiere at the Royal Court this summer, will transfer to the West End in the new year. Mark Rylance and Mackenzie Crook will reprise their performances in Ian Rickson’s production, which will have a 12-week season at the Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue from 10 February 2010 to 24 April 2010 (previews from 28 January).
In Jerusalem, Mark Rylance is Johnny Byron, a limping, caravan-dwelling ex-stuntman and all-round village rogue and modern-day Pied Piper. It’s St George’s Day, the morning of the local county fair, and Johnny is a wanted man. The council officials want to serve him an eviction notice, his children want their dad to take them to the fair, Troy Whitworth wants to give him a serious kicking and a motley crew of mates – including the loyal Ginger (Mackenzie Crook) – want his ample supply of drugs and alcohol.
Prior to Jerusalem, Rylance stars as Hamm in Complicite’s production of Samuel Beckett’s Endgame, from 15 October to 5 December (See News, 13 Aug 2009). Rylance’s many other stage credits include Boeing-Boeing (for which he won a Tony Award for Best Actor when it transferred to Broadway), True West, The Maids and myriad roles at Shakespeare’s Globe, where he was the founding artistic director.
Best known for his screen roles in The Office and three Pirates of the Caribbean films, Mackenzie Crook has appeared on stage in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Exonerated and, at the Court, The Seagull.
