The Doctor in the West End starring Juliet Stevenson postponed until 2021
The show was originally meant to run this summer
© Manuel Harlan
The Doctor starring Juliet Stevenson has postponed its West End run until 2021.
While Stevenson will still lead the five-star production of Robert Icke's version of Arthur Schnitzler play, which transfers from the Almeida Theatre, further casting is to be confirmed for next year's run.
Specific dates for the piece are to be announced, though the show will open in the spring of next year.
Stevenson said: "Very occasionally in a career, maybe once a decade if you're lucky, you get the chance to perform in a play that speaks so powerfully to its time that it captures everyone's hearts and minds. The Doctor did that last year at the Almeida, and was set to do it again in the West End when Covid-19 brought it crashing to a halt – along with almost everything else.
"Whilst accepting the inevitable, I was pretty gutted – and am missing the production, the wonderful company, the character, and above all the experience of taking the play out there nightly to new and hungry audiences.
"So I am thrilled that we will be back next Spring, and that audiences emerging from their seclusion will have the chance to see it. Rob has written what I think is a great play, in every sense – and as a director he has shaped a piece of theatrical magic. It couldn't be more pertinent in its exploration of the ethical decisions doctors currently face on the front line today, and of much else besides - of things far beyond the realm of the merely newsworthy….
"We will get through this strange and isolating chapter – and then theatre will play a key role in bringing people back together, to share our stories and to celebrate our capacity to roll with the punches and get back up.
"When the lights come back on in London's West End, and in theatres across the UK, I'm hoping that audiences will join us. What a joy it will be to be back on stage and riding The Doctor rollercoaster every night, in dialogue with audiences who'll have so much to bring to it… as soon as it's safe to do so."
The production has designs by Hildegard Bechtler, lighting by Natasha Chivers, sound and composition by Tom Gibbons and casting by Julia Horan.
Points of sale will issue full credit vouchers and accept any refund requests for any previous ticket bookings for The Doctor.