1st Night Photos: Cattrall & MacFadyen in Private

Cattrall and MacFadyen play divorcees Amanda and Elyot, who find themselves both honeymooning with their new spouses in the same hotel in the South of France. When by chance they meet again across adjoining balconies, their insatiable feelings for each other are immediately rekindled. Without a care for scandal, new partners or memories of what drove them apart in the first place, they hurl themselves headlong into love and lust.

The cast is completed by Lisa Dillon as Elyot’s second wife Sybil, Simon Paisley Day as Amanda’s spouse Victor and Caroline Lena Olsson as French maid Louise.

Kim Cattrall made her West End debut in 2005 playing the paralysed lead character in Peter Hall’s revival of Whose Life Is It Anyway?, which followed in 2006 with a production of David Mamet’s The Cryptogram at the Donmar Warehouse (See News, 14 Jul 2006). Her US stage credits include A View From The Bridge, Three Sisters, Miss Julie, The Misanthrope and Wild Honey (NT production). Born in Liverpool, Cattrall was recently the subject of BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are?.

Matthew MacFadyen is best known as Mr Darcy in the 2005 film of Pride and Prejudice, and for his role as Tom Quinn in the BBC’s Spooks. On stage, he played Prince Hal in the 2005 National Theatre production of Henry IV and in 2007 appeared in the premiere of The Pain and the Itch at the Royal Court. He is soon to appear as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Russell Crowe’s forthcoming film, Robin Hood.

Five-time Olivier Award-winning director Richard Eyre was artistic director of the National Theatre from 1988 to 1997. His numerous theatre productions range from Guys and Dolls and Mary Poppins to works by Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams, David Hare and Alan Bennett; most recently in London, his stage credits have included Simon Gray’s posthumous The Last Cigarette and Matt Charman’s The Observer. Eyre’s film work includes The Ploughman’s Lunch, Iris, Stage Beauty and Notes on a Scandal.

Private Lives is booking to 1 May 2010.