1st Night Photos: Hare Vertical Hour Comes Home

The Vertical Hour was first seen in November 2006 on Broadway, the first of author David Hare’s plays to premiere on the other side of the Atlantic. However, the British playwright brought it home last night (22 January, previews from 17 January) in a new production which runs at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs until 1 March.

Nadia Blye knows exactly what her stance is on Iraq. A former war reporter and professor of international relations at Yale, she has advised the president and seen action in Sarajevo and Baghdad. She is sure of her place in the world and her opinion of it. Until, that is, she meets an equally opinionated and lethally charming man – her boyfriend Phillip’s father, Oliver – over a weekend in Shropshire. Oliver’s intervention has far-reaching consequences for them all.

In the new production directed by Jeremy Herrin, Indira Varma, Anton Lesser and Tom Riley play Nadia, Oliver and Phillip, the roles originated in Sam Mendes’ Broadway premiere by Hollywood’s Julianne Moore and Britons Bill Nighy and Andrew Scott. At the Royal Court, the cast also includes Joseph Kloska and Wunmi. The production is designed by Mike Britton with lighting by Howard Harrison and music and sound by Nick Powell.

For 1st Night Photos, our Whatsonstage.com photographer Dan Wooller was on hand for the post-show party of The Vertical Hour at the Royal Court along with the cast, author David Hare, director Jeremy Herrin, Royal Court artistic director Dominic Cooke.

Other first-night guests included Jonathan Munby, Elliot Cowan (the respective director and star of the Royal Exchange’s recent Henry V, nominated for Best Regional Production in this year’s Theatregoers’ Choice Awards – click here to vote), Don Warrington, Stephen Frears, David Edgar, Matt Charman, David Lan, Nicholas Wright, Kenneth Cranham, Harriet Walter, Guy Henry, Karl Johnson and Richard Wilson.

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