Callow & Pickup Join McKellen & Stewart in Godot

Simon Callow (pictured) and Ronald Pickup will join previously announced principals Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen in the forthcoming Theatre Royal Haymarket revival of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, which opens on 6 May 2009 (previews from 30 April) following an eight-week regional tour (See News, 31 Oct 2008).

Callow, who plays the enigmatic Pozzo, was last seen in the West End in The Woman in White in 2005, with previous stage credits including The Holy Terror (Duke of York’s), Through The Leaves (Duchess), The Mystery of Charles Dickens (Comedy & Albery) and The Alchemist (National Theatre). Last year he starred in the national tour of Equus and presented his one-man show A Festival Dickens at the Edinburgh Fringe.

On film Callow is probably best known for his role in smash-hit comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral, but he has numerous other credits including the recent adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera and 1998 Oscar winner Shakespeare in Love.

Ronald Pickup plays Pozzo’s ironically-named sidekick Lucky. Pickup’s recent theatre credits include Proof at the Donmar and Peer Gynt, Romeo and Juliet and Amy’s View (for which he was nominated for an Olivier award) for the National. He was involved in several productions at the NT during Laurence Oliver’s reign, with credits during this time including Three Sisters and Long Day’s Journey Into Night.

Waiting for Godot runs at the Theatre Royal Haymarket from 6 May 2009 (previews from 30 April) to 28 June. It’s directed by the venue’s newly appointed artistic director Sean Mathias and stars Ian McKellen as Estragon & Patrick Stewart as Vladimir, two tramps who pass the time by a deserted road as they wait for the mysterious Godot.

The tour kicks off at Malvern Theatres from 5 to 14 March, before visiting Milton Keynes (16-21 March), Brighton (23-28 March), Bath (30 March-4 April), Norwich (6-11 April), Edinburgh (13-18 April) and Newcastle (20-25 April).

– by Theo Bosanquet