Theatre News

Cast: Glen & Emmerson in Vanya, Huis Clos, Bush Girl

20 December 2011

Iain Glen and Charlotte Emmerson will star in Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, adapted by Mike Poulton and directed by Lucy Bailey, at The Print Room in Notting Hill from 29 March to 28 April 2012 (previews from 21 March).

The production will mark Poulton’s fourth stage adaptation of the play, following two for Derek Jacobi (Chichester and Broadway) and one for the Mercury Theatre Colchester.

Iain Glen has recently been seen on TV in Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones, while his extensive theatre credits include Ghosts (2010), The Crucible (2007), Hedda Gabler (2006) and A Streetcar Named Desire (2002).

Charlotte Emmerson has appeared in The Seagull (2003), The Postman Always Rings Twice (2005) at the Playhouse Theatre (directed by Lucy Bailey), and Tom Stoppard’s Coast of Utopia trilogy (2005) and The Cherry Orchard at the National Theatre, both directed by Trevor Nunn.

Uncle Vanya is set on a provincial Russian estate, where
little disturbs the inhabitants’ quiet lives – until the head of the
family brings home his beautiful new wife.

Casting has been announced for Huis Clos, the final production in this year’s Donmar Trafalgar season showcasing up-and-coming directors.

Running from 9 to 28 January (previews from 5 January), the cast comprises: Michelle Fairley (Ines), Fiona Glascott (Estelle), Will Keen (Garcin) and Thomas Padden (Valet).

Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialist play is set in a single roomm, with no windows and a locked door. There’s no way out for three people left alone to share their memories together. Fear of what lies beyond the door turns talk of their earthly transgressions into a meditation on the afterlife and a realisation that they are torturing each other in a living hell.

Director Paul Hart was resident assistant director at the Donmar in 2009, where he worked with Douglas Hodge, Kfir Yefet, Rob Ashford, Jonathan Mumby and Michael Grandage.

In other casting news:

The premiere of Nancy Harris’ Our New Girl, the final production of Josie Rourke‘s tenure as artistic director of the Bush Theatre, will feature Mark Bazeley (The Seagull, NT) as Richard, Kate Fleetwood (London Road, NT) as Hazel, Denise Gough (Six Characters in Search of an Author) as Annie and alternating the role of Daniel, Jude Willoughby and Jonathan Teale. The play, which runs from 17 January to 11 February 2012 (previews from
12 January), is directed by Charlotte Gwimmer and centres on a nanny with
her own dark agenda for a troubled family.

Full casting has been announced for David Eldridge‘s new play In Basildon, which premieres in the Royal Court Theatre Downstairs on 22 February (previews from 16 February). Joining the previously announced Linda Bassett, Debbie Chazen, Christian Dixon, Lee Ross, Ruth Sheen and Jade Williams, are: Max Bennett, Phil Cornwell, Wendy Nottingham and Peter Wight. Directed by Dominic Cooke, In Basildon runs until 24 March 2012.

Nikki Amuka-Bird (Welcome to Thebes, The Gods Weep), has replaced Hattie Monahan in the cast of The Trial of Ubu by Simon Stephens, which premieres at Hampstead Theatre from 18 January to 25 February 2012, directed by Katie Mitchell. The cast also features Paul McCleary, Josie Daxter, Kate Duchene, Rob Ostlere and George Taylor.