Fiona Shaw stars in Ancient Mariner at Old Vic Tunnels, 4 Jan

Award-winning actress Fiona Shaw and dancer Daniel Hay-Gordon will perform Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s epic poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner at The Old Vic Tunnels next year.

The production, which is being produced by the Young Vic, is directed by Phyllida Lloyd with choreography by Kim Brandstrup and runs for 18 performance only, from 4 to 13 January 2013.

Lloyd said: “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is the theatre of our childhood – of rhymes and sticks and a rope – a world where small things carry vast meaning. Two performers make this story hang in the air for just a moment, to live on only in the memory of the audience. We premiered the work at the Athens and Epidaurus Festival earlier this year and are delighted to share it again with audiences in London.”

Fiona Shaw directed Hans Werner Henze’s Elegy for Young Lovers at the Young Vic in 2010. Her myriad acting credits include Scenes from an Execution, Mother Courage And Her Children, Happy Days (Whatsonstage.com Award), The Good Person of Sichuan and The Rivals (all for the NT); As You Like It, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, The Taming of the Shrew and Electra (Olivier Award) for the RSC; and Footfalls and Medea in the West End.

Phyllida Lloyd‘s past work includes Mamma Mia! (West End, Broadway), the Tony-nominated Mary Stuart (Donmar, West End, Broadway), and the current all-female production of Julius Caesar at the Donmar. Film credits include Mamma Mia! and The Iron Lady.

Choreographer Kim Brandstrup has created work for the world’s leading ballet, opera and dance companies including The Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Rambert Dance Company, Birmingham Royal Ballet, English National Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, the Metropolitan Opera and Milan’s Teatro alla Scala. His own company, Arc Dance Company, was established in 1985.

He last worked with Phyllida Lloyd on The Iron Lady, and earlier this year choreographed Opera North’s revival of Carousel.