Keira Knightley Returns to West End Stage in 2011???

Rumours abound, mainly sparked by an article in the New York Post, that Keira Knightley may return to the West End stage in a new production of Lillian Hellman‘s play The Children’s Hour in 2011. Although no official announcement has been made about the production, former artistic director of the Royal Court Ian Rickson may be signed on to direct the project. Written in 1934, the play tells the story of two school teachers in an all-girls school, accused of having a lesbian relationship by a disgruntled student. The accusation subsequently ruins the women’s careers and lives. The show was last produced in London by the National Theatre in 1994 in a production. Knightley was last seen on the West End in The Misanthrope, which opened in December 2009 at the Comedy Theatre, continuing until March the following year. Rickson’s last West End project was the Royal Court’s production of Jerusalem starring Mark Rylance, which transferred to the Apollo Theatre earlier this year to critical acclaim.