Alex Kingston Returns to Stage in Donmar’s Luise
British actress Alex Kingston – best known internationally for her role as in US television series ER – will return to the London stage this summer for the Donmar’s forthcoming revival of Friedrich Schiller’s Luise Miller, which stars Felicity Jones in the title role and runs from 13 June to 30 July 2011 (previews from 8 June).
Kingston, who plays sensual aristocrat Lady Milford in Schiller’s 1784 political drama, was last seen here opposite Christian Slater in the West End revival of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in 2006. Her other credits include ), Morning and Evening (Hampstead Theatre), Darwin’s Flood (Bush Theatre), Othello (Birmingham Rep) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Sheffield Theatres) on stage, Moll Flanders and Doctor Whoon TV, and the films Croupier, Carrington, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover and Like Crazy, in which she appeared with Felicity Jones.
Also newly announced for the Luise Miller cast are: Ben Daniels (as the Chancellor), whose previous stage credits include Tales of Hollywood, The Wild Duck and God of Hell at the Donmar and All My Sons at the National, for which he won an Olivier; David Dawson (as Hofmarschall von Kalb), recently seen in Posh at the Royal Court and Comedians at the Lyric Hammersmith; Finty Williams (as Luise’s mother Frau Miller), last seen in the West End in Bedroom Farce; Paul Higgins (as Miller, Luise’s father), recently seen at the National in The White Guard and Paul; and John Light (as Wurm), whose many credits include The Master Builder, The Giant, The Night Season and A New World.
One of Schiller’s early plays, written in 1784, Kabale und Liebe translates from the German as Intrigue and Love, but the Donmar has opted for a version of the title from Verdi’s 1852 opera based on the play. Ferdinand, a nobleman and powerful statesman, is willing to forsake his fortune for Luise, the daughter of a humble musician. But in a world governed by power and politics, greed and betrayal, their happiness is beyond their control.
Outgoing artistic director Michael Grandage directs this new version by Mike Poulton (who adapted Schiller’s Don Carlos for Grandage’s final production at Sheffield Theatres which later transferred to the West End). The Luise Miller cast is completed by Max Bennett, Lloyd Everitt and Alexander Pritchett. The production is designed by Peter McKintosh, with lighting by Paule Constable and composition and sound design by Adam Cork.
