The hype... HOLLYWOOD TAKES TO THE STAGE
MOVIE STARS HAVE LONG BEEN DRAWN TO THE BRIGHT LIGHTS OF LONDON’S WEST END. HERE’S THE LATEST CROP OF BIG NAMES JETTING IN TO TREAD THE BOARDS
‘At its best, nothing beats the theatre,’ says Aaron Sorkin, the screenwriter and director behind The West Wing and
The Social Network, who brings his version of Harper Lee’s enduring classic To Kill A Mockingbird to London’s Gielgud Theatre (21 May to 31 October). Rhys Ifans stars as Atticus Finch in the story of a small-town lawyer in 193Os Alabama who defends a black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman.
‘When an actor films a movie, they’re playing a role over the course of eight to 16 weeks and they’re performing the part for a camera,’ says Sorkin. ‘In a theatre, the actor plays the part in one night and can feel the electricity from the audience.’
Elsewere in the capital, don’t miss Timothée Chalamet starring in Amy Herzog’s 4000 Miles at The Old Vic (6 April to 23 May). Chalamet plays 21-year-old Leo, who seeks solace from his feisty grandmother Vera after the death of his best friend.
Next, making her UK theatre debut at the Playhouse, Golden Globe winner Jessica Chastain plays dissatisfied housewife Nora, who abandons her family for independence in A Doll’s House (1O June to 5 September). Adapted from Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 protofeminist play, expect director Jamie Lloyd to update the tale with a post-#MeToo slant. Finally, a revival of Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Sunday in the
Park with George (11 June to 5 September) sees Jake Gyllenhaal make his West End return at the Savoy Theatre. Tissues at the ready for a heartbreaking story that follows painter Georges Seurat in the months leading up to the completion of his most famous painting.