Tonight:
8°c
Richard E Grant brings Carnage to Richmond
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent30.12.08
RICHARD E Grant, Juliet Stevenson and Antony Sher are among the stars of the new season at Richmond Theatre.
The Withnail And I actor will appear in the first revival of God Of Carnage, the play by Yasmina Reza which had its British premiere with Ralph Fiennes this year.
Grant has returned to the stage in the past year after a quarter of a century on screen. His recent performances include Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady.
Other highlights of the new programme include Stevenson and Henry Goodman in Tom Kempinski's Duet For One.
The play, which is set for the West End after Richmond, is about a famous violinist who develops multiple sclerosis. It is loosely based on the life of cellist Jacqueline du Pré.
Meanwhile, Sher plays Prospero with the South African actor John Kani as Caliban in The Tempest. The play is a Royal Shakespeare Company co-production with the South African Baxter Theatre Centre and transfers from Stratford-upon-Avon.
There will also be comedy alongside the classics. Edward Fox and Claire Bloom appear in Lloyd George Knew My Father, William Douglas Home's tale of eccentric English aristocracy. Christopher Timothy, Caroline Langrishe and Lysette Anthony are among the cast for Tons Of Money, adapted by Alan Ayckbourn.
Other productions include Jenny Seagrove and Stefanie Powers in Hugh Whitemore's drama, Pack Of Lies, and Stephen Tompkinson in a new play, Sign of the Times, by Tim Firth, who wrote Calendar Girls.
The programme also includes Tosca from Opera Holland Park and ballets Coppélia and Swan Lake. Audiences who missed Noel Coward's Brief Encounter in the West End will get another chance in Richmond.
Children's shows include a half-term production of Why The Whales Came by former children's laureate Michael Morpurgo.
