Cast Announced for Frontier Theatre Productions' THE LOVERS OF VIORNE

Today Frontier Theatre Productions announces the full cast for its first production of Marguerite Duras' The Lovers of Viorne in a translation by Barbara Bray, opening on 4 May, with a preview on 3 May, and running until 21 May. James Roose-Evans directs Charlotte Cornwell (Claire), Kevin Trainor (Interrogator) and Martin Turner (Pierre Lannes).

How can an ordinary human being suddenly carry out an extraordinary and horrific murder, for no apparent purpose? This is the question addressed by Marguerite Duras in this intense and compelling drama, based on a true event that was the sensation of its day. When the text was published in Paris in 1967, ten thousand copies were run off and enthusiastic reviews followed stressing the depth of Duras' psychological analysis. It received its première in 1968 in Paris directed by Claude Regy and was first seen in the UK at the Royal Court in 1971 with Peggy Ashcroft as Claire.

Marguerite Duras was a French novelist, playwright, scriptwriter and filmmaker. She is perhaps best known for writing the 1959 film Hiroshima Mon Amour. Translations of her plays and books by Barbara Bray include Eden Cinema, India Song, The Malady of Death, The Sailor from Gibraltar, The Man Sitting In The Corridor, The Lover, The War, Blue Eyes Black Hair, Practicalities, Emily.L, Summer Rain, Yann Andrea Steiner. Her film credits as a director include Les Enfants, Il Dialogo di Roma, L'Homme atlantique, Agatha et les lectures illimitées, Aurélia Steiner, Le Navire Night, Césarée, Les Mains Négatives, Baxter Vera Baxter, Le Camion, Des journées entières dans les arbres, Son nom de Venise dans Calcutta désert, India Song, La Femme du Gange, Nathalie Granger, Jaune le soleil, Détruire, dit-elle and La Musica.

Charlotte Cornwell plays Claire. Theatre credits include Hamlet and All's Well That Ends Well (RSC) The History Boys (Center Theatre Group LA), Helpless (Donmar Warehouse), Disposing Of The Body (Hampstead Theatre), Enemy Of The People (National Theatre & US tour), Lady In The Dark (National Theatre) and A View From The Bridge (Aldwych Theatre). Her television credits include Toast of London, New Tricks, Family Tree, Le Grand, The Mentalist, The Practice, The West Wing, Gideon's Crossing, The Agency, Care, Dressing For Breakfast, Men's Room, Capital City, No Excuses, and Three Of A Kind, Bognor. For film, her credits include Couples Retreat, Judge Koan, The Saint, Ghosts of Mars, The Russia House, The Krays, White Hunter Black Heart, and Stardust.

Kevin Trainor plays Interrogator. Theatre credits include Dr Faustus (West Yorkshire Playhouse/Glasgow), Titanic (The Mac), By Jeeves (Landor Theatre), The Playboy Of The Western World, Six Degrees Of Separation (The Old Vic), Canary (English Touring Theatre/Hampstead Theatre), Duck, (The Playground) Lost Monsters (Liverpool Everyman), 2000 Feet Away (Bush Theatre), Love's Labour's Lost (Rose Theatre Kingston), Gladiator Games (Stratford East) and The Comedy Of Errors, Eric Larue (Postcards From America), Solstice, Twelfth Night (RSC). Television credits include Houdini and Doyle, Endeavour, Utopia, London Irish, Vera, Wodehouse In Exile, Sherlock, The Café, John Adams, Tripping Over, Building The Titanic and Commander.

Martin Turner plays Pierre Lannes. Recent theatre credits include The Haunting of Hill House (Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse), The King's Speech, Twelfth Night and Macbeth (Chichester Festival Theatre), Medea (National Theatre), A Life of Galileo, Boris Godunov, Alice In Wonderland (RSC), Henry VIII, Two Noble Kinsmen, The Tempest, Comedy Of Errors, Augustine's Oak (Shakespeare's Globe), Macbeth (Gielgud Theatre), My Night With Reg (Birmingham REP) and A Midsummer Night's Dream, Love's Labour's Lost, Troilus and Cressida (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre). For television his credits include Follow The Money, Maigret, New Tricks, The White Queen, A Cop In Paris, Waking The Dead, The Queen, The Somme, Rosemary and Thyme, Foyles War, Charles II, Do The Right Thing, and Queen Of Fruit; and for film credits include Urban Hymn, Labirent and Prince William.

James Roose-Evans directs. He founded Hampstead Theatre; and in Wales, he founded the Bleddfa Centre for the Creative Spirit. His West End directing credits include Private Lives, his own adaptation of Laurie Lee's Cider with Rosie, Spitting Image, Under Milk Wood, An Ideal Husband and A Personal Affair. He also adapted and directed both the West End and Broadway productions of Helene Hanff's 84 Charing Cross Road, winning awards on both sides of the Atlantic for Best Director and Best Play - he later returned to the project directing Janie Dee and Clive Francis in a brand new production at Salisbury Playhouse. He directed Sir John Gielgud in his final performance in the West End in Hugh Whitemore's The Best of Friends, and then directed the Edwige Feuillere in the French production in Paris. He is the author of 17 books, including his memoir, Opening Doors and Windows, and he wrote for Maureen Lipman the entertainment Re:Joyce!.

Frontier Theatre Productions is the brainchild of James Roose-Evans, founder of the Hampstead Theatre. It was set up with two main objectives: to make practical use of the best of a neglected generation of mature 60-plus actors and to ensure, through a rolling programme of productions, workshops and masterclasses, that younger members of the profession can learn from the experience of their older colleagues.