Kristin Scott Thomas to Make Broadway Debut in THE SEAGULL

Kristin Scott Thomas will star on Broadway in her Olivier Award-winning role of Arkadina in the critically acclaimed Royal Court Theatre production of Anton Chekhov's THE SEAGULL.  The production, featuring a new version by Christopher Hampton and directed by Ian Rickson, will open Wednesday, October 1 at the Walter Kerr Theatre (219 West 48th Street).  Previews will begin Tuesday, September 16.  The production will play a strictly limited engagement of 14 weeks through December 21.

The production will also star Peter Sarsgaard as Trigorin and members of the praised original Royal Court Theatre cast, including Mackenzie Crook as Konstantin, Art Malik as Dorn, Carey Mulligan as Nina, Pearce Quigley as Medvedenko, Peter Wight as Sorin, Christopher Patrick Nolan as Yakov and Mary Rose as the Maid.  The production will also feature Zoe Kazan as Masha, with other casting to be confirmed.

Kristin Scott Thomas, who will make her Broadway debut, won the 2007 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance as Arkadina.  She received an Academy Award nomination for her performance in The English Patient, and has also been seen in memorable roles in such films as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Gosford Park, Random Hearts, Life as a House, The Horse Whisperer and Angels and Insects, among many others.  Recent films include The Other Boleyn Girl, The Walker and the upcoming I've Loved You So Long, Easy Virtue and Confessions of a Shopaholic.

Peter Sarsgaard will make his Broadway debut as Trigorin.  An award-winning stage and film actor, Sarsgaard made his screen debut in Dead Man Walking, going on to acclaimed roles in Kinsey, Shattered Glass (National Society of Film Critics Award), Garden State and Boys Don't Cry among others.  He trained at Actor's Studio and appeared Off-Broadway in Signature Theatre's productions of Burn This and Laura Dennis and Drama Dept.'s Kingdom of Earth.  His recent films include Rendition, The Dying Gaul, Jarhead, The Skeleton Key, Flightplan, Year of the Dog and the upcoming In the Electric Mist, Orphan, Elegy, An Education and The Mysteries of Pittsburgh.

Mackenzie Crook, who will repeat his Royal Court Theatre role of Konstantin, shot to fame with his iconic performance as Gareth Keenan in the original UK version of "The Office."  His film performances include the comic role of Ragetti in the blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, as well as The Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino, The Brothers Grimm and Finding Neverland.  He will be seen in the upcoming films, Abraham's Point, Solomon Kane, City of Ember and the TV series, "Little Dorrit".

Zoe Kazan, who joins the cast as Masha, made her Broadway debut last season in Come Back, Little Sheba, and appeared Off-Broadway in Things We Want, Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and 100 Saints You Should Know.   Her film credits include The Savages, Fracture, In The Valley of Elah and August and the upcoming Revolutionary Road, Me and Orson Welles and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee.

Art Malik, who will reprise his Royal Court Theatre role of Dorn, has appeared in the West End in Art, Indian Ink, on tour in Heroes, with the RSC in Othello, The Government Inspector and Romeo and Juliet for the Old Vic, and The Comedians at Leicester, among his many other theatre credits.   His numerous film appearances include roles in City of Joy, True Lies, The Living Daylights and A Passage to India.  Selected TV includes "The Jewel in the Crown," "The Far Pavilions," "Colour Blind," "Messiah," "Messiah 2," and "Holby City"

Carey Mulligan, who will return to the role of Nina, which she played at The Royal Court Theatre, starred in the film version of Pride and Prejudice, opposite Keira Knightley and Judi Dench, and the BBC adaptation of "Bleak House," as well as "Dr. Who," "Waking the Dead" and "The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard".  She can be seen in the current film, When Did You Last See Your Father? and the upcoming An Education, Brothers and Public Enemies.

Anton Chekhov's THE SEAGULL, written in 1895 and the first of the playwright's masterworks, concerns the romantic entanglements and regrets of a group of actors, writers and artists gathered on a Russian estate.  One of the theatre's great plays about writing, THE SEAGULL conveys the struggle for new forms and the frustrations and fulfillment of putting words on a page.

Director Ian Rickson originally staged THE SEAGULL as his farewell to The Royal Court Theatre, when he ended his seven-year tenure as the distinguished theatre's Artistic Director.  The limited run became a sold out smash hit and the biggest selling production in the Royal Court's 50 year history.

Ben Brantley, The New York Times, wrote, "The marvel of Ian Rickson's rapturous interpretation of THE SEAGULL, which quickly became a must-have and largely unhaveable ticket, is how seamlessly it captures the vital paradox that so often escapes productions of this masterwork: the bursting theatrical fullness to be found in its unfulfilled lives.  Kristin Scott Thomas is in expert form.  Productions like Mr. Rickson's The Seagull are such rarities that it hardly seems fair to measure others against them." 

John Lahr, The New Yorker, pronounced it "the finest British production of Chekhov in recent memory with a pitch-perfect cast, elegant staging and the clarity and cunning of Christopher Hampton's adaptation." 

David Benedict, Variety, praised THE SEAGULL as "a bold, supremely truthful production.  Chekhov's plays live on a knife edge routinely described as 'tragic-comic.' Most productions, however, topple over into either doomy tragedy or overly fierce comedy. The exhilaration of Rickson's balancing act is evident from the very opening."

THE SEAGULL is designed by Hildegard Bechtler, with lighting by Peter Mumford, sound by Ian Dickinson and music by Stephen Warbeck.

Kristin Scott Thomas, Mackenzie Crook, Art Malik, Carey Mulligan, Christopher Patrick Nolan, Pearce Quigley, Mary Rose and Peter Wight are appearing with the permission of Actors' Equity Association. The producers gratefully acknowledge Actors' Equity Association for its assistance to this production.

Performances will be Tuesday through Saturday at 8:00 PM, with matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2:00 PM and Sunday at 3:00 PM.  There will be an added performance on Sunday, October 5 at 8:00 PM.  Ticket information for THE SEAGULL will be announced in coming weeks.

THE SEAGULL will be produced on Broadway by Sonia Friedman Productions, Bob Boyett, Robert G. Bartner, Dede Harris, Fox Theatricals, Dena Hammerstein, Sharon Karmazin, Olympus Theatricals, Spring Sirkin, Tara Smith, Mort Swinsky, Karl Sydow, The Weinstein Company, Falkenstein/deRoy and Jay & Cindy Gutterman

BIOGRAPHIES

Kristin Scott Thomas (Arkadina) will make her Broadway debut in The Seagull.  She won the 2007 Olivier Award for Best Actress for this performance.  Scott Thomas' body of work is an extraordinary collection of acclaimed film, television and theatre performances in the US, UK and France. She most recently starred in the West End in As You Desire Me and The Three Sisters, both at The Playhouse.  Her many film credits include The Other Boleyn Girl, The Walker, Ne Le Dis a Personne, La Doublure, Keeping Mum, Chromophobia, Arsene Lupin, Petites Coupures,  Gosford Park, Life as a House, Up at the Villa, Random Hearts, The Horse Whisperer, The English Patient (Academy Award Nomination), Mission Impossible, Le Confessionnal, Angels & Insects (London Evening Standard Film Award, Best Actress), Richard III, Un Été Inoubliable, Four Weddings and a Funeral (BAFTA Film Award, Best Supporting Actress and London Evening Standard Film Award, Best Actress), Bitter Moon, A Handful of Dust and Under the Cherry Moon.  Her television credits include "Gulliver's Travels," "Body and Soul," and "Look At It This Way". She will next be seen in Sony Classics' I've Loved You So Long out this fall. Upcoming films include Easy Virtue and Confessions of a Shopaholic.

Peter Sarsgaard (Trigorin) will make his Broadway debut in The Seagull.  Off-Broadway credits include Lanford Wilson's Burn This and Horton Foote's Laura Dennis for Signature Theatre Company and Tennessee Williams' Kingdom of Earth.  Film credits include Rendition, Year of the Dog, Jarhead, Flightplan, The Skeleton Key, The Dying Gaul, Kinsey, Garden State, Shattered Glass, Boys Don't Cry; Center of the World; and the upcoming In the Electric Mist, Orphan, Elegy, An Education and The Mysteries of Pittsburgh.  He attended the Actors' Studio Program at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Mackenzie Crook (Konstantin) Theatre includes The Seagull (Royal Court), Exonerated (Riverside) and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (West End).  TV includes "The Office," "TV to Go," "The 11 o'clock Show," and "Little Dorrit".  Film includes Pirates of the Caribbean (I, II & III), The Merchant of Venice, The Brothers Grimm, Churchill, The Hollywood Years, Finding Neverland, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers and the upcoming Abraham's Point, Solomon Kane and City of Ember. 

Zoe Kazan (Masha) made her Broadway debut last season in Come Back, Little Sheba. Off-Broadway: Things We Want, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (The New Group), 100 Saints You Should Know (Playwrights Horizons). TV/film: "Medium," Fracture, The Savages and In the Valley of Elah; upcoming: August and Revolutionary Road (dir. Sam Mendes).

Art Malik (Dorn) Theatre includes: The Seagull (Royal Court); Heroes (tour); Art (Wyndham's); Indian Ink (Aldwych); Great Expectations, Cymbeline (Royal Exchange, Manchester); Aliens (Soho); Othello (RSC); Trial Run (Oxford/Young Vic); The 88 Prospect, The Government Inspector; Romeo and Juliet (Old Vic); Timon of Athens, Destiny (Bristol Old Vic); The Comedians (Leicester); Equus and  A Man for All Seasons (Liverpool Playhouse).  Television includes "Gilmayo," "Dalziel & Pascoe," "The English Harem," "Holby City," "Messiah II," "Murder in Mind," "Fun at the Funeral Parlour," "The Kumars at No. 42," "Second Sight," "Messiah," "Cleopatra," "Medical Ethics," "Unfinished Business," "Turning World," "Path to Paradise," "Peak Practice II," "Kavanagh QC," "Age of Treason," "Covington Cross," "High Interest," "Beauty," "The Greek Myths – Orpheus and Eurydice," "Stolen," "Shadow of the Cobra," "After the War," "The Clinic," "West of Paradise," "Hareem," "Death is Part of the Process," "The Black Tower," "The Far Pavilions," "Chessgame," "Jewel in the Crown," and "Bergerac".  Film includes Nina's Heavenly Delights, Tempo, Tabloid TV, Hotel, Side Streets, Clockwork Mice, A Kid in King Arthur's Court, True Lies, No Place to Hide, Year of the Comet, City of Joy, Turtle Beach, The Living Daylights, A Passage to India and Meeting with Remarkable Men. 

Carey Mulligan (Nina) For the Royal Court: The Seagull and Forty Winks.  Other theatre includes: The Hypochondriac (Almeida) and Tower Block Dreams (Riverside Studios).  Television includes "Dr. Who," "Northanger Abbey," "The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard," "Waking the Dead," "Miss Marple," "Bleak House," and "Trial & Retribution X".  Film includes When Did You Last See Your Father?, Pride and Prejudice and the upcoming An Education, Brothers and Public Enemies.

Christopher Patrick Nolan (Yakov) For the Royal Court: The Seagull and Alice Trilogy.  Other theatre includes; The Water Harvest (National Theatre Studio); Stones in His Pockets (New Ambassador's/tour); Molly Sweeney (Clwyd/tour); Someone Who'll Watch Over Me (Palace, Westcliff/tour); Antigone (Crucible/tour); The Changeling, Of Mice and Men (Southwark Playhouse); Into the West/ Tir Na n'Og (Harbourfront Centre, Toronto/USA Tour); The Romans in Britain (Man in the Moon); Macbeth, Othello (Riverside Studios); Cardenio (Globe); Cloud Nine (Lyric Hammersmith) and King Lear (West Yorkshire Playhouse).  Television includes: "Titanic - Birth of a Legend," and "Bass Odyssey".  Film includes: That Deadwood Feeling and Lone Clouds.

Pearce Quigley (Medvedenko) For the Royal Court: The Seagull, Blue Heart, Shopping and f-ing (& Gielgud/Queens/tour, with Out of Joint), The Queen and I (& Vaudeville, with Out of Joint), Road (with Out of Joint), Etta Jenks and Downfall.  Television includes "Cutting It," "15 Storeys High," and "Happiness".  Film includes The Allotment, London, Millions and House of Mirth.

Mary Rose (Maid) Theatre includes The Seagull (Royal Court), Thin Toes (Hampstead – Start Night); The Wedding Present (Proteus Theatre Co.); The Cut (The Old Vic/St. Mungo's); Macbeth (New Wolsey, Ipswich); A Place at the Table (Pleasance); A Midsummer Night's Dream (Salisbury Playhouse); Fortune's Fool (Chichester Festival Theatre) and Tess of the d'Ubervilles (Watermill/Cheltenham Everyman). 

Peter Wight (Sorin) For the Royal Court: The Seagull, Mouth to Mouth, Face to the Wall and Not a Game for Boys.  Other theatre includes: Otherwise Engaged, The Seagull, Chekhov's Women (West End); Ivanov, Sleep With Me, Murmuring Judges, Arturo Ui, Black Snow, Waiting for Godot (National); The Spanish Tragedy, Much Ado About Nothing, Barbarians, A Clockwork Orange, Hamlet (RSC); The Caretaker (Globe, Warsaw); Edward II (Royal Exchange, Manchester); Dearly Beloved, Grace (Hampstead); A State of Affairs, Othello, Comedia, Progress (Lyric Hammersmith); Julius Caesar (Riverside Studios); A Passion in Six Days, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Nest (Crucible); King Lear, The Three Sisters (Birmingham Rep); The Seagull (Shared Experience) and Hard to Get (Traverse, Edinburgh).  Television includes: "Party Animals," "Persuasion," "Fantabulosa," "Waking the Dead," "Murder Prevention," "Early Doors," "Silent Witness," "Murphy's Law," "Uncle Adolf," "Brides in the Bath," "Charles II," "Fortysomething," "Midsomer Murders," "The Second Coming," "The Project," "Care," "Active Defence," "The Blind Date," "The Passion," "Our Mutual Friend," "Jane Eyre," "Wokenwell," "Out of the Blue," "Anna Lee," "Hearts and Minds," "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?", "EastEnders," "Life on Mars," and "Mayo".  Film includes Atonement, Babel, Pride and Prejudice, Vera Drake, Hot Fuzz, Lassie, Heidi, The Statement, 3 Blind Mice, The Gathering, Lucky Break, Shiner, The Fourth Angel, The Return of the Native, Personal Services, Fairytale, Meantime, Naked and Secrets and Lies.

Anton Chekhov (Playwright) Born in Taganrog, Ukraine on January 17, 1860.  Plays include Platonov, Ivanov, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard.

Christopher Hampton (New Version) Christopher Hampton's plays, musicals and translations have garnered three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards and the New York Theatre Critics Circle Award, while prizes for his film and television work include an Oscar, two BAFTAs and a Special Jury Prize at Cannes. Plays include The Talking Cure, White Chameleon, Tales From Hollywood, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Treats, Savages, The Philanthropist and Total Eclipse. He wrote the book and lyrics (with Don Black) for the musicals Sunset Boulevard and Dracula and the libretto for the Philip Glass operas Waiting For The Barbarians and Appomattox. He has translated extensively from Chekhov, Ibsen, Moliere, Odon von Horvath and Yasmina Reza (including Art and Life x 3). His screenplays include The Quiet American, Mary Reilly, Total Eclipse, Dangerous Liaisons, Carrington, The Secret Agent and Imagining Argentina, the last three of which he also directed. His latest screenplay was for the film Atonement, which won both the Golden Globe and BAFTA awards for Best Picture.

Ian Rickson (Director) was Artistic Director at the Royal Court from 1998 to 2006, during which time he directed The Seagull, Krapp's Last Tape, The Winterling, Alice Trilogy, The Sweetest Swing in Baseball, Fallout, The Night Heron, Boy Gets Girl, Mouth to Mouth (also in the West End), Dublin Carol, The Weir (Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, in the West End and on Broadway), The Lights, Pale Horse and Mojo (also at the Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago), Ashes & Sand, Some Voices, Killers and Wildfire.  Other theatre includes The Day I Stood Still at The National Theatre.

The Royal Court Theatre is one of Europe's leading theatres and has presented new and innovative plays since 1956, including premieres by almost every leading contemporary British playwright from John Osborne's Look Back in Anger to Caryl Churchill's A Number. After 50 years, writers, directors, actors and audiences still look to the Royal Court for the classics of the future.  Recent Royal Court Theatre productions include The Pain and The Itch, My Name is Rachel Corrie, That Face, The City and random. The Royal Court Theatre productions of Rock 'n' Roll by Tom Stoppard and Caryl Churchill's Drunk Enough To Say I Love You? also transferred to New York recently.

Photo by Johan Persson