Rhys Ifans To Star In TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD West End Transfer

Producers Scott Rudin, Barry Diller and Sonia Friedman Productions announced last month that To Kill a Mockingbird, Aaron Sorkin's new play based on Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, directed by Bartlett Sher, will open at London's Gielgud Theatre on May 21, 2020.

This evening it was reported that acclaimed actor, Rhys Ifans, will lead the cast of the production in the iconic role of Atticus Finch, originated on Broadway by Jeff Daniels and currently played by Ed Harris.

Additional casting will be announced soon.

Set in Alabama in 1934, To Kill a Mockingbird centres on one of the most venerated characters in American literature, the small-town lawyer Atticus Finch. The cast of characters includes Atticus's daughter Scout, her brother Jem, their housekeeper and caretaker Calpurnia, their visiting friend Dill, a mysterious neighbour the reclusive Arthur "Boo" Radley, and the other indelible residents of Maycomb, Alabama.

To Kill a Mockingbird has not played to an empty seat and holds the benchmark of having become the most successful American play in Broadway history. A national tour of the United States opens at The Kennedy Center in Washington DC in August 2020. Harper Lee's enduring story of racial injustice and childhood innocence has sold 45 million copies worldwide. 2020 will mark the 60th anniversary of its publication.

Rhys Ifans' work as an actor encompasses stage, television and film. His theatre credits include King Lear (The Old Vic), Protest Song, Volpone and Under Milk Wood (National Theatre), Don Juan in Soho, Accidental Death of an Anarchist and Bad Finger (Donmar Warehouse), Beautiful Thing (Duke of York Theatre), Thyestes (Royal Court), Smoke and Poison Pen (Manchester Royal Exchange). Film includes Snowdon, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Dominion, Len and Company, Under Milk Wood, Serena, Another Me, The Amazing Spider- Man, The Five-Year Engagement, Anonymous, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Greenberg, The Boat that Rocked, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Hannibal Rising, Once Upon a Time in the Midlands, Human Nature, The Shipping News, Hotel, The Replacements, Notting Hill (BAFTA nominated) and he will be appearing in The Parting Glass later in 2017. Television includes Berlin Station, Not Only But Always (BAFTA Award for Best Actor), Shakespeare Shorts, Trial and Retribution, The Two Franks, Judas and the Gimp, Nightshift, Spatz, Burning Love, Review and Gifted.

Aaron Sorkin is a celebrated writer, producer and director known for his multi-award-winning work across stage and screen. Sorkin is probably best known as the creator and screenwriter of the Emmy Award-winning hit TV series The West Wing and films such as Steve Jobs and The Social Network for which he received an Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Writer's Guild Award for best screenplay. He is the writer-creator of The Newsroom and the Academy Award-winning 1992 film A Few Good Men, which he adapted from his 1989 Broadway play. His other credits as a playwright include Making Movies and The Farnsworth Invention.

Bartlett Sher is the multi-award-winning Director of the Lincoln Center Theater in New York, a post he has held for over a decade. His critically acclaimed stage productions include the Tony Award-winning South Pacific and Oslo, My Fair Lady and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. He has also worked extensively in opera, staging productions at English National Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Seattle Opera and New York City Opera.

To Kill a Mockingbird is designed by Miriam Buether, with costumes by Ann Roth, lighting by Jennifer Tipton, sound by Scott Lehrer and an original score by Adam Guettel.

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