Spacey, Mendes, Dillane Added to Old Vic '07-'08 Line-Up

More information has been announced on the Old Vic's 2007-2008 season, according to Whatsonstage.com.

With the new season, Artistic Director Kevin Spacey will begin his fourth year with the venerable London theatre institution.  As previously announced, the season will launch with a stage adaptation of Pedro Almodóvar's acclaimed film All About My Mother, which starred Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes and Penelope Cruz, and won the 1999 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.  The production will begin previews August 25th, open on September 4th and run through November 24th. The play will be adapted by Samuel Adamson and directed by Cairns, with Almodóvar having final say over script and casting.  It will also feature the film score by Alberto Iglesias with some new stage music by Ben and Max Ringham.  All About My Mother will be designed by Hildegard Bechtler, with lighting by Bruno Poet and sound by Christopher Shutt. 

As the article states, "A hymn to the spirit of women, All About My Mother revolves around single mother Manuela who, after the death of her 17-year-old son, heads to Barcelona in search of his father, who never knew he had a child. Once there, Manuela gets caught up in the lives of three women: the famous actress her son admired, a pregnant nun and a long-lost transvestite friend."  Although no casting has been announced, Lesley Manville is likely to take the role of Manuela, played on screen by Roth.

Actor, writer and director Stephen Fry, as previously announced, will adapt a new version of Cinderella for the Old Vic's holiday pantomime.  Fry may also appear as the narrator in the production, which will begin previews on December 4th, open on December 9th and run through January 20th, 2008.  While most creative and casting details have not yet been announced, Anne Dudley will provide music.

Spacey, who is now starring on Broadway in A Moon for the Misbegotten after having done so at the Old Vic, will headline a revival of David Mamet's 1988 Hollywood satire Speed-the-Plow, which will run from January through April of 2008 (specific production dates will be announced). He will "play greedy Hollywood producer Bobby Gould who, in planning his next film, is torn between making art versus money in a battle involving fellow producer Charlie Fox and a beautiful secretary."  More casting and creative team information will be announced.

The season will conclude with a double bill of Shakespeare's Hamlet and The Tempest, directed by Sam Mendes (Cabaret, Gypsy) and starring Stephen Dillane (The Real Thing).  The productions will be presented as part of The Bridge Project, which is described as "a three-year transatlantic venture forged between Mendes, the Old Vic and New York's Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), where the productions will originate in January."  Each Bridge Project play, performed by a company of eminent British and American actors, will be seen at the Old Vic, BAM and at least one other international theatre. After playing BAM and before moving to the Old Vic, Mendes' Hamlet and The Tempest will play the Piccolo Theatre in Milan, Italy for a month.

It was also announced that the Bridge Project will, in 2009, present a double bill of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale and Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard with Simon Russell Beale (Jumpers, Spamalot) as Leontes in the former and Lopakhin in the latter.  The 2010 Bridge Project productions have yet to be announced.

Visit www.oldvictheatre.com for more on the Old Vic.