Whatonstage.com reports that
Patrick Stewart will headline two Shakespeare plays
--The Tempest and
Antony and Cleopatra--on the West End.
Stewart currently stars in both the romance and the tragedy as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company's year-long Complete Works Festival in Stratford-upon-Avon. With the classic comedy
Much Ado About Nothing (not featuring Stewart), the plays will be presented as part of the RSC's annual West End residency at the Novello Theatre from November of 2006 through March of 2007. Last year, the RSC arranged with theatre owner
Cameron Mackintosh for a yearly winter season.
Much Ado About Nothing will run from December 13th, 2006 through January 6th, 2007; it will begin previews on December 7th. Set in '50s Cuba, the production (which is directed by Marianne Elliott) stars Tamsin Greig as the feisty Benedick and Joseph Millson as the equally proud Benedick.
Much Ado is currently playing Stratford's Swan Theatre in repertory.
Stewart will once again play the title role of
Antony and Cleopatra from January 15th through February 17th, with previews to begin on December 7th. He will be reunited with Stratford co-star
Harriet Walter, who will play the doomed Queen of the Nile. The tragic history play is playing in rep at the Swan through October 14th; Gregory Doran directs.
Stewart will reprise his second current role as the sorceror Prospero in
The Tempest, which will open at the Novello on February 28th after beginning previews on February 28th; it will run through March of 2007. Rupert Goold will direct the production, which will also feature
Mariah Gale as Miranda, Finbar Lynch as Alonso and John Light as Caliban.
The Tempest can be seen in rep at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, where it plays through October 12th.
Stewart,
while best known as Captain Jean-Luc Picard on "Star Trek: The Next
Generation" and in the film versions of the sci-fi franchise, is an
acclaimed stage and film actor who is noted for his work in
Shakespearean roles. Associated with the Royal Shakespeare Company for
over two decades, his Broadway credits include The Caretaker, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, The Tempest and A Midsummer Night's Dream. He has been seen on screen in the X-Men films (and will appear in the third), as well as in Jeffrey, Dune, L.A. Story and others; he was Scrooge in a 1999 television adaptation of A Christmas Carol, as well, and has played that role onstage.
For more information, visit www.rsc.org.uk.
