Patrick Stewart Returns to the Young Vic in BINGO, Feb 2012

After announcing this morning that he will return to the Royal Shakespeare Company this summer, Patrick Stewart has also announced that he will be returning to the Young Vic next year, whatsonstage.com reports.  He will appear as William Shakespeare in Edward Bond's 1973 play Bingo, a play he first appeared in back in April 2010 at Chichester Festival's Minerva Theatre.

In his return to the Royal Shakespeare Company this summer, Stewart will once again work with director Rupert Goold.  Stewart will take on the role of Shylock in Bard's The Merchant of Venice.

Bingo, co-produced by The Young Vic and Chichester Festival Theatre, is directed by Angus Jackson and will run from February 23 to March 31, 2012.  Previews begin February 16.  Stewart last appeared at the Young Vic in 1986 in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Bingo depicts Shakespeare in the last days of his life - ageing, facing poverty and lacking creative energy, until his poetry is suddenly once again unleashed by the catastrophic circumstances he faces.

Along with this announcement, the Young Vic released news of their full season from March 2011 - March 2012. The season will include: Joe Hill-Gibbins' sell-out production of Martin McDonagh's The Beauty Queen of Leenane (20 July-3 September 2011), starring Rosaleen Linehan; John Fulljames' production of Kurt Weill musical Street Scene (15 September-1 October 2011), with its 80-strong community ensemble, back for 14 performances only after its brief 2008 run; David Harrower's new version of Gogol's The Government Inspector (3 June-9 July 2011), starring Julian Barratt and Doon Mackichan, directed by Richard Jones; and the latest ENO/Young Vic opera co-production, Monteverdi's The Return of Ulysses (24 March-9 April 2011).

Also confirmed is the next Hamlet, with Michael Sheen taking the title role, directed by Ian Rickson. It will run in the Young Vic's main house from 9 November 2011 to 21 January 2012 (previews from 28 October).

Photo Credit: BWW-Staff