The Almeida Theatre will produce Edward Albee's A DELICATE BALANCE. Imelda Staunton and Lucy Cohu will join the previously announced Penelope Wilton. The play is set to begin performances May 5.
Baz Bamigboye
reports that "Ms Staunton will play the often-inebriated Claire, who lives with her married sister Agnes (Ms Wilton), who resides with her husband Tobias in a WASPy enclave I've always assumed to be somewhere in Westchester County. Ms Cohu, so good in the recent production of
Arthur Miller's play Broken Glass at the
Tricycle Theatre, will play Julia, daughter of Agnes and Tobias, who flees home after the collapse of her latest marriage. They break down like cars . . . she's on her fourth."
For more information about the production, click
here.
"Are you home forever, back from the world? To the sadness and reassurance of your parents?"
Urban socialites Agnes and Tobias appear to inhabit a glamorous world of drinks parties and social clubs. The return home of their recently divorced daughter, the constant presence of Agnes' alcoholic sister and the impromptu late-night arrival of some close friends, begin to peel away this veneer.
As their lives become increasingly claustrophobic, the characters battle with their fear of stepping into the real world, opting instead for the undemanding familiarity of their own drawing room.
Laced with acerbic wit, A Delicate Balance won
Edward Albee his first Pulitzer Prize and followed the success of his breakthrough work Who's Afraid of
Virginia Woolf? One of the great American plays of the 20th Century, this is the fourth of Albee's dramas at the Almeida after Who's Afraid of
Virginia Woolf? (1996), The Play About the Baby (1998) and The Goat, or Who is Sylvia (2004).
James MacDonald was last at the Almeida in 2009, directing the acclaimed production of Judgment Day. He was associate director at the Royal Court for 14 years and his other credits include Dido, Queen of Carthage (National Theatre) and Glengarry Glen Ross (Apollo Theatre).
Ticket Prices: £8 - £32
Evening Performances 7.30pm
Wednesday Matinee 2.30pm on 8 & 22 June
Saturday Matinees 3pm from 14 May
Penelope Wilton is one of Britain's most respected actors. Her extensive theatre credits include numerous appearances for the
Royal Shakespeare Company, the
National Theatre and the
Donmar Warehouse. On television she is known for the sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles and is currently appearing in ITV's period drama Downton Abbey.
For the Almeida: The Deep Blue Sea; Heartbreak House; The Play About the Baby.
Theatre includes: Hamlet; The Family Reunion; John Gabriel Borkman (Donmar Warehouse); Women Beware Women; The Cherry Orchard; The Seagull (Royal Shakespeare Company); and numerous appearances for the National Theatre.
Film includes: Shaun of the Dead; Pride and Prejudice; The History Boys.
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