Star-studded Pinter at the Pinter season announces new big-name actors to join the cast

Pictured: Paapa Essiedu, Rupert Graves, Maggie Steed, John Simm

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The first event of the season, dubbed Pinter 1, is a quadruple bill that will include One for the Road, Mountain Language and The New World Order, directed by Jamie Lloyd, and Ashes to Ashes directed by Lia Williams. New cast members announced for Pinter 1 include Ian Charleston Award-winning actor Paapa Essiedu (King Lear, Hamlet) and actress and comedian Maggie Steed (Chewing Gum, Noises Off, The Belle's Stratagem). Pinter 1 will run from 6 September until 20 October 2018 around the same time as Pinter 2: The Lover/The Collection (13 September to 20 October) with previously announced actors John Macmillan and David Suchet.

Pinter 3: Landscape/A Kind of Alaska (25 October to 8 December) will see Keith Allen (Kingsman: The Golden Circle) join the previously announced Olivier Award-winning actress Tamsin Greig (Much Ado About Nothing). Keith Allen originated the role of Lambert in the 2000 Almeida Theatre production of Pinter's Celebration and also starred as Mr Sands in Pinter's The Room.

For Pinter 5: The Room/Victoria Station/Family Voices (13 December to 26 January 2019), Olivier Award-nominated actor Rupert Graves (Sherlock) is set to join Jane Horrocks (The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Corpse Bride), Emma Naomi (Bread and Roses) and Nicholas Woodeson (The Homecoming). Graves has starred in a Pinter piece before, having played Mick in The Caretaker back in 2000.

Joining the cast for Pinter 6: Party Time/Celebration (13 December to 26 January 2019) will be former Doctor Who star John Simm (The Hothouse, The Homecoming) and British pop musician and actor Gary Kemp (The Bodyguard 1992 film with Whitney Houston). Other cast members for Pinter 6 include Abraham Popoola (Kebab), Celia Imrie (Bridget Jones's Diary), Phil Davis (Doctor Who, Poldark), and Tracy-Ann Oberman (Doctor Who, Kiss Me, Kate). The double-bill will be directed once again by Jamie Lloyd, who was named the 20th Most Powerful British Person in British Theatre in 2014.

Lloyd is also set to direct a charity gala that will run many of Pinter's short sketches, monologues and poems. The special event will posthumously mark Harold Pinter's 88th birthday and takes place on 10 October. Casting for the gala will be announced at a later date and is expected to feature a fleet of big-name actors.

Pinter at the Pinter launches 6 September at the Harold Pinter Theatre. Don't miss this fantastic, once-in-a-lifetime season in London's West End, featuring some of the biggest stars in theatre, television, and film.

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For an overview of everything you need to know about the Pinter at the Pinter season, click here.

For an article explaining Pinter Pauses, click here.