Comfortably married for 25 years, James and Eleanor’s world is upended when James agrees to a secret rendezvous with their recently widowed friend, Kate. As the lies mount up, the affair strips the marriage bare and reveals the illicit desires and hidden passions that lie beneath the everyday facade.
A glorious meeting of humour, eroticism and duplicity, this modern classic and winner of the Evening Standard Award for Best Play makes a much-anticipated return to the West End.
Writer Peter Nichols’ other plays include A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg, The National Health and Privates On Parade. His plays have won four Evening Standard Awards, a Society of West End Theatres Award for Best Comedy and two Ivor Novello Best Musical Awards. Privates on Parade will be revived by The Michael Grandage Company at the Noël Coward Theatre from December 2012.
David Leveaux reunites with Zoë Wanamaker for Passion Play, whom he directed in her Olivier Award-winning performance in Electra (Donmar Warehouse and Broadway). He has been nominated for five Tony Awards as a director of both plays and musicals. His recent play credits include Arcadia (Duke of York’s and Broadway); Through a Glass Darkly starring Carey Mulligan (Atlantic Theatre, NY); Jumpers (National Theatre and Broadway); and Cyrano de Bergerac starring Kevin Kline (Broadway). Other recent play credits include Simon Gray’s The Late Middle Classes (Donmar Warehouse) starring Helen McCrory and Robert Glenister as well as Harold Pinter’s Betrayal starring Juliette Binoche (Broadway).
Zoë Wanamaker has appeared extensively in film and on television including the Harry Potter films and the award-winning BBC series My Family. Her work on stage includes Much Ado About Nothing, All My Sons with David Suchet and The National Theatre’s The Cherry Orchard. She has won two Olivier Awards for Best Actress; for her performance in Electra at the Donmar Warehouse and her performance in Once in a Lifetime at the National Theatre. Zoë has received four Tony Award nominations for Piaf!, Loot, Electra and, most recently, the Lincoln Centre production of Awake And Sing!
Passion Play marks the inaugural production in Tali Pelman Productions and the Ambassador Theatre Group’s producing partnership. Tali’s previous productions as in-house Producer at ATG include Olivier Award-winning new play The Mountaintop by Katori Hall (West End and Broadway); The Misanthrope starring Damian Lewis and Keira Knightley (West End); Neil LaBute’s Fat Pig (West End) and Pinter’s The Lover/The Collection (West End).
“Passion Play is a brilliantly funny and sexy play about how well we really know the people we love. It could be in no better hands than David’s, and we are thrilled to reunite him with Zoë for the first time since he directed her landmark performance in Electra”, said Producer Tali Pelman. “It’s a delight to inaugurate my partnership with ATG with this production.”
Passion Play is produced by Tali Pelman Productions for the Ambassador Theatre Group and Old Vic Productions.
Creative team:
Writer Peter Nichols
Director David Leveaux
Further casting to be announced.