Tara Fitzgerald, Timothy West, Richard Coyle and Charlie Cox are to star in two rarely-performed plays by Harold Pinter, The Lover and The Collection, at the Comedy from 15 January (press night 29 January).
The Lover stars Fitzgerald and Coyle as Sarah and Richard, a suburban couple whose darkest desires are unlocked, unzipped and undressed behind closed doors. All four actors appear in The Collection, an explosive comedy which centres on two couples who fall victim to suspicion and jealousy when their sexual power games stifle the truth about one night in a hotel room in Leeds.
Fitzgerald is best known for her screen credits which include Waking The Dead, The Virgin Queen, The Camomile Lawn and The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall on television, and the films Hear My Song, Sirens and Brassed Off. On the stage she appeared opposite Peter O’Toole in Our Song at the Apollo in 1992, as Ophelia opposite Ralph Fiennes’s Hamlet in the West End and on Broadway, and in Antigone at the Old Vic in 1999.
Stage veteran West has a five decade-long career in film, television and in the theatre. His last stage outing in London was Alan Bennett’s The Old Country at Trafalgar Studios in 2006, and other recent appearances include King Lear, The External, Luther and Coriolanus. His big screen credits include The Day Of The Jackal, The Thirty-Nine Steps, Cry Freedom and Iris, and he was recently seen in the BBC television adaptation of Bleak House.
Coyle is known for playing Jeff in the comedy series Coupling, and also stars in ITV’s Whistleblowers. On stage he appeared at the Donmar Warehouse in After Miss Julie and opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in Proof, and took the title role in Michael Grandage’s production of Don Carlos at the Gielgud in 2005. His film credits include A Good Year, Human Traffic and The Libertine.
Completing the quartet is Cox, who starred in the recent film Stardust opposite Michelle Pfeiffer and has screen credits including The Merchant Of Venice, Casanova and Things To Do Before You’re 30.
They are directed by Jamie Lloyd, whose last London outing was another Pinter play, The Caretaker, starring Nigel Harman, Con O’Neill and David Bradley, which had a successful run at the Tricycle in March this year. Lloyd was also associate director on Grandage’s productions of Guys And Dolls and Evita.
The Lover and The Collection are booking at the Comedy until 3 May.
CB