Rory Kinnear, Anna Maxwell Martin and Ben Miles will lead the cast of Michael Attenborough’s new production of Measure For Measure at the Almeida theatre next year.
Shakespeare’s tale of political intrigue and moral responsibility, set in a sexually promiscuous Vienna, plays at the Islington venue from 11 February (press night 18 February) until 10 April.
Kinnear is one of the London stage’s most sought after young actors. Frequently seen at the National Theatre, he has appeared in Burnt By The Sun, The Revenger’s Tragedy, Southwark Fair, Phillistines and Man Of Mode, for which he won a Laurence Olivier Award in 2008, and is to return to the venue next year to play Hamlet. Kinnear’s other London stage credits include Festen at the Almeida theatre and Mary Stuart at the Donmar Warehouse, while he has recently been seen on screen in Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk To Finchley, Ashes To Ashes and the film Quantum Of Solace.
Maxwell Martin is also a National Theatre regular, having appeared in His Dark Materials, Honour, Three Sisters and The Coast Of Utopia. She has most recently been seen in the West End in The Female Of The Species, and previous to that Cabaret at the Lyric theatre. However she is also a BAFTA-winning television actor whose credits include Freefall, White Girl, Poppy Shakespeare, Bleak House and North And South.
Miles was recently seen on stage in the Old Vic’s revival of Alan Ayckbourn’s triptych The Norman Conquests, which transferred to Broadway. He has also worked at the Royal Court, National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company and previously appeared at the Almeida theatre in The Tower. Miles is also well known for his television work which includes Coupling, Cold Feet and Lark Rise To Candleford.
Measure For Measure opens the 2010 season at the Almeida theatre, which this autumn presents Judgment Day – currently playing to 17 October – followed by Nicholas Wright’s Mrs Klein and Patrick Hamilton’s Rope.
CB