Denis Lawson will return to the Royal Court for the first time in over 20 years to star in Anya Reiss’s forthcoming drama The Acid Test next month, joining Lydia Wilson, Pheobe Fox and Vanessa Kirby in the cast.
Lawson, who last appeared on the London stage in La Cage Aux Folles, will play an estranged father who interrupts his teenage daughter’s party. Joining her and her two friends downing shots and consoling anxieties, as the night passes and vodka bottles are emptied, Friday night in becomes high drama.
The actor began his career on stage but is perhaps most well known for his numerous screen credits which, alongside a role in the first three Star Wars films, include recent television series Bleak House, Jekyll, Hornblower, Breaking The Mould: The Story Of Penicillin and Enid. The actor has returned to the stage in recent years however, appearing in Oleanna at the Duke of York’s theatre and Volpone at the Almeida theatre, and turned his hand to directing in 1999 with Little Malcolm & His Struggle Against The Eunuchs which played at the Hampstead theatre before transferring to the West End.
Wilson returns to the Royal Court to play Lawson’s daughter after appearing in The Heretic earlier this year. The actress has also starred in the Lyric Hammersmith’s Olivier Award-winning production Blasted and Pains Of Youth at the National Theatre, and appeared in Channel 4’s acclaimed drama Any Human Heart.
Fox and Kirby both make their Royal Court debuts in the production. Fox has previously been seen in As You Like It at the Rose Theatre, Kingston, while Kirby’s London stage credits include Women Beware Women at the National Theatre.
The Acid Test, which opens on 23 May (previews from 13 May), follows up Reiss’s hugely successful debut, Spur Of The Moment, which saw the then 17-year-old writer take home the Most Promising Playwright accolade at both the Critics’ Circle Awards and the Evening Standard Theatre Awards.
CM