Robert Lindsay and Joanna Lumley are to return to the London stage later this year to star in royal yuletide drama The Lion In Winter at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.
James Goldman’s play will be the fourth production directed by Sir Trevor Nunn as Artistic Director of the Theatre Royal Haymarket Company.
Set in the court of Henry II, The Lion In Winter tells the tale of a festive season in which the English king invites his estranged wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and three sons to join him, his mistress and her brother King Philip of France for Christmas. With thoughts of a successor in the air, the yuletide celebrations descend into deceit, betrayal, power games and scabrous wit.
Olivier Award-winner Lindsay, who twice collected the coveted statuette for his performance in musicals Oliver! and Me And My Girl, was last seen in the West End taking the title role in Onassis. The star of long-running BBC sitcom My Family, who won a BAFTA for his performance in TV drama GBH, has previously led London casts of productions including Cyrano De Bergerac, The Entertainer and Richard III.
Lumley, like Lindsay, is a well known TV face, with roles including Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous and Purdy in The New Avengers making her a household name. The actress and political activist recently made her Broadway debut following the transfer of comedy La Bête from the West End.
The Lion In Winter opens at the Theatre Royal Haymarket following the forthcoming production of The Tempest starring Ralph Fiennes and Nicholas Lyndhurst and the current hit revival of Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, both of which are directed by former Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre Artistic Director, Nunn.
MA