Maureen Lipman will star in the world premiere of Olivier Cotton’s Daytona, which plays as part of the Park theatre’s inaugural season.
Last seen on the London stage in Old Money at the Hampstead theatre, Lipman, whose other stage credits include West End productions of When We Are Married and A Little Night Music at the Garrick theatre, will lead the cast of the funny and poignant play, which is written by Passion Play’s Cotton and directed by David Grindley (Our Boys, Six Degrees Of Separation).
Playing from 10 July to 18 August in the venue’s largest space Park200, Daytona tells the story of Joe and Elli who share a passion for ballroom dancing and plan to win the next big competition, until the unexpected arrival of a figure from the past threatens to throw everything off balance.
The production forms part of an exciting opening season for Park200, which also welcomes Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s popular comedy The School For Scandal (12 June to 7 July), Clive Francis’ adaptation of Ben Travers’ Thark (21 August to 22 September), pantomime favourite Sleeping Beauty (11 December to 19 January), and These Shining Lives, which opens at the venue tomorrow with a cast including Charity Wakefield, Honeysuckle Weeks and Alec Newman.
While Park200 will be packed full of comedy, farce and drama, the inaugural season of the venue’s smaller Park90 will include Ben Tagoe’s The Thing About Psychopaths (14 to 19 May), Yellow Farce (21 May to 16 June), which is directed by The Promise’s Alex Sims, the world premiere of Casualties (18 June to 14 July) and Skin Tight (16 July to 11 August), a tale about an ordinary couple who relive their darkest secrets and deepest passions.
Situated near Finsbury Park station in north London, the Park theatre, which opened its doors for the first time on 8 May when These Shining Lives began previews, is a two auditorium venue that also features The Morris Space, which will be used for educational and rehearsal purposes.