David Harewood, who was last seen in London starring in the Laurence Olivier Award-winning The Mountaintop, is to lead the cast of Moira Buffini’s Welcome To Thebes, which opens at the National Theatre in June.
Harewood, who will play Theseus, is joined in the Richard Eyre-directed production by Nikki Amuka-Bird, who plays Eurydice, Chuk Iwuji, Joy Richardson, Aicha Kossoko, Vinette Robinson, Tracy Ifeachor and Bruce Myers.
Buffini’s contemporary take on Greek mythology will be the second play in the 2010 Travelex £10 season, following Women Beware Women, and begins its run in the Olivier theatre on 15 June.
Taking on the role of Theseus, Harewood makes his return to the South Bank venue where he made history as the first black actor to play Othello at the National Theatre. More recently he has played Martin Luther King in The Mountaintop and Nelson Mandela in TV drama Mrs Mandela.
A regular for the Royal Shakespeare Company, for whom she is currently starring in The Gods Weep at the Hampstead theatre, Amuka-Bird’s other stage credits include World Music at the Donmar Warehouse and Doubt at the Tricycle theatre. She has also appeared in television series including Survivors, Small Island and The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.
Iwuji recently played Julian in The Misanthrope opposite Keira Knightley and Damian Lewis. A member of the award-winning RSC Histories company, his previous National Theatre credits include The Observer and The Bacchae.
Welcome To Thebes joins a National Theatre summer season that also includes Beyond The Horizon, Spring Storm, After The Dance, The Habit Of Art, The White Guard and London Assurance. More productions are expected to be announced later in the year.
MA