Dates have been confirmed for the long rumoured London stage reunion of screen and theatre legends Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart in Sean Mathias’ production of Harold Pinter’s iconic No Man’s Land.
The much loved pair will appear in Pinter’s classic at the Wyndham’s Theatre from 8 September to 17 December following a UK tour. More than 100 tickets per performance for the London run will be available for £20 or less.
McKellen and Stewart first appeared in the production in 2013 at the Cort Theater in New York. The show played in rep with Waiting For Godot, which had transferred from the Theatre Royal Haymarket, the last time the theatrical greats shared a West End stage.
After a three year wait, London audiences will now have the chance to see two of the UK’s best loved actors star as two ageing writers, Hirst and Spooner, who meet in a Hampstead pub and continue their drinking into the night at Hirst’s stately house nearby. As the pair become increasingly inebriated, and their stories increasingly unbelievable, the lively conversation soon turns into a revealing power game, further complicated by the return home of two sinister younger men.
Commenting on the forthcoming West End run, X-Men and Star Trek: The Next Generation star Stewart said: “I saw the original production of No Man’s Land three times in one week at Wyndham’s Theatre and would have seen it more if I could have afforded the tickets. I made a promise to myself that one day I would play Spooner or Hirst but to be doing it back at Wyndham’s with Ian McKellen was a fantasy I never entertained.”
It’s a sentiment shared by The Lord Of The Rings’ McKellen, who commented: “Playing Spooner to Patrick’s Hirst on Broadway was a constant joy, which is why I am delighted to be back with him in the West End.”
While the pair are undoubtedly best known for their incredible careers on screen, they are both multi award-winning stage actors, having played many of theatre’s most famous roles between them. McKellen’s career with the RSC and National Theatre has seen him star in Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, Uncle Vanya and The Seagull, while Stewart’s most famous stage roles include Anthony And Cleopatra, The Tempest, Macbeth and his solo adaptation of A Christmas Carol.
Further casting for Mathias’ much-anticipated production is still to be announced.