Tim Pigott-Smith is to join Penelope Wilton, Imelda Staunton and Lucy Cohu in Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance, which plays at the Almeida theatre from 5 May to 2 July (press night 12 May).
Pigott-Smith returns to the stage following his performance in two-hander Educating Rita at Trafalgar Studios 1 last year. Previous to that he appeared on the London stage in the award-winning play Enron – for which he received a Laurence Olivier Award-nomination in 2010 – Pygmalion at the Old Vic and The Iceman Cometh at the Almeida theatre. His lengthy career has also included work for the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre, and screen appearances in Alice In Wonderland, Quantum Of Solace and, further back, the TV series that earned him a BAFTA, The Jewel In The Crown.
A Delicate Balance centres on urban socialites Agnes (Wilton) and Tobias (Pigott-Smith), whose glamorous world of drinks parties and social clubs is gradually pierced by the return of their recently divorced daughter, the presence of Agnes’s alcoholic sister and the late-night arrival of some close friends.
Also joining the cast are Ian McElhinney and Diana Hardcastle. Returning to the Almeida theatre following Through A Glass Darkly and There Came A Gypsy Riding – in which he appeared alongside Staunton – McElhinney has also been seen at the Royal Court, Hampstead theatre and the Tricycle theatre. Hardcastle has worked with the RSC and National Theatre.
A Delicate Balance plays at the Almeida theatre following current production Becky Shaw and David Eldridge’s The Knot Of The Heart, which plays from 10 March to 30 April.
CB