Joely Richardson is to take to the London stage next year to star as Ellida in Ibsen’s The Lady From The Sea at Kingston’s Rose Theatre.
When she debuts on 23 February, she will become the third member of her family to play the role, following her mother Vanessa Redgrave in 1961 and sister, the late Natasha Richardson, who played the part at the Almeida theatre in 2003.
Part of the British theatrical dynasty that also includes Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson (her grandparents), Lynn Regrave (aunt), Corin Redgrave (uncle) and Gemma Redgrave (cousin), Richardson is best known for her screen work, which includes hit US series Nip/Tuck and The Tudors, though she recently returned to the stage in the New York production of Side Effects.
In The Lady From The Sea, Richardson plays a troubled woman married to a small town doctor but hung up on a previous lover who was forced to leave.
The new production is directed by Stephen Unwin, Artistic Director of the Rose Theatre, Kingston, who commented: “It gives me huge pleasure to stage Ibsen’s elusive masterpiece at the Rose, and I’m doubly delighted that Joely Richardson has decided to mark her return to the British stage with this collaboration.”
MA