Dame Diana Rigg is to return to the stage alongside Rupert Everett and Kara Tointon in the forthcoming West End transfer of Chichester Festival Theatre’s Pygmalion from 12 May.
Rigg will play the mother of phonetics professor Henry Higgins (Everett) in George Bernard Shaw’s drama, stepping into the role played by Stephanie Cole in Chichester.
Rigg, one of UK theatre’s most respected actresses, is no stranger to Pygmalion, having previously played the lead role of Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle in a West End production in 1974. The Tony, BAFTA and Emmy-winning actress’s stage credits include memorable performances in Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, Medea and Little Eyolf, while more recently she has been seen in All About My Mother at the Old Vic in 2007 and Honour at the Wyndham’s in 2006.
Shaw’s Pygmalion tells the story of arrogant professor Henry Higgins who bets his friend that he can turn flower girl Eliza Doolittle into a lady by changing her accent.
Philip Prowse’s production, which originated in Chichester last summer, will also feature Marty Cruickshank, Roberta Taylor and Peter Sandys Clarke.
Pygmalion opens to the press at the Garrick theatre on 25 May and runs until 3 September.
CB