Jenny Seagrove and Anthony Andrews are to star in Somerset Maugham’s play The Letter at the Wyndham’s from 19 April (press night 1 May).
Set in the heat of a Malaysian rubber plantation, a local playboy is murdered during the night by a planter's wife (Seagrove). When she claims she was acting in self-defence, the ex-pat community closes ranks and her trusting husband hires a family friend (Andrews) to defend her. But then a mysterious letter comes to light, casting doubt on her integrity, and things begin to fall apart. The play has been made into a number of films, notably in 1940 starring Bette Davis, who garnered an Oscar nomination for her role.
Seagrove was last seen on a London stage in Tennessee Williams’s The Night Of The Iguana with Woody Harrelson in 2005. Her previous recent West End credits include Maugham’s The Constant Wife in 2002 and The Odd Couple – The Female Version in 2001. Seagrove is also well known for her long-running role as Jo Mills in TV’s Judge John Deed.
Andrews came to prominence on television for his BAFTA-winning portrayal of Sebastian Flyte in the 1980s series Brideshead Revisited. On the London stage his recent credits include playing Count Fosco in The Woman In White at the Palace in 2005, Henry Higgins in the National’s production of My Fair Lady and Ibsen’s Ghosts at the Comedy in 2001.
The cast also includes Andrew Charleson, Karen Ascoe, Jason Chan, Peter Sandys-Clarke, Sioned Jones, Andrew Joshi, Liz Sutherland, Jon David Yu and Jamie Zubairi. Alan Strachan directs. His extensive West End directorial credits include Alan Ayckbourn’s Confusions and Woman In Mind.
The Letter comes to the Wyndham’s following a short UK tour which included a run at Richmond in January. It is booking at the Wyndham’s until 11 August.
CB