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Stars queue up for West End roles

The cast for LondonÂ’s Theatreland is particularly impressive this month as those whose runs started in the Spring are still to be found in the theatres of London whilst the curtain is raised on several intriguing Summer shows boasting an even broader aray of stars. I suppose it would behove us well to start with those who are not long for this world – as it is a stage! If you can manage to get tickets for The Donmar WarehouseÂ’s production of The Weir you will get to see three fine actors strutting their stuff in Conor McPhersonÂ’s Olivier Award winning play: Brian Cox, Ardal OÂ’Hanlan and Dervla Kirwan. If you missed it when it first came to London in 1997 I would recommend not making the same mistake again. Set in remote pub in Ireland, the locals are driven to impress a stranger with stories of souls and spirits. But one tale is more chilling and more real than any of the regulars could have foreseen. The Weir Also on her way back to her dressing room for the last time in June is Helen Mirren who has been making headlines this month for her performance outside the Gielgud Theatre as well as on its stage as she plays Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience. Throughout June, two TV favourites, Felicity Kendal and Zoe Wanamaker, star in two very different plays. Kendal provides the light relief with Alan AyckbournÂ’s hilarious Relatively Speaking at the WyndhamÂ’s Theatre, whilst just round the corner in St MartinÂ’s Lane, Wanamaker reveals a darker side in the acclaimed revival of Peter Nichols’s Passion Play at the Duke of York’s Theatre. The reviews for Relatively Speaking are coming out as I type and Billington and Spencer et al are heaping praise on the whole production! Passion Play Lenny Henry also leaves his funny bone at the stage door when he turns up to star in Fences each night. One of the greatest American dramas of the 20th Century, August Wilson’s Fences tells the story of a once-gifted athlete denied his shot at the big time and now takes his disappointment out on his wife and his sports-mad son. Martin McDonaghÂ’s comic masterpiece The Cripple of Inishmaan features Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe. Since his wizard days he has appeared on stage in Peter ShafferÂ’s Equus on both sides of the Atlantic and in the musical How to Succeed in Business.., both to critical acclaim: so expect more plaudits when he teams up with Michael Grandage at the Noel Coward Theatre this summer. But great theatre is, of course, not restricted to the playhouses of the West End. Travelling south, Simon Russell Beale and John Simm are at the tiny Trafalgar Studios (that used to be the Whitehall Theatre), just below Trafalgar Square in a superb revival of Harold Pinter’s The Hothouse. Again, this is a hot ticket so if you get the chance, grab is with both hands. Head across the river and the National Theatre is Rory Kinnear and Adrian Lester in Othello, directed by Nicholas Hytner. Fortunately there are more seats at the National than there are at the Trafalgar Studios but donÂ’t get blasé about tickets and donÂ’t leave it to the last weekend which, by the way, is the 18th August. Finally, a thought. The Old Vic plays host Sweet Bird of Youth from 01 June 2013 and whilst it is a super role, surely, like the lead character in Long DayÂ’s Journey into Night, “dahhhling youÂ’d be perfect for it” are not necessarily the words an actor wants to hear from their agent! Sex And The City‘s Kim Cattrall plays the faded Hollywood star in Tennessee Williams’s classic! Simon Harding is Editor at Theatre Breaks. If you would like to be a guest blogger on A Luxury Travel Blog in order to raise your profile, please contact us.

Simon Harding

Simon owns the original Theatre Breaks company now at https://www.theatrebreaks.co.uk. He has been promoting London theatre for 30 years. He also writes, sings and acts (although Finsbury is the closest he has got to doing so in the West End). His favourite meal is a pre-theatre italian, probably Spaghetti Bolognese.

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