Theater News

Jessica Raine and Linda Bassett to be Featured in the Donmar Warehouse’s 2013 Autumn Season

London’s Donmar Warehouse will bring two productions to New York City this fall.

Donmar Warehouse, courtesy of the company
Donmar Warehouse, courtesy of the company

Donmar Warehouse Artistic Director Josie Rourke announced the five productions that will make up the company’s 2013 autumn season.

“This year, the Donmar is a champion of British and Irish theatre,” said Rourke in a statement. “This next season of new and classic work examines life on these islands and considers how we find our place in the world.”

Opening the season will be a world premiere of Nick Payne’s new play, The Same Deep Water As Me, which follows a personal injury lawyer named Andrew who encounters his high school nemesis, Kevin. Directed by John Crowley, the cast will feature Nigel Lindsay (Shrek), Daniel Mays (Welcome to the Punch), and Monica Dolan (BAFTA winner for Appropriate Adult). The production will run from August 1-September 21.

Next will be a production of Arnold Wesker’s Roots, directed by James MacDonald, set to run from October 3-November 30. Jessica Raine, star of the BBC1 drama series Call the Midwife, will perform alongside British film actress Linda Bassett (East is East) and Emma Stansfield (BBC’s Privates). The play is set in 1958 and follows rural Beattie Bryant who has fallen in love with a young socialist named Ronnie whom she recently met on a trip to London.

Rourke will then direct a production of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, starring Tom Hiddleston (Othello) in the title role and Mark Gatiss (The Recruiting Officer) in the role of Menenius. In partnership with National Theatre Live, the production will be broadcast live into cinemas on January 30, 2014. The production is scheduled to run from December 6-February 8, 2014.

In October, the Donmar will join with St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn to present the U.S. premiere of the Donmar’s critically acclaimed all-female production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, with original director Phyllida Lloyd reprising her work. Original cast members Harriet Walter, Frances Barber, Jenny Jules, and Cush Jumbo will return to the production as well, scheduled for a month-long run from October 3-November 3. The Machine, a coproduction with the Manchester International Festival and Park Avenue Armory, will also come to New York for a two-week run after premiering in Manchester this July (the run is scheduled for July 10-July 21). The play tells the story of chess master Garry Kasparov who came to New York City in 1997 to play against a chess computer named Deep Blue. The New York run will open on September 4 and run through September 18.

“With the American premiere of Julius Caesar, Phyllida Lloyd’s groundbreaking production and company will bring the important conversation they began in London to New York this autumn,” said Rourke. “I’m delighted that this incredible reimagining of a classic play will follow The Machine in New York, and be the first London-to-New York transfer from the Donmar’s new team.”

To read the Whatsonstage.com’s coverage of the Donmar season, click here.

For more ticket information, click here.