X-Men Stars
SET FOR THEATRE ROYAL BRIGHTON THIS SUMMER
In what is sure to be one of
the most exciting theatrical
events of the year, stars
of stage and screen Ian
McKellen and Patrick Stewart
are to appear on stage at
Theatre Royal Brighton this
summer in Harold Pinter’s
masterpiece, No Man’s Land.
The pair appeared in the play
on Broadway to great critical
acclaim.
There will be eight performances of No
Man’s Land at Theatre Royal Brighton
when the play visits from Monday 22nd
to Saturday 27th August as part of a
limited tour. The Theatre is the only
venue in the South of England outside
London to present the play on tour,
before the production transfers to the
West End for a limited 14 week run at the
Wyndham’s Theatre.
Recognised as one of the country’s
leading playhouses, Theatre Royal
Brighton has a proud history of
welcoming the leading names of the day
to its stage. Peggy Ashcroft, Marlene
Dietrich, John Gielgud, Vivien Leigh,
Laurence Olivier and more recently
Simon Callow, Dominic West, Rupert
Everett, Zoë Wanamaker and Vanessa
Redgrave have all performed at the 208
year old theatre.
Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart last
appeared at Theatre Royal Brighton
in Waiting for Godot in 2009. The
production completely sold out for its
week long run, with lengthy queues at
the Theatre’s New Rd Box Office and
crowds of autograph hunters laying siege
to the stage door.
John Baldock, General Manager of
Theatre Royal Brighton commented:
“We are so honoured that Ian McKellen
and Patrick Stewart will be returning
to our stage after their unforgettable
performance in Waiting for Godot”.
In No Man’s Land, which is set on one
summer’s evening, two ageing writers,
Hirst and Spooner, meet in a Hampstead
pub and continue their drinking into the
night at Hirst’s stately house nearby.
As the pair become increasingly
inebriated, and their stories increasingly
unbelievable, the lively conversation
soon turns into a revealing power game,
further complicated by the return home
of two sinister younger men.
Playwright Harold Pinter, one of the finest
writers of his generation, was in 2005
awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature,
the highest honour available to any writer
in the world.
Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart are
long standing friends as well as
frequently acting together. Originally
a member of the Royal Shakespeare
Company, Patrick Stewart’s distinguished
career spans stage, TV and films but
he is perhaps best known for his role
as Jean-Luc Picard in TV’s Star Trek.
Ian McKellan has received over 50
international awards in a career which
spans over half a decade. He is loved by
fans worldwide for his roles in the X-Men
films, (also starring Patrick Stewart) and
as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and
The Hobbit films.
Patrick Stewart, who plays Hirst, said of
No Man’s Land: “It’s a very, very great
play. As many of Pinter’s plays do, it
has a mystery at the heart of it. What is
going on? Who are these people? What
do they want? And there are no clear
answers, so the play, like the best of
Shakespeare, is open to a multitude of
interpretations”.
Speaking of the forthcoming tour, Ian
McKellen said: “I love touring. It goes back
to my youth. It’s not so common now but
I think it’s so important. Actors are rogues
and vagabonds; we should be on the road.
And the welcome is always magnificent,
people really appreciate it that you’ve
come to their region. He continued “It’s
always fun to go to Brighton. Pebbles on
the beach, fish and chips”.
By Rachel Knowles
atgtickets.com/brighton
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