Dervla Kirwan and Joseph Millson will join Simon Russell Beale in Richard Eyre’s production of Mr Foote’s Other Leg when it opens at the Hampstead Theatre in September.
Written by Ian Kelly, who will also appear in the production, the biographical tale about Samuel Foote and the dawn of celebrity will play from 14 September to 17 October at the Swiss Cottage venue.
While arguably still best known for her television roles, which include Ballykissangel and Goodnight Sweetheart, Kirwan returns to the London stage for the first time since her critically acclaimed performance in the Donmar Warehouse revival of The Weir.
Banished and Penny Dreadful actor Millson returns after playing the title role in Shakespeare’s Globe’s 2013 production of Macbeth.
Completing the line-up of performers set to take on the comic tale are Forbes Masson (The Ruling Class, Trafalgar Studios), Colin Stinton (The Pajama Game, West End), Micah Balfour (Absolute Beginners, Lyric Hammersmith), Jenny Galloway (Tiger Country, Hampstead Theatre), and RADA undergraduates Sophie Bleasdale and Joshua Elliott.
Set in Georgian London, a time when the concept of selling a personality was born, Mr Foote’s Other Leg charts the story of the satirist and impressionist who, adored by many but despised by some, finds himself on the receiving end of attacks from the press… and a surgeon’s knife.
In an age obsessed with fame, the play explores our fascination with the rise and fall of celebrity and asks the question, does fame make you mad?
The production will open at the Hampstead Theatre following the current run of Rebecca Gilman’s arresting and sharply witty drama Luna Gale, starring Sharon Small, which closes on 18 July.