Right Royal drama The King’s Speech, which received its world premiere this week, will bring its regal tale to the Wyndham’s theatre this spring.
The play, which tells the story of King George VI and speech therapist Lionel Logue, who helped the monarch in his battle with stuttering, will begin its West End run on 22 March, facing the press on 27 March.
Though originally written as a piece for the stage, The King’s Speech won plaudits and awards during 2010 and 2011 when it was brought to the silver screen in a movie starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter.
The theatrical production, which is directed by former RSC Artistic Director Adrian Noble, stars Charles Edwards, who charmed audiences at Shakespeare’s Globe last summer as Much Ado About Nothing’s Benedick, in the role of the troubled king.
Australian actor Jonathan Hyde (Jumpers at the National Theatre, King Lear and The Seagull with the Royal Shakespeare Company) plays the antipodean therapist, while Emma Fielding (TV’s Kidnap And Ransom and Cranford) plays Queen Elizabeth. The cast also includes Ian McNeice, Michael Feast, Joss Ackland, Charlotte Randle, David Killick and Daniel Betts.
The King’s Speech opens at the Wyndham’s theatre following the West End run of US comic Jackie Mason, whose latest show Fearless is billed as his farewell performance in London.