Captain America star Hayley Atwell will return to the London stage this summer to lead the cast of Alexi Kaye Campbell’s landmark drama The Pride, which will play as part of Jamie Lloyd’s successful Trafalgar Transformed season.
Hot on the heels of his critically acclaimed productions of the James McAvoy-led Macbeth and current hit The Hothouse, Lloyd has attracted another group of talented British actors to lead the second ever production of the multi award-winning play, with Harry Hadden-Paton, Mathew Horne and Al Weaver joining Atwell from 8 August (press night 13 August) until 9 November.
Receiving its world premiere in 2008 at the Royal Court’s Jerwood Theatre Upstairs and earning Kaye Campbell and Lloyd an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, The Pride spans more than half a century to tell the story of the complex love triangle between Philip, Oliver and Sylvia. Against a background of changing attitudes towards homosexuality, past and present worlds grind together and melt apart, with the future and its promise of sexual liberation remaining ever elusive, as societal repression gives way to self-deception.
Following a string of high-profile screen appearances in The Sweeney, Life Of Crime, Restless and the soon to be released Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Atwell makes her theatrical return as Sylvia, following her last stage appearance in another of Kaye Campbell’s plays, The Faith Machine at the Royal Court, which was also directed by Lloyd.
The Pillars Of The Earth and Any Human Heart star’s other acclaimed stage credits include Major Barbara at the National Theatre, Women Beware Women at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the West End production of A View From The Bridge, which saw Atwell earn her first Olivier Award nomination.
Hadden-Paton and Weaver will take on the roles of Philip and Oliver, with Haddon-Paton adding to his string of recent critically acclaimed appearances in productions including The Changeling at the Young Vic, She Stoops To Conquer at the National Theatre, Flare Path at the Theatre Royal Haymarket and Posh at the Royal Court, while Weaver returns to the stage following his most recent appearance in Lloyd’s production of Inadmissible Evidence at the Donmar Warehouse.
Still best known for his leading role in BBC comedy Gavin & Stacey and his comedy partnership with James Cordon, Horne completes the cast following stage appearances in the Menier Chocolate Factory’s Charley’s Aunt and Entertaining Mr Sloane at the Trafalgar Studios.
Speaking about his decision to re-stage Kaye Campbell’s work and offer it its West End debut, Lloyd explained: “My hope is that each production in the Trafalgar Transformed season engages directly with the world outside the theatre’s walls. Entering into the advancing debate about equal marriage, I am thrilled to announce the third production in the season – the West End premiere of Alexi Kaye Campbell’s modern masterpiece, The Pride. Only 85 people a night got the chance to see The Pride during a very short run when Alexi and I premiered the play Upstairs at the Royal Court in 2008, so I am very excited that a bigger, more diverse London audience will now get the chance to see the play in this brand-new production.”
As part of the Trafalgar Transformed season, a series of workshops and talks have been programmed alongside each production, The Pride being no exception. “The production will be accompanied by an eclectic mini-festival of extra events, which will, this time, explore and analyse contemporary gay life and the history of gay theatre,” Lloyd commented.
The season’s commitment to affordable ticketing will also continue, with all Monday performance tickets on sale for £15 and made available for booking on the first day of each month. For more information visit www.thepridewestend.com