Director Jamie Lloyd is to revive She Stoops To Conquer at the National Theatre in January 2012, with a cast including Sophie Thompson, Steve Pemberton and Katherine Kelly.
It will be the second time in the space of a decade that Oliver Goldsmith’s 18th century comedy of manners has been staged at the Southbank venue, following the 2002 co-production with Out Of Joint.
Lloyd is one of the rising directorial stars of the British stage, with productions including Passion, Piaf, Three Days Of Rain, The Price and current Royal Court hit The Faith Machine to his name. Prior to taking charge of She Stoops To Conquer, he will return to the Donmar Warehouse later this year to direct Douglas Hodge and Karen Gillan in Inadmissible Evidence.
British star of stage and screen Thompson will be hoping She Stoops To Conquer is as well received as her last stage outing, the Royal Court production of Clybourne Park, for which she received a Laurence Olivier Award nomination. The former Olivier Award-winner – she won for her performance in Into The Woods – may be best known for her roles in Four Weddings And A Funeral and EastEnders.
Star of TV comedies Benidorm and Psychoville, Pemberton has London stage credits including Art, The Drowsy Chaperone and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
She Stoops To Conquer marks Kelly’s return to the stage following a stint playing Becky Macdonald in TV soap opera Coronation Street.
The romantic comedy of confused identities follows an autumn in the National’s Olivier theatre that includes Mike Bartlett’s new play 13, Bach’s St Matthew Passion and the current revival of Arnold Wesker’s culinary drama The Kitchen.
MA