Clive Rowe and John Heffernan will join the previously announced Simon Russell Beale and John Simm in Jamie Lloyd’s production of The Hothouse when it opens at the Trafalgar Studios later this year.
Harold Pinter’s biting tale of unchecked power at a state-run mental institution, where inmates are subjected to a tirade of mindless cruelty by a maniacal and self-obsessed leader, will play at the Whitehall venue from 4 May to 3 August as part of Lloyd’s Trafalgar Transformed season.
Olivier Award winner Rowe, whose most recent theatre credits include The Ladykillers in the West End and on tour and the Olivier Award nominated production of Kiss Me, Kate at the Old Vic theatre, has appeared extensively on stage in productions including Company at the Donmar Warehouse, The Fantasticks at the Duchess theatre and Carousel, Candide, Peter Pan and Guys And Dolls at the National Theatre, the latter of which earned him an Olivier Award in 1997.
Heffernan too has a strong link to the National Theatre, where he learned his trade in productions including She Stoops To Conquer, Emperor And Galilean, After The Dance, The Habit Of Art and Revenger’s Tragedy, going on to star in other London shows such as The Physicists at the Donmar Warehouse and The Last Duchess at the Hampstead theatre. Following his run in The Hothouse, he will lead his first production at the South Bank venue, playing the title role in Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II.
Last seen on the London stage in Love And Information at the Royal Court theatre, Heffernan’s stage credits include The Physicists at the Donmar Warehouse, The Last Duchess at the Hampstead theatre and She Stoops To Conquer, Emperor And Galilean, After The Dance, The Habit Of Art and Revenger’s Tragedy at the National Theatre.
The quartet of performers will be joined in the second of Lloyd’s highly anticipated productions by Harry Melling, Christopher Timothy and Indira Varma.
Best known for playing the spoilt cousin of J K Rowling’s boy wizard in the Harry Potter films, Melling, who can currently be seen in Richard Bean’s black comedy Smack Family Robinson at Kingston’s Rose theatre, returns to the Trafalgar Studios following his 2011 performance in When Did You Last See My Mother?
Returning to the venue following her performance in The Dance Of Death last year, Varma, though arguably more well-known for her on screen credits in television series including Luther, Hustle and Rome, has appeared on stage in productions including Twelfth Night, The Vortex and Privates On Parade at the Donmar Warehouse, Ivanov at the National Theatre and The Vertical Hour and The Country at the Royal Court theatre.
Best known for his on screen roles in Doctors and All Creatures Great And Small, Timothy’s stage credits include The Living Room at the Jermyn Street theatre, All The Fun Of The Fair at the Garrick theatre and The Grapes Of Wrath at the Chichester Festival Theatre.
The Hothouse will open at the Trafalgar Studio 1 following Lloyd’s acclaimed production of Macbeth, starring Olivier Award nominee James McAvoy, which plays until 27 April. Both productions offer tickets for just £15 every Monday, with half distributed through an outreach scheme targeted at schools and first time theatregoers, and half released for public sale on the first day of the month for the month ahead.