Edward Hall’s successful touring production of The Deep Blue Sea, which stars Greta Scacchi, transfers to the Vaudeville theatre in April. The drama about a destructive affair opens on 13 May, following previews from 29 April, and runs until 19 July. Scacchi is joined in the cast by Simon Williams, Dugald Bruce Lockhart and Tim McMullan.
The play, written by Terence Rattigan in 1952, follows Hester Collyer (Scacchi), the daughter of a clergyman and wife of a judge, as she founders at the end of a hopeless affair. Her lover, former Battle of Britain pilot Freddie Page, is out of his depth in the relationship, overwhelmed by a strength of emotion he is incapable of reciprocating. Rattigan’s exploration of obsession and the destructive power of love was recently described by Daily Telegraph theatre critic Charles Spencer as “the greatest and most moving British drama since the Second World War”.
Scacchi’s eclectic career has spanned stage, television and film. On the big screen she has starred in Emma, Beyond The Sea, Presumed Innocent and The Player, while on television her credits include an Emmy Award-winning performance in Rasputin: Dark Servant Of Destiny, appearing opposite Laurence Olivier in The Ebony Tower and playing Margaret Thatcher in Jeffrey Archer: The Truth. On stage, the actress who trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School has appeared in Private Lives, Easy Virtue and The Guardsman.
Williams, who plays cuckolded husband William Collyer, has previously graced London stages in The Winslow Boy (Gielgud), The Old Country (Trafalgar Studio 1) and The Constant Wife (Apollo), where he was directed by Hall. Bruce-Lockhart, who plays Page, has also previously worked with the director as part of his acclaimed all-male troupe Propeller. He was last seen in London in Propeller’s double-bill of The Taming Of The Shrew and Twelfth Night at the Old Vic.
In addition to his work with Propeller, Hall has worked extensively with the National Theatre and is an Associate Director at the Old Vic. Among his productions are the award-winning Rose Rage and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Mark Ravenhill’s pantomime Dick Whittington and Somerset Maugham’s For Services Rendered.
Currently playing at the Vaudeville is Oscar Wilde’s comedy The Importance Of Being Earnest, which stars Penelope Keith as Lady Bracknell. The production closes on 26 April. em>MA