Acclaimed actress Lesley Sharp will lead the cast of Ibsen’s Ghosts when a new production, marking the directorial debut of Iain Glen, opens at the Duchess theatre in spring 2010.
In addition to directing, Glen will also play Pastor Manders opposite Sharp’s Mrs Alving when Ibsen’s drama, presented in a new version by Frank McGuinness, opens on 23 February, following previews from 8 February. It will run until 15 May.
Written in 1881, Ghosts follows Mrs Alving as she prepares to dedicate an orphanage she has built in memory of her dead husband. Yet her plan is not one of respect; she hopes that she will never again have to speak of the man who, though respected in the community, was an immoral philanderer. To make matters worse, her son, recently returned from Paris, is dying from syphilis and has his heart set on a bride he cannot have.
Sharp, whose memorable screen credits include supernatural drama Afterlife, Mike Leigh films Vera Drake and Naked, award-winning drama Clocking Off and The Full Monty, is currently rehearsing for the West End revival of The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice, in which she plays drunken mother Mari opposite Marc Warren and X-Factor star Diana Vickers. Her last London outing came in the acclaimed National Theatre production of Harper Regan.
Glen, who starred opposite Sharp in the BBC’s recent adaptation of The Diary Of Anne Frank, will be drawing on his decades of on-stage and on-screen experience as he makes his directorial debut. He last appeared in the West End in 2006, starring in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s much-lauded production of The Crucible. Glen’s other London credits include Hedda Gabler (Almeida theatre), A Streetcar Named Desire (National Theatre), The Blue Room (Donmar Warehouse) and Martin Guerre (Prince Edward theatre).
Full casting for Ghosts is yet to be announced.
MA