John Simm is to return to the stage in a new production of Andrew Bovell’s Speaking In Tongues this autumn. The Life On Mars star will appear alongside Ian Hart and Kerry Fox in the drama, which plays at the Duke of York’s theatre from 18 September (press night 28 September).
Speaking In Tongues received its UK premiere at the Hampstead theatre in 2000 and was subsequently adapted by Bovell into the screenplay Lantana. A complex and multi-layered thriller, the piece interweaves nine parallel lives, four infidelities, one missing person and a mysterious stiletto, all drawn together through the investigations of detective Leon Zat.
Simm, who plays Zat, returns to the London stage following the success of Elling at the Bush theatre and Trafalgar Studios in 2007, for which he received a Laurence Olivier Award nomination. Though that was his first stage appearance in 11 years, he has previous stage credits including Goldhawk Road and Danny Rule. However Simm is best known for his television work which includes Clocking Off, Sex Traffic, State Of Play, Dr Who and Life On Mars, as well as films Human Traffic and 24-Hour Party People.
Simm is joined in Speaking In Tongues by well known screen actors Hart (Backbeat, Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone) and Fox (Shallow Grave, Welcome To Sarajevo). Between them the duo have appeared on stage at the Bush theatre, the Young Vic, the Donmar Warehouse and the Royal Court.
Australian playwright Bovell’s most recent work, When The Rain Stops Falling, is currently playing at the Almeida theatre. His other plays include Who’s Afraid Of The Working Class, Holy Day, Ship Of Fools and Scenes From A Separation, while his screenwriting career has encompassed Lantana, Head On and Strictly Ballroom, which he co-wrote with Baz Luhrmann.
Speaking In Tongues is directed by Toby Frow, whose credits include Bovell’s Ship Of Fools at Theatre503 and Samuel Adamson’s Some Kind Of Bliss at Trafalgar Studios in 2007.
Currently playing at the Duke of York’s theatre is Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia, which is booking to 12 September.
CB