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- On September 16, 2024
Award-winning director Jamie Lloyd (Sunset Boulevard, Romeo and Juliet) is set to direct a season of Shakespeare plays at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, beginning later this year.
The first of the 2 shows will be The Tempest starring Sigourney Weaver (Alien, Avatar). She will be making her West End debut as Prospero. The Tempest will run from 7 December 2024 and play until 1 February 2025.
Much Ado About Nothing will then open on 10 February and will run until 5 April 2025. This is set to star Tom Hiddleston (Loki) and Hayley Atwell (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning) as Benedick and Beatrice.
Regarding the season Lloyd has said: “It is such an honour to be invited by Andrew Lloyd Webber to be the first company to present Shakespeare at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in decades. I could not be more thrilled to welcome three-time Academy Award-nominated and BAFTA and Golden Globe-winning actress, Sigourney Weaver — an international icon of stage and screen — to London. Then to collaborate again with two of the greatest actors of their generation — Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell — on one of Shakespeare’s wittiest and most tender comedies is a dream come true.”
Andrew Lloyd Webber who owns the Theatre Royal Drury Lane has stated “When I was nine years old I was taken to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane to see Peter Brook’s legendary production of The Tempest with John Gielgud as Prospero. It made a profound impression on me. At the final performance, Gielgud broke Prospero’s staff and pronounced that Shakespeare would never again be performed at the Theatre Royal as it would be ‘lost to musicals’. Ever since I owned the Theatre Royal I have been determined to prove him wrong. It is therefore a massive joy that Jamie Lloyd is bringing back Shakespeare to the Lane and even more wonderful that the first of two Shakespeare plays will be The Tempest.”
Full cast and creatives for the 16-week season are yet to be announced. Keep an eye out for further announcements!
