The theatre will also offer the world premiere of Moira Buffini's Handbagged, another play examining the relationship between Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher that was recently also dramatized onstage as part of Peter Morgan's The Audience, and a new production of Mary O'Malley's one-time West End hit Once a Catholic.
A Boy and His Soul will begin performances Sept. 4 prior to an official opening Sept. 9, for a run through Sept. 21. Colman Domingo, who will reprise his Tony-nominated role as Mr. Bones in the U.K. premiere of Kander and Ebb's The Scottsboro Boys at the Young Vic Theatre in October, previously appeared in the world premiere of his own play Off-Broadway, where it won the Lucille Lortel Award for Best Solo Show, the GLAAD Media Award for Best Play On or Off Broadway, and the IBTA Award for Best Solo Show. This production is newly directed by Titas Halder, a former resident assistant director at the Donmar Warehouse who subsequently directed The Dance of Death as part of the Donmar Trafalgar season.
Moira Buffini's Handbagged will begin performances Sept. 26 prior to an official opening Oct. 1 for a run through Nov. 9. The play revolves around the relationship of Margaret Thatcher – who famously believed there was no such thing as society – and Queen Elizabeth II, who vowed to serve society. According to press materials, the play "opens the clasp on the antipathy between two giants of the twentieth century." It is based on a short play that was previously presented at the Tricycle in 2010 as part of their Women, Power & Politics season. The Tricycle's artistic director Indhu Rubasingham directs a cast that includes Marion Bailey as the Queen and Stella Gonet as Thatcher.
Mary O'Malley's Once a Catholic will begin performances Nov. 21 prior to an official opening Nov. 27 for a run through Jan. 18. Set in a convent girls' school in London's Willesden in 1957, the nuns at Our Lady of Fatima preach chastity and diligence as the swinging sixties approach. Final exams loom. The day of reckoning is nigh. But for the girls in class 5A, their last year in uniform is set to be one of discovery of the less holy kind.
Originally premiered at the Royal Court in 1977 before transferring to the West End's Wyndham's Theatre where it ran for two years, it has also been seen on Broadway in a short-lived production that ran for just six performances in 1979. This new production, co-produced with Liverpool's Royal Court Theatre, will be directed by actress and director Kathy Burke. Finally, Lolita Chakrabarti's Red Velvet, which won her the Critics' Circle and Evening Standard Awards for Most Promising Playwright when it premiered at the Tricycle last year, will return for a season, beginning performances Jan. 23, 2014, prior to an official opening Jan. 29, for a run through March 8, prior to transferring to New York's St. Ann's Warehouse, where it will run March 25-April 20. Adrian Lester will reprise his performance as young black American actor Ira Aldridge, who took over in the title role of Othello from Edmund Kean when the latter collapsed on stage during a performance at Covent Garden's Theatre Royal in 1833. Lester won the Best Actor Award from the Critics' Circle for this performance. Also in the cast will be Natasha Gordon, Charlotte Lucas and Eugene O’Hare.
To book tickets, contact the box office on 020 7328 1000, or visit www.tricycle.co.uk for more details.
