By Mark Shenton
04 Sep 2010

	Alison Steadman

Noel Coward comes to the Old Vic with Design for Living, starring Andrew Scott (Broadway's The Vertical Hour), Lisa Dillon and Tom Burke, from Sept. 3; while (looking ahead) early 2011 will see Blithe Spirit back in the West End with Alison Steadman as Madame Arcati (at the Apollo from March 2, 2012). Lisa Dillon will stay on at the Old Vic after Design for Living to be joined by Tom Hollander for Richard Eyre's new production of Feydeau's A Flea in Her Ear from Dec. 4.

There are also interesting revivals away from the West End. The Tricycle has a new production of Arthur Miller's Broken Glass, starring Antony Sher, from Sept. 30; the Lyric Hammersmith's new season includes Sarah Kane's Blasted from Oct. 22, in the play's first English-language production in London for a decade; the Young Vic revives Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, from Nov. 11, featuring a new score by Oscar and Golden Globe award-winning composer Dario Marianelli; and the Almeida has Stephen Dillane in the title role of Ibsen's The Master Builder, from Nov. 12, joined by Gemma Arterton.

The Donmar Warehouse launches a new initiative promoting the work of younger directors (in the small Trafalgar Studios 2) who have come through the Donmar's own resident assistant director program. Charlotte Westenra begins the season by directing the premiere of Beau Willimon's Lower Ninth, set in the New Orleans district of that name, during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, from Sept. 30; and continues with Róisín McBrinn and Chris Rolls staging Alessandro Barrico's 1990 play Novecento and Cocteau's Les Parents Terribles, respectively.

Hamlet and King Lear are often regarded as the roles that bookend a great stage career for male actors; and both will be on offer in the London fall. Rory Kinnear will play Hamlet at the National for director Nicholas Hytner, from Sept. 30 (while at the regional Sheffield Crucible Theatre, John Simm will also play the role from Sept. 16); while Derek Jacobi, once a notable Dane himself, will play King Lear for Michael Grandage at the Donmar Warehouse from Dec. 3. Both Hamlet and King Lear will also be seen globally as part of the NT Live project of broadcasts into cinemas, on Dec. 9 and Feb. 3, 2011, respectively; also due to be screened is Complicite's A Disappearing Number on Oct. 14.

	Derek Jacobi
	photo by Johan Persson

More classical theatre will be on offer in London when the RSC bring a repertoire of eight of its current Ensemble productions at Stratford-upon-Avon to the Round House, beginning with Romeo and Juliet from Nov. 30 and joined shortly afterwards by Antony and Cleopatra, The Winter's Tale, Hamlet and The Comedy of Errors before Christmas, with Julius Caesar, As You Like It and King Lear to follow in the New Year.

There's also a double dose of Faust on the imminent horizon: Iceland's Vesturport will bring their version of the Goethe story to the Young Vic from Sept. 25; while Broadway's Des McAnuff makes his English National Opera directing debut to stage a new production of Gounod's operatic version from Sept. 18.

A final scattering of fall highlights includes the British debut of the L.A. and New York promenade hit, Accomplice, presented under the auspices of the Menier Chocolate Factory on the streets of Southwark and co-produced with Neil Patrick Harris, from Sept. 4; the British premiere of Bruce Norris' Clybourne Park, inspired by A Raisin in the Sun, at the Royal Court (opening officially Sept. 2); the return of Clarke Peters' Five Guys Named Moe to the Theatre Royal, Stratford East from Sept. 4, where it was first launched 20 years ago before transferring to the West End and Broadway, with Peters himself back in the cast; and fringe productions of The Bells are Ringing (at the Union Theatre from Sept. 29), starring Chicago's Anna-Jane Casey, and The Drowsy Chaperone (at the Upstairs at the Gatehouse from Sept. 23).

 

(Mark Shenton is Playbill.com's London correspondent, covering breaking news from the West End and beyond.)