Spacey Announces Almodóvar and Mamet for Old Vic Season

By John Nathan
31 May 2007

Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey

The Old Vic's artistic director Kevin Spacey — currently on Broadway in A Moon for the Misbegotten — has announced a new season that will include a stage adaptation of Pedro Almodóvar’s film "All About My Mother"; a new production of Mamet's Speed-the-Plow starring Spacey; and a Christmas pantomime version of Cinderella written by the comedy actor and author Stephen Fry.

The season will also include the previously announced Sam Mendes-directed double bill of Shakespeare's Hamlet and The Tempest, both starring Stephen Dillane. The productions mark the first of three consecutive years of "The Bridge Project" (transatlantic co-productions between The Old Vic and the Brooklyn Academy of Music).

Samuel Adamson's adaptation of Spanish film director Almodóvar’s Oscar-winning movie "All About My Mother" will officially open at The Old Vic on Sept. 4 following previews that begin Aug. 25. Casting has yet to be announced, but the production will be directed by Tom Cairns (Aristocrats for the National, Phaedre for the Donmar) and designed by Hildegard Bechtler. Adamson's work includes Southwark Fair and a translation of Ibsen's Pillars of the Community, both at the National.

The Old Vic's Christmas offering will be Fry's new version of Cinderella, officially opening on Dec. 9 following previews that begin Dec. 4.

In January 2008 the Old Vic's artistic director returns to his own stage in the role of film producer Bobby Gould in Mamet's Speed-the-Plow.

Mendes' productions of Hamlet and The Tempest are scheduled to arrive at The Old Vic in May 2008, following runs at BAM and Milan's Piccolo Theatre.

In 2009 the project sees Mendes direct The Winter's Tale and The Cherry Orchard. The double bill for 2010 has yet to be announced.

For more on The Old Vic's season, call (0)870 060 6628.