Stage Version of On the Waterfront to Make West End Premiere
By Mark Shenton
12 Jan 2009
A new stage version of the classic 1954 film "On the Waterfront" will begin performances at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket Jan. 28 prior to an official opening Feb. 12. The limited engagement will run through April 25.
Directed by Steven Berkoff, this staging premiered at Nottingham Playhouse in April 2008, before being presented on the Edinburgh Fringe in August.
Adapted by Budd Schulberg (from his own screenplay to the original movie) and Stan Silverman, On the Waterfront tells the story of beleaguered boxer bum Terry Malloy's fight against the New York underworld. After throwing too many fights, Terry is now working on the docks and in the pay of mobster Johnny Friendly. Unwittingly implicated in a murder, facing conflicting feelings of guilt and pragmatism, he is forced to make a decision when falling for the dead man's sister.
Simon Merrells reprises his Nottingham and Edinburgh performance as Terry Malloy, with Berkoff himself newly stepping into the role of Johnny Friendly. Merrells has appeared with the RSC, playing Antonio in Twelfth Night and Antipholus of Ephesus in The Comedy of Errors. Other stage credits include appearances at the National Theatre in The Life of Galileo, Cyrano de Bergerac, Mourning Becomes Electra and Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads. He has previously appeared with Berkoff in a world tour of his production of Coriolanus.
Berkoff has directed productions of Shakespeare's Coriolanus, Richard II, Hamlet and Macbeth, as well as Oscar Wilde's Salome (seen at the National Theatre). His original plays include East, West, Messiah: Scenes from a Crucifixion, The Secret Love Life of Ophelia, Decadence, Harry's Christmas, Massage, Acapulco and Brighton Beach Scumbags.
The cast also includes Vincenzo Nicoli (Father Barry), Coral Beed (Edie Doyle), Antony Byrne (Charley Malloy), Alexander Thomas, Ian Gofton, Sean Buckley, Alex McSweeny, Dominic Grant, Alex Giannini and Gavin Marshall.
The London season is produced by Bill Kenwright and Michael Edwards and Carole Winter.
To book tickets contact the box office at 0845 481 1870 or visit www.trh.co.uk.
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