King's Head to Revive Death and the Maiden with Angelica Torn

By James Inverne
08 Jul 2004

London's intimate King's Head pub theatre is to revive Ariel Dorfman's most famous play, Death and the Maiden.

Angelica Torn will star as Paulina, the woman who thinks she recognizes her house guest as her one-time torturer. In taking the role Torn, who appeared at the King's Head recently as Sylvia Plath in Edge, follows in the footsteps of Juliet Stevenson (who played Paulina for the London premiere in 1992), Glenn Close (who did it on Broadway opposite Richard Dreyfuss and Gene Hackman) and Sigourney Weaver (who was in the 1994 movie version alongside Ben Kingsley and Stuart Wilson).

Joining Torn will be Rupert Wickham as Paulina's husband Gerardo Escobar, and Leigh Lawson as the house-guest Dr. Miranda. Paul Alexander directs.

Death and the Maiden will begin previews July 20 and run until Aug. 29. In the same period, the Islington venue will revive its classic matinee season with Michael Wall's play Women Laughing. A comedy in which two couples discover how much they have in common, Women Laughing stars Bill Fellowes, Sally George, Katey Kastin and Mark Rutherford. Dan Crawford directs.

The show will play as a matinee from July 27 until Aug. 15. There will be Sunday performances at 12:30 PM but no Saturday performances.

For more information about either show, phone (0)20 7226 1916 or visit www.kingsheadtheatre.org.