By James Inverne
15 Aug 2005

Kristin Scott Thomas and Bob Hoskins are preparing to star in Pirandello’s As You Desire Me in the West End from Oct. 27 (previews from Oct. 21). According to the Society of London Theatres website, the play will be given a new adaptation by Hugh Whitemore.

The tricky plots of Luigi Pirandello have found new popularity in London in recent years, with high-profile revivals of Six Characters In Search of an Author, Absolutely (Perhaps) and, at the Donmar, Henry IV. Once adapted for a 1932 Greta Garbo movie, As You Desire Me depicts a nightclub singer who may be an amnesiac (though she may not be) and isn’t sure who her husband is.

The show will go on at the Playhouse. It’s a return to the West End for BAFTA-winner Scott Thomas (who only made her belated Theatreland debut in 2003). Hoskins is a more experienced London stage-hound, with credits including Old Wicked Songs in 1996, and a huge success in the Richard Eyre-directed Guys And Dolls at the National Theatre in 1982.

They’re both also stars of the big screen. Hoskins has starred in movies including The Long Good Friday, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Mona Lisa. Scott Thomas is best known for films such as Four Weddings And A Funeral and The English Patient.

The director of As You Desire Me is former Almeida boss Jonathan Kent.