Irons Returns to London Stage in Embers
By John Nathan
01 Mar 2006
Oscar winner Jeremy Irons will take to the London stage for the first time in 18 years when he appears in the official opening of Embers, March 1 at the Duke of York’s Theatre. Previews started Feb 15.
Adapted from Sandor Marai’s novel by Christopher Hampton (The Philanthropist, The Talking Cure), Embers is set during the war in a Hungarian castle where retired general Henrik (Irons) awaits the arrival of his closest friend Konrad (Patrick Malahide), whom Henrik has not seen since Konrad mysteriously disappeared 30 years previously. The cast also features Jean Boht as Henrik’s wife.
Jeremy Irons won a Tony Award for his performance in the original Broadway production of The Real Thing. The English actor also won Academy and Golden Globe awards for his work in the 1990 film "Reversal of Fortune." Irons last appeared on the London stage in The Rover for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
In 1988 Christopher Hampton won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the screen version of his play Les Liaisons Dangereuses. The Philanthropist was recently revived at London’s Donmar with Simon Russell Beale in the title role.
Embers is directed by Michael Blakemore (Kiss Me, Kate; Three Sisters; Democracy) and is the first West End production to be fully produced by film and television producer Eric Abraham.
Abraham is the show’s third Academy Award winner. In 1996 his movie “Kolya” won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The West End’s newest producer told Playbill.com that he intends to produce two London productions a year. Next on his roster is a play by Ronald Harwood (The Dresser) called An English Affair, about Leo Amery, Churchill’s secretly Jewish minister whose son John, broadcast propaganda from Berlin on behalf of the Nazis. The play has yet to be cast.
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