The Olivier Award-winning play deals with sex and the internet generation. It premiered at the National Theatre, where it won rave reviews, the 1997 Evening Standard Best Comedy Award and the 1998 Olivier Award for Best New Play. Following a West End transfer, to the Lyric, Shaftesbury Avenue, it then moved on to New York, starring Anna Friel, Rupert Graves, Ciaran Hinds and Natasha Richardson.
The play was produced by impresario Robert Fox, who has proved as adept at producing films ? Iris and The Hours have been huge hits ? as at staging plays. The movie of Closer will be directed by Mike Nichols.