It will play for a strictly limited run to May 10. Warren Mitchell, who originally played the title role in a production at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds in 1999 and subsequently took it to Australia, returns to it in Patrick Garland's production, which comes to the West End following a national tour. He co-stars with Gideon Turner.
In the play, widower Mr. Green (Mitchell) is almost hit by a speeding car driven by corporate executive Ross Gardiner (Turner). Found guilty of reckless driving, Ross is ordered to spend the next six months making weekly visits to Mr. Green. After initial resentments, they mellow with each other, and come to understand and tolerate each other's differences.
Mitchell, now 82, is best known for his TV role as Alf Garnett in "'Till Death Us Do Part." His extensive stage credits include playing Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman at the National Theatre in 1979, Davies in Pinter's The Caretaker, also at the National, in 1980, and playing the father in The Homecoming at the West End's Comedy Theatre in 1991. He has also played the title role of King Lear at Hackney Empire in 1995. His West End roles also include starring in Yasmina Reza's Art; most recently, he won the 2004 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for Arthur Miller's The Price that transferred from the Tricycle to the Apollo in 2003.
Turner's theatre credits include Laertes in Hamlet and Mercutio in Romeo & Juliet, both for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and most recently, English Touring Theatre's production of The Changeling. Gideon’s television credits include "Hotel Babylon," "Cromwell," "Bad Girls" and "Dalziel and Pascoe."
Since premiering at the Berkshire Theatre Festival in 1996, Visiting Mr. Green has been seen at Off-Broadway's Union Square Theatre in 1997, where it ran for 12 months with Eli Wallach in the title role, and has since played in 37 countries and 22 languages in over 300 productions. To book tickets, call 0870 060 6632; for further information, visit www.theambassadors.com/trafalgarstudios.
