Stockard Channing and Tamsin Greig are to star in two plays at Hampstead Theatre this autumn.
The West Wing and Grease star appears as Thelma Cates in Marsha Norman's ‘night, Mother in October, then in December Grieg takes on the raucously funny role of theatrical agent Peggy Ramsay in Alan Plater's Peggy For You.
Exploring a mother-daughter relationship over a long evening of life defining choices and unblinking honesty, 'night Mother had its UK premiere at Hampstead Theatre in 1985 after scooping both the Pulitzer Prize and Susan Smith Blackburn award.
Running from October 22, it will be directed by the theatre's artistic director Roxana Silbert. Next up, Hampstead resident Richard Wilson directs Friday Night Dinner star Greig in a comedy which had its world premiere at Hampstead Theatre in 1999, starring Maureen Lipman.
The late playwright was represented by the formidable Ramsay for many years, and from her eyrie off St Martin's Lane she shaped the careers of the likes of Robert Bolt, Joe Orton, David Hare and Alan Ayckbourn. Plater's play, which runs from December 10, shows the outrageous agent valued art more than money or indeed manners, and was as interesting as any of her clients.
Wilson, 85 says: "I am so pleased to be returning to Hampstead, which I remember being started by James Roose Evans all those years ago in a small hut by a Swiss Cottage bus stop. I have directed and acted at the theatre many times over the years. Alan's play is a wonderful, fun tribute to a remarkable woman who has had such an impact on the UK's theatre industry. I’m delighted to bring the terrific Peggy Ramsay to life this Christmas."
Before all that there is Shelagh Stephenson's Olivier-award winning The Memory of Water which runs from September 3 and stars Lucy Black, Kulvinder Ghir, Adam James, and Lizzy McInnerny in a poignant and painfully funny comedy about three sisters coming together before their mother's funeral - all haunted by their own demons.
From September 27 all main stage productions will return to 100 per cent capacity.
Silbert said: “I am delighted to be announcing the final productions from this pandemic year. Brilliant plays attract brilliant artists and I am proud to be producing plays with extraordinary parts for women with extraordinary talent.”
https://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/
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