Award-winning director Jamie Lloyd (Sunset Boulevard, Romeo & Juliet) is directing a new season of Shakespeare plays at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London.
The two major new productions are Shakespeare’s The Tempest starring Sigourney Weaver, making her West End debut as Prospero; and Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing starring Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell as Benedick and Beatrice.
The Tempest plays from 7 December 2024 to 1 February 2025; and Much Ado About Nothing is running from 10 February 2025 to 5 April 2025.
Rehearsals for The Tempest will begin in London on 28 October.
Stars on stage for new Shakespeare season
BAFTA winner Sigourney Weaver is being awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 81st Venice International Film Festival. Her screen credits include Ridley Scott’s Alien movies and James Cameron’s Avatar movies; and stage credits include The Merchant of Venice off-Broadway.
Jamie Lloyd has previously directed Tom Hiddleston (Loki, The Night Manager) in Harold Pinter’s Betrayal in 2019 at Harold Pinter Theatre and then on Broadway.
Lloyd directed Hayley Atwell (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Rosmersholm, Measure for Measure) in The Faith Machine at the Royal Court Theatre in 2011, and The Pride at the Trafalgar Studios in 2013.
In 2008 both Tom and Hayley were nominated for Ian Charleson Awards: Hayley was nominated for Major Barbara, and Tom received a special commendation for Ivanov.
Much later, in 2019, both were again nominated in the same year for an award – this time the Evening Standard Theatre Awards. Tom Hiddleston was nominated in the Best Actor category for Betrayal, and Hayley Atwell for Best Actress for Rosmersholm.
They were also both nominated in the 2020 WhatsOnStage Awards, for the same shows.
Theatre Royal Drury Lane
The 16 week season will take place in one of the West End’s largest theatres – the 2,154-seater Theatre Royal Drury Lane, owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber and his LW Theatres company.
The theatre recently underwent a £60 million refurbishment, including a fully flexible auditorium.
Design for both productions will be with Lloyd’s long-term collaborator Soutra Gilmour. Video and projections, a hallmark of Lloyd’s recent productions of Sunset Boulevard and Romeo & Juliet, will not be used in the show.
The news was first rumoured earlier this month.
Jamie Lloyd & Shakespeare
Jamie Lloyd’s production of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet is currently playing at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London starring Tom Holland, until this Saturday.
Lloyd has also directed West End productions of Shakespeare’s work including Richard III and Macbeth.
Before The Tempest, Jamie Lloyd is directing the Broadway transfer of his critically acclaimed London revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard starring Nicole Scherzinger, which transfers to Broadway’s St James’s Theatre in September 2024.
Up until recently Jamie Lloyd and his The Jamie Lloyd Company production outfit had a co-production deal with ATG, one of the UK’s largest theatre owners, but broke off the arrangement earlier this year in order to take full control of his productions.
Andrew Lloyd Webber & Drury Lane
Lloyd Webber has a well-known ambition to see Shakespeare performed again at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Sir John Gielgud starred in Peter Brook’s production of The Tempest at The Lane in 1957 and 1958, the last Shakespeare performance at the venue. Gielgud broke Prospero’s staff during the run, claiming that Shakespeare would never happen again in The Lane.
Lloyd Webber has rebuked that, telling the Art Newspaper when Drury Lane reopened that, “He [Gielgud] said Shakespeare would never happen again in the Lane. I want to prove him wrong.”
A young Eileen Atkins and Julian Glover were also in unnamed parts in the seven week season at Drury Lane. Gielgud was said to be clearly heard – without amplification – in every of the 2,000 seats; and Ralph Richardson called the production “the best Shakespearian acting I have seen in my life.”
What They Said
Director Jamie Lloyd said in a statement: “It is such an honour to be invited by Andrew Lloyd Webber to be the first company to present Shakespeare at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in decades. I could not be more thrilled to welcome three-time Academy Award nominated and BAFTA and Golden Globe winning actress, Sigourney Weaver — an international icon of stage and screen — to London. Then to collaborate again with two of the greatest actors of their generation — Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell — on one of Shakespeare’s wittiest and most tender comedies is a dream come true.”
Sigourney Weaver said: “I am delighted to be making my West End debut in Shakespeare’s The Tempest directed by the brilliant Jamie Lloyd – and to do so in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s beautiful and historic Theatre Royal Drury Lane is an extraordinary opportunity. Come and see us!”
Tom Hiddleston said: “Working with Jamie Lloyd on Harold Pinter’s Betrayal was one of the most fulfilling and meaningful experiences of my performing life. I could not be more thrilled to have been given the opportunity to collaborate with him again, this time on one of Shakespeare’s most warm-hearted and joyful plays: Much Ado About Nothing. It’s an honour to have been invited by Andrew Lloyd Webber to bring Shakespeare back to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, in a season alongside Sigourney Weaver in The Tempest, and to be working with the great Hayley Atwell for the first time.”
Hayley Atwell said: “I am thrilled to be joining Jamie Lloyd’s company for the third time in my career. His bold and electric direction, combined with the warmth and wit of one of Shakespeare’s most celebrated comedic duos is a truly exciting opportunity and one that I hope will delight our audiences. I look forward to working with my talented friend Tom Hiddleston and bringing The Bard back to Theatre Royal Drury Lane.”
Andrew Lloyd Webber said: “When I was nine years old I was taken to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane to see Peter Brook’s legendary production of The Tempest with John Gielgud as Prospero. It made a profound impression on me. At the final performance Gielgud broke Prospero’s staff and pronounced that Shakespeare would never again be performed at the Theatre Royal as it would be “lost to musicals.” Ever since I owned the Theatre Royal I have been determined to prove him wrong. It is therefore a massive joy that Jamie Lloyd is bringing back Shakespeare to the Lane and even more wonderful that the first of two Shakespeare plays will be The Tempest.”
The Tempest & Much Ado About Nothing dates in London
Currently playing at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane is Disney’s musical Frozen, until 8 September 2024. There are then no productions currently scheduled until Disney take the theatre again in 2025, for their production of Hercules.
The Tempest is playing at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London from 7 December 2024 to 1 February 2025.
Much Ado About Nothing is playing at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London from 10 February 2025 to 5 April 2025.
More about tickets to The Tempest at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane London
More about tickets to Much Ado About Nothing at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane London
Book tickets to Romeo & Juliet at the Duke of York’s Theatre London
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