A new production of Seán O’Casey’s Irish classic Juno and the Paycock is coming to London.
Directed by artistic director of The Old Vic, Matthew Warchus (Matilda The Musical, Groundhog Day), Seán O’Casey’s classic drama Juno and the Paycock will play the Gielgud Theatre in London this September 2024.
The production will star J. Smith-Cameron as Juno and Mark Rylance as Juno’s husband Captain Jack Boyle, with further casting to be announced.
J Smith-Cameron is an award-winning American actor best known for playing lawyer Gerri Kellman in the acclaimed HBO series Succession, winning two Primetime Emmy Awards. Smith Cameron has extensive theatre credits including Our Country’s Good, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award, Sweet and Sad, and Juno and Paycock, for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award.
Mark Rylance (Jerusalem, Bridge of Spies, Dr Semmelweis, Richard III) is one of Britain’s greatest living actors, and a multi Olivier Award winner, and an Academy Award winner.
Seán O’Casey’s drama was written in 1924, celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Juno and the Paycock plays out during the Irish Civil War, and is set in a working-class tenement in Dublin.
Joining Matthew Warchus in the creative team are Rob Howell (Set and Costume Designer), Hugh Vanstone (Lighting Designer), Claire van Kampen (Composer) and Serena Hill CDG (Casting Director).
The play is produced by Sonia Friedman Productions. Friedman, Warchus and Rylance are reuniting following their acclaimed West End productions of Boeing-Boeing and La Bête.
Director Matthew Warchus said in a statement: “I have long been in love with this staggeringly great melodrama – a play which collides an Irish working-class domestic tragedy with some of the comedic bravura of the 1920s Music Hall in an unforgettable indictment of the chaos of civil war. I’m very excited to be embarking on my seventh collaboration with Mark Rylance, and my first with the brilliant American actress J. Smith-Cameron, on the 100-year anniversary production of this internationally acclaimed, strikingly relevant, Irish classic.”
J. Smith-Cameron said: “Juno and the Paycock is not simply a brilliant piece of theatre but an eternally relevant play so long as people must endure violent repression. The prospect of revisiting this work in the company of the great director Matthew Warchus and the truly legendary Mark Rylance absolutely floors me; I couldn’t be more thrilled.”
Mark Rylance said: “It is a joy to be playing Seán O’Casey’s masterpiece with J. Smith-Cameron, and to be doing so in its 100th anniversary year. I am also delighted to be reuniting with Matthew Warchus on what will be our seventh theatrical collaboration and with Sonia Friedman who has supported me in eight previous productions.”
A number of Succession stars have recently appeared on the London stage, including Brian Cox, who is currently starring in Long Day’s Journey Into Night at the Wyndham’s Theatre until 8 June. Succession co-star Sarah Sarah completed a West End run on Saturday, having starred in A Portrait of Dorian Gray at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.
There have also been rumours that Kenneth Lonergan’s acclaimed play Lobby Hero is coming to the West End starring Succession’s Nicholas Braun. Kenneth Lonergan is married to J Smith Cameron.
Juno and the Paycock is playing the Gielgud Theatre from 21 September to 23 November 2024.
Book tickets to Juno and the Paycock at the Gielgud Theatre in London
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