London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane is going to look a bit more classic next year.
Led by the Jamie Lloyd Company, a special season of Shakespeare will play the U.K. theatre, including The Tempest starring BAFTA winner Sigourney Weaver in her West End debut as Prospero; and Much Ado About Nothing starring Tom Hiddleston as Benedick and Hayley Atwell as Beatrice.
The Tempest will begin performances December 7, and run until February 1, 2025 with opening night set for December 19. Much Ado About Nothing will begin performances February 10, 2025, and run until April 5, with opening night set for February 19. Both productions will be directed by Jamie Lloyd (Sunset Boulevard).
The theatre, owned and operated by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s LW Theatres, has not hosted a Shakespeare production since Peter Brook’s production of The Tempest starring John Gielgud in 1957.
Said Lloyd Webber, “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 Jamie Lloyd Company will offer 25,000 tickets at £25 across the season for audience members under 30, key workers, and those receiving government benefits.
Said Lloyd, “It is such an honor 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.”
Lloyd previously worked with Hiddleston on a revival of Harold Pinter's Betrayal, which played both the West End and Broadway. Hiddleston received a Tony nomination for his work. This marks his first collaboration with Weaver, and his third with Atwell, who previously starred in Lloyd's The Pride, for which she received an Olivier nomination.
For more information, visit TheJamieLloydCompany.com.
