The York Theatre Royal has announced the premiere of an adaptation of Brideshead Revisited next April following a 4.1 million pound redevelopment of its facilities. The script is by Wakefield playwright Bryony Lavery and the production will be directed by Damian Cruden, the Theatre Royal’s artistic director. As reported in the York Press:
“To have Brideshead in our opening season is a perfect fit,” said Damian Cruden. “It’s a story with enduring appeal and has such strong associations with Yorkshire after both the TV series and the later film used Castle Howard as the location for the Marchmains’ home.
“Our building is undergoing a huge remodelling and the facilities in the new theatre space will provide us with creative opportunities to stage Brideshead in a way we wouldn’t have been able to in our old auditorium.
“Audiences will feel closer to the action with the new seating configuration and this will be the first opportunity we have to really show off the space with one of our own productions.”
The Brideshead adaptation will be a co-production by the English Touring Company and the York Theatre Royal. It will tour England after the premiere. The other opening performance will be the adaptation of an E.M.Forster’s 1909 science fiction short story, “The Machine Stops.” An exact date for the premieres will be announced next month.
NOTE: See background story here about the script for next year’s production.
