Spacey and Almodóvar to Bring 'Mother' Play to the Old Vic

The Guardian reports that Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey (A Moon for the Misbegotten) will team up with award-winning Spanish film auteur Pedro Almodóvar on a stage version of the latter's All About My Mother, which will premiere in September at London's Old Vic - of which Spacey is artistic director.

Spacey will produce the play, which will boast Almodóvar's final approval on the script and casting.  Lesley Manville (BBC's upcoming "Cranford Chronicles) is reportedly in final negotiations to star as Manuela, the role originated on screen by Cecilia Roth.

According to the article, All About My Mother is "about a woman, Manuela, who, following the death of her teenage son in a car accident, sets out to find his transvestite father."

All About My Mother (Todo sobre mi madre) won the 1999 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, among a plethora of other awards.  Written and directed by Almodóvar, the film also featured performances by Marisa Paredes, Eloy Azorín and Penélope Cruz (as a pregnant nun), among others.  Almodóvar - who is known for his sympathetic depictions of women and colorful blends of wild comedy and melodrama - has also created films such as Volver, Bad Education, Talk to Her, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and Live Flesh.

The article also reports that Stephen Fry (Wilde) has been commissioned to adapt a new version of Cinderella for the Old Vic's traditional holiday pantomime.  The theatre hopes that Fry - who has been absent from the stage since 1995 - will agree to star as the narrator.

Visit www.oldvictheatre.com for more information.