Dance, Dee, Standing to Enter 'Shadowlands' in West End

Charles Dance will return to the West End to star as 'C.S. Lewis' in the first major revival of William Nicholson's award-winning play Shadowlands.  Janie Dee will star as 'Joy Gresham' and John Standing as 'Professor Christopher Riley.'  Shadowlands will open at Wyndham's Theatre on Monday October 8, following previews from October 3, and will play a limited eleven-week season.

Charles Dance was last seen in the West End in 2002 as a guest star in The Play What I Wrote and, prior to that, in 2001 he starred as 'James Tyrone' opposite Jessica Lange in Long Day's Journey Into Night. Janie Dee's extensive stage credits include Comic Potential, for which she won the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards as 'Best Actress,' seasons both at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, and, most recently in the West End, Donkeys' Years at the Comedy Theatre. John Standing has extensive television and film credits and was last seen on stage opposite Maggie Smith in A Delicate Balance at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. Also in the cast are Richard Durden as 'Major W.H. Lewis', Graham Padden as 'Reverend 'Harry' Harrington', Alan Gregg as 'Drew Mulligan', Osmund Bullock as 'Dr. Maurice Oakley', Christian and Jonah Lees as 'Douglas', Adam Megginson as 'Douglas', Naomi Paxton as 'Nurse/ Witness' and SionEd Jones as 'Registrar'.

The production will be directed by Michael Barker-Caven, with design by Matthew Wright and lighting by Peter Mumford.  It will be produced by Andrew Welch and BrIan Eastman.

The 1990 production of Shadowlands, starring Nigel Hawthorne and Jane Lapotaire, won the Evening Standard Award for 'Best Play' and, on its transfer to Broadway, was nominated for a Tony Award for 'Best Play'. The 1993 film, starring Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger, was nominated for two Oscars and five BAFTA Awards, winning the BAFTA for 'Best British Film'.

Prior to the West End, Shadowlands will play the Cambridge Arts Theatre week commencing 3 September, Milton Keynes Theatre week commencing September 10, Malvern Festival Theatre week commencing September 17 and Richmond Theatre week commencing September 24. Performance times at Wyndham's Theatre will be Monday to Saturday evenings at 7.30pm, with Thursday and Saturday matinees at 2.30pm. Tickets, priced from £10-£45, are available from Wyndham's Theatre box office on 0870 950 0925.

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