HIGH NOON Starring Billy Crudup and Denise Gough Will Premiere at The Harold Pinter Theatre

The World Premiere of the play HIGH NOON, starring Emmy and Tony Award-winner Billy Crudup as Will Kane and Olivier Award-winner Denise Gough as Amy Fowler, opens in December. Directed by Olivier Award-winner Thea Sharrock, HIGH NOON will play for a strictly limited season at the Harold Pinter Theatre from 17 December 2025 to 7 March 2026.

To sign up for priority booking go to highnoontheplay.com. Tickets go on general sale on 25 September at 10.00am.

Paula Wagner and Tom Werner are producing HIGH NOON along with Thomas Tull, Danny Cohen and Len Blvatnik.

The play HIGH NOON is by Academy Award-winner Eric Roth and marks Roth's debut work for the stage. This gripping new adaptation is based on the iconic, four-time Academy Award-winning 1952 film with a screenplay by Carl Foreman, originally produced by Stanley Kramer and directed by Fred Zinnemann. Hailed as one of the greatest westerns ever made, this isn't just a play, it's a wake-up call. Told in real time, this edge-of-your-seat thriller explodes onto the stage. Once a searing allegory of Hollywood's blacklist this unmissable new version speaks urgently to the world today.

Set in the American West of the 1800s, High Noon rides on themes as relevant now as they were then. Courage vs. Cowardice. Justice vs. Peace. Duty vs. Desire. And at its heart, is the bond between Will Kane and Amy Fowler – a love tested by impossible choices as the clock ticks down to the return of deadly outlaw Frank Miller on the high noon train. The clock is ticking. Tick: Begin a new life together? Tock: Or take a stand for the greater good? As time runs out, one truth remains: if you don't stand up for what's worth saving, you risk losing it all.
 

Producer Paula Wagner said today "There's no one better than Eric Roth to reimagine High Noon for the stage. His debut as a playwright feels both thrilling and inevitable. With Thea Sharrock's inspired direction and the incredible talents of Billy Crudup and Denise Gough, High Noon will bring the urgency and heart of the classic film to audiences in a way that feels both timeless and powerfully alive today.”

Producer Tom Werner said today "Every once in a while, I see a play whose themes stick with me long after I leave the theatre. Those experiences are both thrilling and astonishing. It happened recently when I saw Sarah Snook in The Picture of Dorian Gray. And it happened when I saw High Noon this summer in a workshop. Billy Crudup and Denise Gough in Eric Roth's adaptation of High Noon is not to be missed.”

Equally memorable on the stage and screen, Billy Crudup has earned critical accolades for his performances. He currently stars as Corey Ellison in Apple TV+'s three-time Golden-Globe nominated The Morning Show alongside Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, which earned him two Emmy Awards (three nominations total), two Critics Choice Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations and two Golden Globe nominations. Upcoming, he will star in Netflix's and Noah Baumbach's film Jay Kelly, opposite George Clooney, Adam Sandler and Laura Dern.  On stage, Crudup most recently starred in Lincoln Center Theater's production of Ibsen's Ghosts. Additionally, he recently reprised his role in the one-man play Harry Clarke at the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End which earned him an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor. The West End run followed a limited engagement at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. He first performed this play at the Vineyard Theatre, for which he won an Outer Critics Circle Award, Off-Broadway Alliance Award, Lucille Lortel Award, Obie Award, Drama Desk Award and garnered a nomination for a Drama League Award. In 2007, Crudup won a “Best Performance by a Featured Actor” Tony for his role in the Broadway production of The Coast of Utopia.  He also received Tony nominations for his roles in The Elephant Man, The Pillowman and Arcadia. Crudup's film credits include: Alien: Covenant, Jackie, Zack Snyder's Justice League, 20th Century Women, Spotlight, Cameron Crowe's Academy Award-winning Almost Famous, and many more. He made his television debut in Netflix's psychological thriller Gypsy.

Denise Gough was most recently seen in the West End reprising her Olivier Award-winning role of Emma in People, Places & Things at the Trafalgar Theatre, having previously played the role at The National Theatre, the Wyndham's Theatre and at St Ann's Warehouse in New York. Denise's other theatre credits include Angels in America Part One: Millennium Approaches and Angels in America Part Two: Perestroika at The National Theatre and at the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway, for which she won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. Her other West End credits include Jesus Hopped the ‘A' Train, As You Like It and By the Bog of Cats, and other theatre credits include Ahasverus for the RSC, Portia Coughlan at the Abbey, Dublin, The Duchess of Malfi at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Adler and Gibb at the Royal Court and Six Characters in Search of an Author at Chichester Festival Theatre. Denise's television credits include Andor and Under the Banner of Heaven for Disney +, Paula, The Fall and Appe Tree Yard, all for the BBC, Guerilla and Stella for Sky, and Too Close for ITV, for which she was nominated for the BAFTA for Leading Actress. Denise's film credits include Monday, The Other Lamb, Colette, The Kid Who Would Be King, Juliet Naked, Ridley Scott's Robin Hood, Jimmy's Hall, and '71.

Thea Sharrock's film credits as director include Ladies First, The Beautiful Game, Wicked Little Letters, The One and Only Ivan and Me Before You. TV credits as director include the Henry V/Hollow Crown and Call the Midwife. Theatre credits as director include The Bodyguard (Adelphi Theatre, West End/US Tour), The Sunshine Boys (Savoy Theatre, West End), 13 (National Theatre), Ruby Wax Losing It (Menier Chocolate Factory), Equus (Gielgud Theatre, West End/Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway), After the Dance (National Theatre – Olivier Award for Best Revival and nomination for Best Director) and The Misanthrope (Comedy Theatre). Thea was the Artistic Director of both the Southwark Playhouse and The Gate. 

Eric Roth is an American screenwriter and producer. He became known for writing the screenplay for the award-winning Forrest Gump (1994), which brought him fame and his first Golden Globe nomination. During his career, he has written numerous hit films such as The Horse Whisperer (1998), Ali (2000), The Good Shepherd (2006), and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) where he gained his second Golden Globe nomination. In recent years he has also written the screenplays of two big hits: A Star is Born (2018) and Dune (2021). For television, he is remembered for being one of the co-producers of the award-winning political drama House of Cards (2013 – 2016). He has been nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay: Forrest Gump (1994), The Insider (1999), Munich (2005), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), A Star Is Born (2018), and Dune (2021) — winning for Forrest Gump; he also earned a Best Picture nomination for producing Mank (2020). Roth also worked on the screenplays for the Oscar-nominated films Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011) and Killers of the Flower Moon (2023).