Keeley Hawes and Jack Davenport Return to the Stage in Lucy Kirkwood's THE HUMAN BODY

Two worlds meet in a romantic drama which sees stars of film and TV, Keeley Hawes and Jack Davenport, make their long-awaited returns to the London stage.

1948, Shropshire: the winter is freezing, austerity is biting and Iris Elcock, GP, Socialist and Labour party councillor, is working tirelessly to implement Nye Bevan’s National Health Service Act and its revolutionary promise of free health care for all. At home she is a mother, and wife to a fellow GP, an ex-Navy man scarred by the war. But a chance meeting with George Blythe, a local boy who has made it to Hollywood, turns her quiet, certain world upside down. 

The Human Body is a story of political and private passions from multi-award-winning writer Lucy Kirkwood (The Witches, Mosquitoes, Chimerica). In his final production as Artistic Director of The Donmar Warehouse, Michael Longhurst directs together with Ann Yee, with whom he previously collaborated on Next to Normal and Caroline, or Change.

The production is part of the final season for the Donmar's artistic director Michael Longhurst.

Set in 1948, The Human Body will see Hawes play Iris Elcock, a GP and Labour party councillor working to implement Nye Bevan's National Health Service Act and its promise of free health care for all.

But the life she shares with her husband in Shropshire is disrupted by a chance encounter with George Blythe (played by Davenport), a local boy who has made it to Hollywood.

The production, directed by Longhurst and Ann Yee, will play at the Donmar from 16 February until 13 April 2024.

Hawes told BBC News "Lucy Kirkwood has created a brilliant, complicated, inspiring role in Iris, and the play tells a wonderfully tender and human story against the backdrop of a significant moment in our country's history. 

"I'm so thrilled to be returning to the stage, and especially to the Donmar for Michael Longhurst's swan-song as artistic director."

Davenport's last theatre role was in a production of Enemies in 2006, while Hawes last appeared in stage in 2013 with the comedy Barking In Essex.

Public Booking Opens On Friday 1 December, 9am (online) & 12pm (phones).

The Human Body is at The Donmar Warehouse from 16 February - 13 April 2024

Test and expand your Broadway knowledge with our new game - The Broadway Match-Up! How well do you know your Broadway casting trivia?	Play the Daily Game, explore current shows, and delve into past decades like the 2000s, 80s, and the Golden Age. Challenge your friends and see where you rank!
How well do you know your Tony Awards history? Take our never-ending quiz of nominations and winner history and challenge your friends.	Can you beat your friends? Play today’s daily Broadway word game, featuring a new theatrically inspired word or phrase every day!