Lindsay Duncan and Hilton McRae Will Star in the UK Tour of THE DANCE OF DEATH

Lindsay Duncan stars alongside Hilton McRae and Emily Bruni in the UK tour of August Strindberg's The Dance of Death, adapted by Academy Award-winning playwright Rebecca Lenkiewicz and directed by Arcola Theatre's Artistic Director Mehmet Ergen. The production opens on 31 May, with previews from 19 May, at the Ustinov Studio, Bath, then tours to Oxford Playhouse, Cambridge Arts Theatre, Royal & Derngate, Northampton, before completing its run at the Arcola Theatre from 28 June - 30 July.

As their 30th wedding anniversary approaches, Alice and Edgar are locked in a bitter struggle. They've driven away their children and their friends. Their relationship is sustained by taunts and recriminations. When a newcomer breaks into the midst of the fray, their insular lives threaten to spin out of control. Laced with biting humour, The Dance of Death is August Strindberg's landmark drama about a marriage pushed to its limits.

Oscar winning playwright Rebecca Lenkiewicz reunites with Arcola Theatre's co-founder and Artistic Director Mehmet Ergen for the world première of a thrilling new version.

Olivier and Tony Award winner Lindsay Duncan stars as Alice. One of our best-loved actresses, Lindsay is well-known for her BAFTA nominated performances on screen in Alan Bleasdale's G.B.H and Stephen Poliakoff's Shooting the Past. Olivier Award nominee Hilton McRae's celebrated stage and screen career has ranged from leading Shakespearean roles at the RSC and National Theatre to iconic films including The French Lieutenant's Woman, Return of the Jedi and Mansfield Park. Best known for Peep Show, Emily Bruni has recently played leading roles at Shakespeare's Globe and the RSC.

Johan August Strindberg (1849 - 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. His principal works for the stage include Miss Julie, Creditors, The Father, A Dream Play, The Ghost Sonata and The Dance of Death.

Rebecca Lenkiewicz returns to the Arcola Theatre following The Painter (2011) and An Enemy of the People (2008). For stage, her credits include Her Naked Skin (National Theatre), The Turn of the Screw (Almeida Theatre) and The Invisible (Bush Theatre) For radio, her credits include An Enemy of the People, An Amateur Marriage, The Wide Sargasso Sea, Ladder of Years and Dracula (BBC Radio 4). For film, her credits include Hot Milk (writing and directing), Ida (Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film 2015), Colette (alongside Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer) and Disobedience (alongside director Sebastian Leilo).

Emily Bruni plays Katrin. Her stage credits include Psychodrama (Never For Ever), The Model Apartment (Bath Ustinov Studio), King Lear (Shakespeare's Globe), Before You Were Born, Yes Prime Minister (Trafalgar Studios), The Rubenstein Kiss (Hampstead Theatre), Donkey Heart (Old Red Lion Theatre), Broken Glass (Tricycle Theatre), Ring Round the Moon (Playhouse Theatre), Someone Else's Shoes (Soho Theatre), After Mrs Rochester (Shared Experience), The Winter's Tale, Much Ado About Nothing, Camino Real and The Spanish Tragedy (RSC). Her television credits include Catherine the Great, Personal Affairs, Passer By, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Believe Nothing, Metropolis, Peep Show (as series regular Gail Huggins) and Intergalactic; and for film, Remember Me?, Tamara Drewe, Being Considered and Intimate Affairs.

Olivier and Tony Award winner Lindsay Duncan plays Alice. Her stage credits include Hansard, The Homecoming, Plenty, The Provok'd Wife, The Prince of Homburg, Bérénice, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (National Theatre), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Olivier Award for Best Actress), A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Troilus and Cressida (RSC), That Face, Top Girls (Royal Court Theatre), Private Lives (Albery Theatre/Richard Rodgers Theater - Olivier Award for Best Actress; Tony Award for Best Actress), Hay Fever (Noël Coward Theatre), The Cryptogram (Ambassadors Theatre), A Delicate Balance (John Golden Theatre), John Gabriel Borkman (Abbey Theatre), Mouth to Mouth (Albery Theatre), Celebration/The Room (Almeida Theatre) and Hedda Gabler (Hampstead Theatre). Her television credits include G.B.H., Shooting the Past, Sherlock, A Discovery of Witches, Close to the Enemy, Black Mirror, Come Fly with Me, The Sinking of the Laconia, Lost in Austen, Perfect Strangers and Oliver Twist; and for film, Alice in Wonderland, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Birdman, About Time, Le Week-End, Gifted, Last Passenger, Under the Tuscan Sun, Mansfield Park, An Ideal Husband and City Hall.

Olivier Award-nominated Hilton McRae plays Edgar. His stage credits include 1984 (UK tour), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Ambassadors Theatre), Total Eclipse (Lyric Theatre Hammersmith), As You Likr It, The Alchemist, The Danton Affair (RSC), End of the Rainbow (Trafalgar Studios - Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor), My One and Only (Piccadilly Theatre), Mamma Mia! (Prince Edward Theatre), Les Miserables (Palace Theatre) Miss Saigon (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane), Rabbit (Trafalgar Studios), Piaf (Piccadilly Theatre), Uncle Vanya (Almeida Theatre), Timon of Athens and Caroline, or Change (National Theatre). For television, his credits include Injustice, Zen, Red Riding Trilogy - 1983, The Execution of Gary Glitter, Frances Tuesday, Murder City, Baby Father, Serious & Organised, Deacon Brodie, King of Hearts, First Take, To Each His Own, Roll Over Beethoven, Poppyland and Forever Young. For film, credits include The French Lieutenant's Woman, Return of the Jedi, Mansfield Park, Darkest Hour, Denial, The Sense of an Ending, Macbeth, Far from the Madding Crowd, Secret Rapture and Greystoke.

Mehmet Ergen is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Arcola Theatre. His directing credits for the company include The Painter, The Cradle Will Rock, Silver Birch House, Macbeth, An Enemy of the People, Release the Beat, The Plebeians Rehearse the Uprising, I Can Get It For You Wholesale, Jitterbug, Chasing the Moment and Seven Deadly Sins. Mehmet also directs extensively abroad in Israel, Ireland, Canada and Turkey. He is a co-founder of Southwark Playhouse and an Associate Producer at the Battersea Arts Centre. He has won a variety of awards including: the TIME OUT Award for Outstanding Achievement, the Peter Brook Empty Space Award, a TIME OUT Award for Best Fringe Production, the Angela Carter Award and the Equity Award for Best Studio Theatre.

Tour Dates

Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath

19 May - 4 June 2022

Press Night: 31 May at 7pm

Box Office: www.theatreroyal.org.uk/event/the-dance-of-death/ / 01225 448844

Oxford Playhouse

7 - 11 June 2022

Box Office: www.oxfordplayhouse.com/ / 01865 305 305

Cambridge Arts Theatre

14 - 18 June 2022

Box Office: www.cambridgeartstheatre.com/whats-on/dance-death/ / 01223 503333

Royal & Derngate, Northampton

21 - 23 June 2022

Box Office: www.royalandderngate.co.uk/ / 01604 624811

Arcola Theatre, London

28 June - 23 July 2022

Box Office: www.arcolatheatre.com/ / 020 7503 1646

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