Mark Rylance to Star in West End Transfer of FARINELLI AND THE KING

Shakespeare's Globe and Sonia Friedman Productions are delighted to announce the West End transfer of Claire van Kampen's critically-acclaimed new play Farinelli and the King, directed by John Dove, designed by Jonathan Fensom and starring Mark Rylance (Wolf Hall, Jerusalem, Richard III, Twelfth Night), as King Philippe V of Spain. Sam Crane will once again play the acting role of Farinelli, while the singing role will be reprised by opera star, Iestyn Davies and shared withRupert Enticknap. The rest of the cast will also transfer with Huss Garbiya playing Doctor Jose Cervi, Melody Grove playing Isabella Farnese, Colin Hurley as Metastasio and Edward Peel as De la Cuadra.

The Duke of York's Theatre will be transformed as the magical and intimate atmosphere of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse is brought to the West End with onstage seating, candles and live Baroque music played by six onstage musicians, led by Harpsichordist and Musical Director Robert Howarth.

Directed by John Dove and designed by Jonathan Fensom, the West End production will open on 14th September 2015 and play for a strictly limited run until December 5th. Opening Night will be on Tuesday 29th September.

Set in eighteenth-century Spain, Claire van Kampen's moving and mesmerising new play tells the intriguing true story of Farinelli, once the world's most famous castrato and one of the greatest celebrities of his time, and his decision to trade fame and fortune in the opera-houses of Europe for a life of servitude at the court of King Philippe V.

This enchanting new play explores the dynamics between Farinelli and the royal couple, featuring many of the exquisite arias first sung by Farinelli in the 1730's. The Duke of York's Theatre will be transformed for this sumptuous production, lit almost exclusively by the glow of candle-light and with live music played on Baroque instruments.

Mark Rylance last appeared in a Globe production in 2012 in Tim Carroll's hugely lauded sell-out productions of Twelfth Nightand Richard III, which subsequently enjoyed phenomenally successful West End and Broadway runs, also produced by Sonia Friedman Productions. Mark's other recent theatre credits include Johnny 'Rooster' Byron in Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem, (Royal Court, West End, Broadway) and this year he also starred as Thomas Cromwell in the BBC2 adaptation of Hilary Mantel's Booker Prize-winning novel Wolf Hall. It has recently been announced that Mark will play the title role in the Steven Spielberg feature film of Dahl's The BFG.

Claire van Kampen, founding Director of Music, Shakespeare's Globe has created music for over 45 productions there, including The Duchess of Malfi with Gemma Arterton. A theatre specialist on music and text of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, her stage credits also include original scores for Matthew Warchus' Broadway productions of Boeing-Boeing, La Bete and True West. Claire's television and film credits include Peter Kosminsky's Wolf Hall, Roland Emmerich's Anonymousand Christian Camargo's Days and Nights.

John Dove's previous directorial work for Shakespeare's Globe includes Dr Scroggy's War, Blue Stockings, All's Well That Ends Well, Anne Boleyn, In Extremis, Measure for Measure (LA and New York Tour) and The Winter's Tale (Tour). He is an Artistic Associate of the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh where he has directed Pressure by David Haig, a co-production with Chichester Festival Theatre, Death of a Salesman, All My Sons, View From the Bridge, The Price and The Man Who Had All the Luck. John was Associate Director at Hampstead Theatre and has also directed at the Royal Court, The Old Vic, The Lyric Hammersmith, the Bush Theatre and Theatre Royal Stratford E15.

Jonathan Fensom's previous work for Shakespeare's Globe includes The Changeling, The Duchess of Malfi, (both at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse), The Life and Death of King John, Julius Caesar, Gabriel, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry V, Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, King Lear and Love's Labour's Lost. Other theatre includes Rain Man, Some Girls, Twelfth Night, Smaller, Journey's End, What the Butler Saw, East (West End). Jonathan was the Associate Set Designer on Disney's The Lion King, which premiered at the New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway and has subsequently opened worldwide. His set design for Journey's End (West End and Broadway) was nominated for a Tony Award in 2007. The production won the Tony Award for Best Revival. Jonathan won the UK Theatre Award for Best Design in 2013.

Praised as 'one of the most glorious countertenor voices in the world today' by the Independent and described as 'superb' by the New York Times, Iestyn Davies' recent awards include the 2013 Critics' Circle Award for Exceptional Young Talentand the 2014 Gramophone Recital Award for his recent disc Arise, my muse. A versatile performer equally at home on both the opera and concert stage, Iestyn has sung roles for New York's Metropolitan Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Paris' Opera Comique, English National Opera, Milan's Teatro alla Scala and at the Munich and Vienna Festivals. He has also performed in concert and recital at the Barbican, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York, the Royal Albert Hall at the BBC Proms and London's Wigmore Hall.

Sam Crane starred as Winston Smith in Headlong's recent critically-acclaimed production of 1984 when it transferred from the Almeida to the West End. His other stage credits include The Humans (BAM New York), Henry IV Parts One & Two andOthello (Globe Theatre), Some Trace of Her and DNA (National Theatre), Kebab (Royal Court) and Ghosts (Bristol Old Vic). He received the Ian Charleson Award for Othello and Ghosts. His screen credits include Desperate Romantics (series), Call the Midwife and Poirot.

Rupert Enticknap is a British countertenor who recently played Nerillus in L'Ormindo at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, a ground-breaking collaboration between Shakespeare's Globe and The Royal Opera House. His previous performances at the Royal Opera House include the world premiere of Richter's SUM for ROH2 in the Linbury Studio Theatre. Rupert has worked with numerous conductors worldwide including Laurence Cummings, Alan Curtis, Harry Bicket, Rubén Dubrovsky, René Jacobs, Ottavio Dantone, Fabio Biondi, Christophe Rousset and Jean-Christophe Spinosi. His upcoming engagements include Handel's Agrippina in Iford under Christopher Bucknall and Florian Leopold Gassmann's L'Opera Seria at Brussel's La Monnaie with René Jacobs.

Huss Garbiya previously performed at Shakespeare's Globe in The Frontline, Blue Stockings, and Dominic Dromgoole's A Midsummer Night's Dream which was later screened in cinemas as part of the 2014 Globe on Screen season, before touring to Asia and Russia. His other stage credits include The Comedy of Errors (Royal Exchange, Manchester) and The Taming of the Shrew (RSC).

Melody Grove recently appeared in In Lambeth at Southwark Playhouse. Elsewhere her theatre credits include The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart (National Theatre of Scotland), Much Ado About Nothing (Old Vic), The Importance of Being Earnest (Lyric Belfast/ Lyceum Edinburgh) and Of Mice and Men (Lyceum, Edinburgh).

Colin Hurley previously performed at Shakespeare's Globe in Twelfth Night, Richard III, All's Well That Ends Well, Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Macbeth, The Golden Ass, Measure for Measure, The Winter's Tale, Troilus and Cressida and In Extremis. For the National Theatre his credits include Remember This, Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Mary Stuart, Wild Oats, Richard IIIand King Lear and for the RSC he has appeared in A Month In The Country, Hamlet and Troilus and Cressida.

Edward Peel has performed in numerous productions at Shakespeare's Globe including 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, Eternal Love, Blue Stockings, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Anne Boleyn, Troilus and Cressida and The Winter's Tale. His extensive credits elsewhere include Enemies at the Almeida Theatre, The Dragon, Twelfth Night and D.H.Lawrence Trilogy for the Royal Court,Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Drum Theatre and An Inspector Calls at the National Theatre. He is perhaps best known for his television roles in Juliet Bravo, Cracker, London's Burning and Doctor Who.

LISTINGS INFORMATION

FARINELLI AND THE KING
Duke of York's Theatre
St Martin's Lane
London
WC2N 4BG
0844 871 7623
www.Farinellitheplay.com

Pricing

Tickets £10-£59.50

Dates

14th September - 5th December with Press Night on Tuesday 29th September

Monday - Saturday evenings at 7.30pm and Thursday and Saturday matinees at 2.30pm

Shakespeare's Globe
Founded by the pioneering American actor and director Sam Wanamaker, Shakespeare's Globe is dedicated to the exploration of Shakespeare's work and the theatre for which he wrote. Since it opened in 1997, the Globe has gained an international reputation for excellence in performance, both at home in Bankside and through its touring productions all over the world. A new indoor Jacobean theatre, the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, opened its doors in January 2014 with an inaugural performance of The Duchess of Malfi starring Gemma Arterton. The addition of this new candlelit space has permitted a year-round programme of plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries and productions of new writing.

Sonia Friedman Productions is a West End and Broadway theatre production company which has developed and produced more than 140 new productions and won numerous Olivier and Tony Awards. Farinelli and the King is the latest collaboration with Shakespeare's Globe: previously Twelfth Night and Richard III 2012. Forthcoming productions include Benedict Cumberbatch as Hamlet (Barbican, summer 2015. Sonia Friedman-along with her co-producing partner Colin Callender-will collaborate with J.K. Rowling on a new stage play to be based on the Harry Potter stories. For a full list of SFP's theatre credits, please visit www.soniafriedman.com