Richard Eyre Directs Penelope Wilton In Revival Of David Hare's THE BAY AT NICE

The Menier Chocolate Factory today announces a major revival of David Hare's The Bay at Nice. Richard Eyre directs Martin Hutson, Ophelia Lovibond, David Rintoul and Penelope Wilton. The production opens on 19 March, with previews from 14 March, and runs until 4 May. Tickets go on sale to supporters of the Menier on 21 January, with public booking opening at 9am on 28 January.

In Leningrad in 1956, Valentina Nrovka has been invited to the Hermitage to offer her opinion on the authenticity of a Matisse painting, as she knew the great artist personally. Her daughter Sophia, also a painter, meets her there to seek her mother's help, both financially and politically. This first London revival of David Hare's play, since its première at the National Theatre in 1986, explores a mother and daughter's fight for personal ideals and domestic responsibilities, as well as the choices made both in life and art.

David Hare is an Olivier Award winning playwright and Academy Award nominated screenwriter. As a playwright his work includes Slag (Hampstead Theatre, Royal Court, New York Shakespeare Festival), The Great Exhibition (Hampstead), Brassneck (with Howard Brenton, Nottingham Playhouse), Knuckle (Comedy Theatre), Fanshen (Hampstead & ICA, National Theatre), Teeth 'n 'Smiles (Royal Court, Wyndham's Theatre), Plenty (National Theatre, NYSF & Broadway), A Map Of The World (National Theatre, NYSF), Pravda (with Howard Brenton, National Theatre), The Bay At Nice (National Theatre), The Secret Rapture (National Theatre, NYSF & Broadway), Racing Demon (National Theatre, Broadway), Murmuring Judges (National Theatre), The Absence Of War (National Theatre), Skylight (National Theatre, Wyndhams, Vaudeville & Broadway), Amy's View (National Theatre, Aldwych, Garrick, & Broadway), The Blue Room (Donmar, Broadway and Theatre Royal Haymarket), The Judas Kiss (Playhouse & Broadway), Via Dolorosa (Royal Court, Almeida, Duchess & Broadway), My Zinc Bed (Royal Court), The Breath Of Life (Theatre Royal Haymarket), The Permanent Way (Out of Joint & National Theatre), Stuff Happens (National Theatre & NYSF), The Vertical Hour (Broadway & Royal Court Theatre), Gethsemane (National Theatre), Berlin/Wall (National Theatre, Royal Court & NYSF), The Power Of Yes (National Theatre), South Downs (Chichester Festival Theatre and Harold Pinter Theatre), Behind the Beautiful Forevers (National Theatre), Ivanov, Platonov and The Seagull (Chichester Festival Theatre and National Theatre), The Moderate Soprano (Chichester Festival Theatre and Duke of York's Theatre), The Master Builder (The Old Vic), The Red Barn and I'm Not Running (both National Theatre).

Martin Hutson plays Assistant Curator. His theatre work includes Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar (RSC), R and D (Hampstead Theatre), The Master Builder (The Old Vic), Taken at Midnight (Chichester Festival Theatre and Theatre Royal Haymarket), The Libertine (Citizens Theatre), If Only, Antony and Cleopatra, A Marvellous Year for Plums (Chichester Festival Theatre), Butley (Duchess Theatre) and The Voysey Inheritance (National Theatre). For television, his work includes Tutankhamun, The Honourable Woman, The Passion, Foyle's War and A Very British Scandal; and for film, Backdraft 2, Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire, Atonement and Virtual Sexuality.

Ophelia Lovibond plays Sophia Yepileva. Her theatre work includes Nightfall (Bridge Theatre), The Libertine (Theatre Royal Haymarket) and The Effect (Sheffield Theatres). For television her work includes Elementary, W1A, Inside No 9, Mr Sloane, The Poison Tree, Titanic: Blood and Steel and Messiah; and for film, The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Man Up, Guardians of the Galaxy, A Single Shot, Gozo, Eight Minutes Idle, Mr Popper's Penguins, Chatroom, Nowhere Boy, Shadow in the Sun, Popcorn and Oliver Twist.

David Rintoul plays Peter Linitsky. His theatre credits include Much Ado About Nothing (Rose Theatre Kingston), Hamlet (Almeida Theatre/Harold Pinter Theatre), Nell Gwynn (Shakespeare's Globe/Apollo Theatre), Remembrance of Things Past, The World Turned Upside Down, The Trojan War Will Not Take Place, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Rivals (National Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream (RSC/Garsington Opera), Richard II, Richard III (Phoenix Theatre), Map of the Heart (Gielgud Theatre), Dirty Dancing (Aldwych Theatre), An Ideal Husband (The Old Vic), Etta Jenks and Sergeant Ola and his Followers (Royal Court Theatre). Television credits include The Crown, In Plain Sight, Game of Thrones, the title role in Doctor Finlay, Injustice, Pride and Prejudice, The Cherry Orchard, Horatio Hornblower: Retribution, Hornblower: Mutiny, Poirot and Sweet Medicine; and for film, The Iron Lady, My Week with Marilyn, Unrelated, The Ghost Writer, Ironclad: Battle for Blood, Is Anybody There? and Agent Hamilton.

Penelope Wilton plays Valentina Nrovka. For theatre, her work includes Taken at Midnight - Olivier Award for Best Actress (Chichester Festival Theatre and Theatre Royal Haymarket), A Delicate Balance, Heartbreak House (Almeida Theatre), Hamlet (Donmar West End), The Family Reunion, The Chalk Garden (Evening Standard Award for Best Actress), John Gabriel Borkman, The Little Foxes, The Collection, The Lover, A Kind of Alaska (Donmar Warehouse) Women Beware Women (RSC), The House of Bernada Alba, Tess, The Secret Rapture, Betrayal (National Theatre), The Seagull (Barbican) and Long Day's Journey Into Night (Young Vic). For television, her work includes Brief Encounters, South Riding, Downtown Abbey, Margot, Doctor Who, The Passion, Half Broken Things, Five Days, Celebration, Falling, Lucky Jim, Bob and Rose, Victoria and Albert, The Whistle-Blower, Wives and Daughters, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Talking Heads, The Borrowers and Ever Decreasing Circles; and for film, Zoo, The BFG, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2, Belle, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The History Boys, Pride and Prejudice, Match Point, Shaun of the Dead, Iris, Calendar Girls, Tom's Midnight Garden, Carrington, The Secret Rapture, Blame it on the Bellboy, Cry Freedom, Clockwise, The French Lieutenant's Woman, and the forthcoming Downton Abbey.

Richard Eyre's extensive theatre includes Hamlet, Kafka's Dick, Edmond (Royal Court), Comedians, Guys and Dolls, The Beggar's Opera, The Government Inspector, The Futurists, The Changeling, The Voysey Inheritance, Racing Demon, Richard III, Night of the Iguana, White Chameleon, Skylight, Napoli Milionaria, Sweet Bird of Youth, The Absence of War, John Gabriel Borkman, The Prince's Play, Amy's View, King Lear, The Invention of Love, Vincent in Brixton, The Reporter, The Observer, Welcome to Thebes, Liolà (National Theatre), The Crucible (Broadway), Mary Poppins (West End/Broadway), A Flea in Her Ear (The Old Vic), The Last of the Duchess (Hampstead Theatre), The Judas Kiss and The Dark Earth and the Light Sky, his own adaptations of Les Mains Sales, Hedda Gabler, Ghosts, Little Eyolf (Almeida Theatre), Private Lives, Betty Blue Eyes, Quartermaine's Terms, Stephen Ward, Mr Foote's Other Leg (West End), Long Day's Journey Into Night (Bristol Old Vic and Wyndham's Theatre), and The Last Cigarette, The Pajama Game, and The Stepmother (Chichester Festival Theatre). His television work includes The Insurance Man, Country, v, Tumbledown, Suddenly Last Summer, Changing Stages, Henry IV Parts I and II, The Dresser and King Lear; and for film, The Ploughman's Lunch, Iris, Stage Beauty, Notes on a Scandal, The Other Man and The Children Act. He was Director of Nottingham Playhouse from 1973 - 1978, Producer of Play for Today for BBC TV 1978 - 1981, and Director of the National Theatre from 1988 - 1997. He has received numerous theatre and film awards and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Box Office: 020 7378 1713 (£2.50 transaction fee per booking)

Website: www.menierchocolatefactory.com (£1.50 transaction fee per booking)

Tickets: Prices vary, as below from discounted preview tickets to premier seats. With the emphasis on 'the sooner you book, the better the price':

A meal deal ticket includes a 2-course meal from the pre-theatre menu in the Menier Restaurant as well as the theatre ticket.

Photo: Hugo Glendinning

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