The Old Vic Announces Part Two of its Fourth Season - ALL MY SONS, and More

Matthew Warchus' fourth season as Artistic Director of The Old Vic completes with an Arthur Miller double-bill, a World Premiere by Lucy Prebble and a special One Voice performance. These productions form Part 2 of the season, and follow the previously announced Part 1 consisting of ZooNation: The Kate Prince Company's production of SYLVIA; Annie-B Parson's 17c; Emma Rice's Wise Children; and A Christmas Carol - for which today we also announce further casting.

Visionary director Rachel Chavkin makes her Old Vic debut directing Arthur Miller's The American Clock from 4 February

Jeremy Herrin directs Sally Field, Bill Pullman, Jenna Coleman and Colin Morgan in Arthur Miller's American classic All My Sons in a co-production with Headlong from 15 April

Closing the season is A Very Expensive Poison - a new play by Lucy Prebble based on the book by Luke Harding

A special One Voice performance to mark 100 years since the Armistice, Remembrance curated by Arinzé Kene and directed by Annabel Bolton

Further casting is announced for Jack Thorne's version of A Christmas Carol directed by Matthew Warchus and starring Stephen Tompkinson as Ebenezer Scrooge.

Coming soon:

A musical adaptation of the hit 1983 film, Local Hero, adapted by David Greig and Bill Forsyth, directed by John Crowley and with music and lyrics by Mark Knopfler, will come to The Old Vic in June 2020 following its world premiere at the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh in 2019.

From The Old Vic:

Girl from the North Country opens on 1 October at The Public Theater, New York, and performances have been extended until 9 December. A separate production will also play at the Princess of Wales Theatre, Toronto, from September 2019

Following its world premiere, Wise Children, a co-production between The Old Vic and the company of the same name, will go on to tour the UK from November.

Directors Programmes:

Katy Rudd is this year's Baylis Director and Balisha Kara is appointed Baylis Assistant Director to Emma Rice on Wise Children

Balisha Kara is also recipient of the Florence Kleiner Bursary, a new initiative to support an emerging woman Director based outside of London to take up a position at The Old Vic, who, due to financial barriers or socio-economic factors, would not ordinarily seek out the role.

Artistic Director Matthew Warchus commented: 'I'm hugely excited to be welcoming the outstanding American director Rachel Chavkin to The Old Vic. It just so happens that, following Sally Cookson's A Monster Calls, Kate Prince's SYLVIA, Annie-B Parson's 17c and Emma Rice's Wise Children, Rachel is the fifth auteur director within a six-month period to present their distinctive work on our stage. I anticipate her production of Arthur Miller's rarely-performed The American Clock will be another thrilling and original piece of theatre not to be missed.

In an adjacent and complimentary production, I am also delighted to be presenting Miller's incandescent classic All My Sons with the extraordinary line-up of Jeremy Herrin directing American icons Sally Field and Bill Pullman, together with UK stars Jenna Coleman and Colin Morgan, in what I predict will be an unforgettable production of a true twentieth century masterpiece.

Alongside these classic revivals, The Old Vic continues its nascent tradition of delivering vital and pertinent new writing with the world premiere of Lucy Prebble's A Very Expensive Poison. Inspired by Luke Harding's vehement account of the extraordinary events surrounding the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, this new play from the mutinous writer of Enron and The Effect promises to be a provocative and mind-bending theatrical treat.'

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Production Information

REMEMBRANCE
Curated by Arinzé Kene
Directed by Annabel Bolton

Sunday 4 November, 6pm

To mark 100 years since the Armistice, Arinzé Kene (Girl from the North Country, Misty) curates an evening of five specially commissioned monologues directed by Old Vic Associate Director Annabel Bolton (The Divide) to shine a light on the powerful, poignant and surprising stories often hidden in the shadow of conflict. Writers include Ben Bailey Smith (Doc Brown), Rachel De-Lahay, Monica Dolan and Arinzé Kene. Further writers are to be announced.

This is the latest in a series of One Voice events, specially commissioned monologues that form an integral part of each Old Vic Season. Funded by the TS Eliot Estate, One Voice celebrates the most raw of theatrical forms - a single voice on a stage without scenery, without costume and with nothing to rely on but words.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL
A version by Jack Thorne
Directed by Matthew Warchus
Starring Stephen Tompkinson

Previews from 27 November, press night 5 December

Matthew Warchus' big-hearted, smash hit production of Charles Dickens' immortal classic A Christmas Carol returns to The Old Vic, joyously adapted for the stage by Jack Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child).

We are delighted to announce further casting will include Rosanna Bates, Ava Brennan, Jamie Cameron, Peter Caulfield, Oliver Evans, Eugene McCoy, Myra McFadyen, Frances McNamee, Alastair Parker, Michael Rouse, Tim van Eyken and Witney White.

They join Stephen Tompkinson ('ART' - West End, Spamalot - West End, Brassed Off and Drop the Dead Donkey) who will star as Ebenezer Scrooge in this year's production.

Filling the auditorium to the brim with mince pies, music and merriment, a unique staging immerses the audience in this uplifting story.

Suitable for ages 8+.

THE AMERICAN CLOCK
By Arthur Miller
Directed by Rachel Chavkin

Previews from 4 February, press night 13 February

'For them the clock would never strike midnight, the dance and the music could never stop...'

The American Clock turns, fortunes are made and lives are broken. In New York City in 1929, the stock market crashed and everything changed.

In an American society governed by race and class, we meet the Baum family as they navigate the aftermath of an unprecedented financial crisis. The world pulses with a soundtrack fusing 1920s swing and jazz with a fiercely contemporary sound, creating a backdrop that spans a vast horizon from choking high rises to rural heartlands.

Visionary director Rachel Chavkin (Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, Hadestown) presents Arthur Miller's ground-breaking play about hope, idealism and a nation's unwavering faith in capitalism.

Suitable for ages 11+.

ALL MY SONS
By Arthur Miller
Directed by Jeremy Herrin
Starring Sally Field, Bill Pullman, Jenna Coleman and Colin Morgan

Previews from Monday 15 April, press night Tuesday 23 April

An Old Vic and Headlong co-production

'You don't realise how people can hate, Chris, they can hate so much they'll tear the world to pieces...'

America, 1947. Despite hard choices and even harder knocks, Joe and Kate Keller are a success story. They have built a home, raised two sons and established a thriving business.

But nothing lasts forever and their contented lives, already shadowed by the loss of their eldest boy to war, are about to shatter. With the return of a figure from the past, long buried truths are forced to the surface and the price of their American dream is laid bare.

Jeremy Herrin directs Sally Field, Bill Pullman, Jenna Coleman and Colin Morgan in Arthur Miller's blistering drama, All My Sons.

Suitable for ages 11+.

A VERY EXPENSIVE POISON
By Lucy Prebble Based on the Book by Luke Harding

WORLD PREMIERE

Dates to be announced

A modern-day assassination in the heart of London. In the strange coming together of high-stakes global politics and radioactive villainy, a man pays with his life.

At this time of unnerving global crises and rumblings of a new Cold War, A Very Expensive Poison sends us careering through the shadowy world of international espionage from the townhouses of Fitzrovia to the brothels of Soho.

With dazzling inventiveness, Lucy Prebble (The Effect, ENRON) reimagines Luke Harding's jaw-dropping exposé of the events behind the tragic death of Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.

COMING IN 2020 LOCAL HERO Adapted by David Greig and Bill Forsyth Directed by John Crowley Music and Lyrics by Mark Knopfler Based on the screenplay of the original film, written and directed by Bill Forsyth

June 2020, dates to be announced

'We're gonna be rich... filthy dirty rich!'

A wry comedy about a man who sets out to buy a beach, but ends up losing his heart to a village, Bill Forsyth's magical Local Hero takes to the stage with new music and songs by the legendary Mark Knopfler.

MORE AT THE Old Vic We are passionate about developing work that supports productions on the main stage and providing audiences with new ways to engage with The Old Vic.

VOICES OFF Voices Off is a programme of talks, conversations and debates given by leading voices in the arts, media, science and politics that explore the themes raised by the productions on our main stage in creative ways.

ONE VOICE One Voice is a series of specially commissioned monologues. A voice can take you anywhere, to see anything, to feel joy, pain, to make you laugh until you cry, to see inside another person's head, to build castles in the air. Funded by the TS Eliot Estate, One Voice celebrates the most raw of theatrical forms - a single voice on a stage without scenery, without costume and with nothing to rely on but words.

FAMILIES Theatre creates a magical world of 3D stories and no child is too young to start experiencing the delight and wonder of live performance. This season, in partnership with performers and organisations, The Old Vic will bring storytelling for all ages to our theatre.

FROM THE Old Vic We want to share our work with as wide an audience as possible and are committed to developing new work with the aspiration that it will have a future life beyond The Old Vic.

Following critically acclaimed runs at The Old Vic and the Noël Coward Theatre in the West End, the Olivier Award- winning Girl from the North Country, written and directed by Conor McPherson with the music and lyrics of Bob Dylan, will open at The Public Theater in New York on 1 October 2018 with performances extended until 9 December. A separate production is to open at the Princess of Wales Theatre, Toronto, from September 2019.

Emma Rice's new company Wise Children will embark on a UK tour following the production's debut production at The Old Vic starting at Oxford Playhouse in November 2018.

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