Casting has been announced for Orson’s Shadow which opens at Southwark Playhouse on 1 July.
Based on real events, it recounts the collision of egos on stage and off when Orson Welles directed Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright in Ionesco’s Rhinoceros, with Olivier’s eccentric wife Vivien Leigh in the wings.
Obie Award-winning actor Austin Pendleton wrote the play which was nominated for Outstanding Play of the Year in the Lortel Awards on its New York début.
The role of Vivien Leigh will be played by Gina Bellman whose stage credits include Two Thousand Years, The Crucible, Camping Emmanuelle and Dick, Insignificance and Speed The Plow. On television she débuted in the title role of Dennis Potter’s Blackeyes and went on to play in all four series of Coupling and in all five series of US television's Leverage.
John Hodgkinson will play Orson Welles. His recent work includes Love’s Labour’s Lost and Love’s Labour’s Won for the RSC and Donkey’s Years; other credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Taming of the Shrew.
Laurence Oliver will be played by Adrian Lukis whose stage work includes Versailles and Sherlock Holmes: The Best Kept Secret whilst on television he has played in Pride and Prejudice, Downton Abbey and Toast of London.
It was legendary critic Kenneth Tynan's idea that Welles should direct Olivier in Rhinoceros and this role is to be taken by Edward Bennett. Bennett's work includes Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Love’s Labour’s Lost and Love’s Labour’s Won for the RSC and One Man Two Guvnors for the National Theatre.
Joan Plowright will be played by Louise Ford whose stage work includes Knight of the Burning Pestle, The Bible and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She will be seen on television in a comedy pilot entitled We Hate Paul Revere and in a film of Horrible Histories.
Also in the cast is Ciaran O’Brien who plays Sean. On stage, O’Brien has played in Philadelphia, Here I Come, Translations and Of Mice and Men. He had the role of Jack the Ripper in BBC television's Ripper Street.
Alice Hamilton directs Orson’s Shadow which is produced by Emily Dobbs Productions and Smith & Brant Theatricals.