Toby Jones, Zoe Wanamaker and Stephen Mangan will star in a new production of Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party to be staged next year to mark 60 years since its debut.
The famous Pinter play, which premiered to London audiences first in 1958, will be staged by Sonia Friedman Productions.
London-born Pinter won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2005 and died in 2008.
The Birthday Party is among his most critically-acclaimed plays, along with screenplays including The Go-Between and The French Lieutenant’s Woman.
The production will be directed by Ian Rickson, who directed the late playwright in his last acting performance in Krapp’s Last Tape.
Rickson said: “I knew Harold from when I ran the Royal Court and he was a great mentor to me.
“Doing The Birthday Party is particularly thrilling because as with the best first plays – like first albums and first novels – it has the intense DNA of the writer’s inner life; their yearnings, their obsessions, their longings.
“There’s something about The Birthday Party in particular that’s so raw and committed – it has this kind of anarchic, punk spirit and I’m just so excited about directing it.”
Rickon has previously directed three of the seven Pinter plays produced by Friedman.
Jones’s impressive film credits include The Hunger Games, Captain America, Infamous and Dad’s Army. He has also starred in popular TV shows such as Sherlock and Doctor Who.
Wanamaker is best known for her role in sitcom My Family and has an extensive body of theatre work that has seen her receive scores of Olivier and Tony nominations through the years.
Mangan’s credits include TV series such as Green Wing, I’m Alan Partridge and Episodes.
He also starred in the stage production Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense, which won the Olivier for best new comedy in 2014.
The play will celebrate its opening night on January 18 2018 and will run at the Harold Pinter Theatre from earlier preview dates of January 9 to April 14 2018.
Tickets will be on sale from midday on Tuesday, with priority booking starting at 9am.
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