CLARE HIGGINS AND LIA WILLIAMS JOIN SIMON RUSSELL BEALE IN
J O H N G A B R I E L B O R K M A N
IN A NEW VERSION OF IBSEN’S CLASSIC BY LUCINDA COXON
Simon Russell Beale plays the title role in Henrik Ibsen’s John Gabriel Borkman, in a new version by Lucinda Coxon. Joining him are Clare Higgins as Gunhild Borkman and Lia Williams as Ella Rentheim. Final casting will be announced at a later date. Directed by Nicholas Hytner with set designs by Anna Fleischle and costume designs by Liam Bunster, John Gabriel Borkmanwill have its first performance at the Bridge Theatre on 24 September 2022 with opening night on 29 September 2022 with the run concluding on 26 November 2022.
John Gabriel Borkman, once an illustrious entrepreneur, has been brought low by a prison sentence for fraud. As he paces alone in an upstairs room, bankrupt and disgraced, he is obsessed by dreams of his comeback. Downstairs, his estranged wife plots the restoration of the family name. When her sister arrives unannounced, she triggers a desperate showdown with the past.
Simon Russell Beale (John Gabriel Borkman) was last at The Bridge in A Christmas Carol and Bach & Sons, both also directed by Nicholas Hytner. His previous theatre credits include The Lehman Trilogy at National Theatre, in the West End and on Broadway. His other collaborations with Hytner include The Alchemist, Much Ado About Nothing, Major Barbara, Collaborators, London Assurance and Timon of Athens, all at the National Theatre. As well as being the recipient of multiple theatre awards, in 2003 he was made a CBE for his services to the Arts and in 2019 he was made a Knight Bachelor.
Clare Higgins (Gunhild Borkman) is making her debut at the Bridge Theatre. Her previous theatre credits include multiple appearances at the National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, in the West End and on Broadway. She has won the Olivier Award for Best Actress three times for Sweet Bird of Youth at the National Theatre, Hecuba at the Donmar Warehouse and Vincent in Brixton at the National Theatre which also played in the West End and on Broadway and for whichshe was nominated for the Tony Best Actress award.
Olivier and Tony nominated Lia Williams (Ella Rentheim) theatre credits include The Night of the Iguana at the Noel Coward Theatre, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Lover and The Collection all forthe Donmar Warehouse, Mary Stuart for the Almeida Theatre and Duke of York’s Theatre, Oresteia for the Almeida Theatre Company, Old Times at the Harold Pinter Theatre, Arcadia at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre New York, Skylight for the National Theatre and the Royal Theatre New York, Earthquakes in London, The Hothouse, The Lady from the Sea all for the Arcola Theatre, Absurd Person Singular at the Garrick Theatre, Oleanna for the Royal Court and Duke of York’s Theatre, My Child and King Lear for the Royal Court, Postcards from America and As You Like It for the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Homecoming for the Gate, Dublin, The Comedy Theatre and Lincoln Center, New York, Celebration/The Room for the Almeida Theatre and Lincoln Center, New York and The Revenger’s Comedies at the Strand Theatre. Her television credits include leading roles in Britney, Riviera, The Capture Series 1 and 2, His Dark Materials, The Crown, Kiri, The Missing, Secret State, May 33rd, Russian Bride, A Shot through the Heart, Seaforth and Mr Wroe’s Virgins. Her films include the upcoming Living and Benediction as well as The Foreigner, Jonathan Toomey, Girl from Rio, The King is Alive, Different for Girls, The Fifth Province and Firelight and Dirty Weekend.
Lucinda Coxon previously collaborated with Nicholas Hytner at The Bridge on the world premiere of Alys, Always. Her other theatre writing credits include Herding Cats, Happy Now, The Eternal Not, Nostalgia, The Shoemaker’s Wife, Vesuvius, Wishbones, Three Graces, The Ice Palace and Waiting at the Water’s Edge. Her screen writing credits include the award-winning The Danish Girl starring Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander, The Little Stranger starring Domhnall Gleeson and Ruth Wilson, The Crimson Petal and The White starring Romola Garai for the BBC, Wild Target starring Emily Blunt and The Heart of Me starring Paul Bettany and Helena Bonham-Carter.
For the Bridge Theatre Nicholas Hytner has directed Young Marx, Julius Caesar, Allelujah!, Alys, Always, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Two Ladies, Beat the Devil, The Shrine, Bed Among the Lentils, A Christmas Carol, Bach & Sons and The Book of Dust – La Belle Sauvage. He recently directed Ralph Fiennes in David Hare’s Straight Line Crazy at The Bridge. He has most recently directed Alex Jennings in Stephen Beresford’s The Southbury Child at Chichester Festival Theatre which transfers to The Bridge next month and in February 2023 he will direct Guys & Dolls also at the Bridge. Previously he was Director of the National Theatre from 2003 to 2015.