FURTHER CASTING ANNOUNCED
FOR THE UK PREMIERE OF FLORIAN ZELLER’S
THE HEIGHT OF THE STORM
PATRICK MELROSE STAR ANNA MADELEY
AMANDA DREW AND LUCY COHU
TO JOIN JONATHAN PRYCE & DAME EILEEN ATKINS
ON TOUR AND IN THE WEST END THIS AUTUMN
Multi award-winning star of screen and stage Jonathan Pryce will star as ‘André’, and three-time Olivier award-winning Dame Eileen Atkins will star as ‘Madeleine’ in The Height of the Storm, in the UK premiere of a new compelling family drama by Florian Zeller, the internationally acclaimed writer of The Father.
Directed by Jonathan Kent, The Height of the Storm will open at Richmond Theatre on Saturday 1 September and play Cambridge Arts Theatre and Bath Theatre Royal, before transferring to London, opening at Wyndham’s Theatre on Tuesday 2 October, with a press night on Tuesday 9 October.
André and Madeleine have been in love for over fifty years. This weekend, as their daughters visit, something feels unusual. A bunch of flowers arrives, but who sent them? A woman from the past turns up, but who is she? And why does André feel like he isn’t there at all?
Anna Madeley will play the couple’s daughter, ‘Elise’. She most recently starred as ‘Mary’ opposite Benedict Cumberbatch in Sky’s Patrick Melrose, and her other screen credits include The Crown (Netflix), Dr Foster (BBC), A Child in Time (BBC) and Secret State (Channel 4). Recent stage credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream(Young Vic), Les Blancs (National Theatre), The Crucible (Old Vic), and The Turn of the Screw (Almeida).
Amanda Drew, who starred in Florian Zeller’s The Father, and whose extensive stage credits include Enron(Royal Court/West End), Three Days in the Country (NT), The Events (ATC/Tour) and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (West End), will play the other daughter, ‘Anne’. Her screen credits include Broadchurch(ITV), EastEnders (BBC), HBO’s forthcoming series Chernobyl and Black Mirror for Netflix.
Lucy Cohu, who won a BAFTA and Emmy for her portrayal of Princess Margaret in The Queen’s Sister, and an Emmy for Forgiven (Channel 4), will play ‘The Woman’. Cohu has recently starred opposite Rowan Atkinson in ITV’s Maigret, and other screen credits include Ripper Street (Amazon), Broadchurch (ITV), and films Gosford Park and Becoming Jane.
Jonathan Pryce is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning actor on stage and screen. His diverse film work includes lauded performances in Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, James Foley’s Glengarry Glen Ross, Carrington for which Pryce won the Best Actor award at both Cannes Film Festival and Evening Standard Awards, Evita and successful blockbusters such as Tomorrow Never Dies, the Pirates of the Caribbean series and the G.I. Joe films.
His extensive theatre work includes Comedians in London and on Broadway, for which he won a Tony Award; The Royal Court production of Hamlet, for which he received an Olivier Award; and Miss Saigon in which he starred on both sides of the Atlantic, winning further Olivier and Tony awards.
Pryce’s recent work includes Terry Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote alongside Adam Driver; The Man Who Invented Christmas alongside Dan Stevens and Christopher Plummer, and The Wife opposite Glenn Close. He is currently filming upcoming Netflix feature The Pope alongside Anthony Hopkins, directed by Fernando Meirelles.
Pryce’s television work includes Taboo for FX and BBC, alongside Tom Hardy, and Sally Wainwright’s one-off film for BBC television To Walk Invisible. He also starred in Cranford: Return to Cranford, for which he received an Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama. His other recent television roles include Cardinal Wolsey in the award-winning adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and High Sparrow in the hugely successful series Game of Thrones.
Dame Eileen Atkins is a three-time Olivier award-winning actress, and four-time Tony Award nominee. She is known for her BAFTA and Emmy award-winning performance in Cranford and major roles in Upstairs Downstairs and Doc Martin. Film roles include Gosford Park, The Hours and Paddington 2.
Atkins’ many stage appearances in the West End include Honour, Ellen Terry, Three Tall Women and The Female of the Species. She has also played starring roles on Broadway in Retreat from Moscow with John Lithgow, and All that Fall with Michael Gambon, Indiscretions with Jude Law, The Killing of Sister George and Vivat! Vivat! Regina!, all of which she received Tony Award nominations for Best Actress. She can be seen most recently as Queen Mary in Netflix’s The Crown.
The Height of the Storm is a beautifully compelling family drama by Florian Zeller, “the most exciting playwright of our time” (The Guardian). Starring two of the greatest actors of their generation on stage together for the first time, this major new play from the writer of Olivier Award-Winning The Father is a searing exploration of love, family and the fragility of life.
The Height of the Storm is translated by Christopher Hampton, directed by Jonathan Kent (Gypsy, Long Day’s Journey into Night) and produced by Simon Friend, Mark Goucher and Howard Panter. Co-producers will be Gavin Kalin, Act Productions and Scott Landis.