Anouilh's "Becket" starring Dougray Scott & Jasper Britton from 20 Oct 2004 at Haymarket

Anouilh's "Becket" starring Dougray Scott & Jasper Britton from 20 Oct 2004 at Haymarket

Jean Anouilh's Becket, starring Dougray Scott & Jasper Britton opens at the Haymarket Theatre 27 Oct 2004, following previews from 20 Oct 2004, and booking to 19 Feb 2005.

Tickets are on sale now!!

Directed by John Caird, this new production is translated by Frederic Raphael and Stephen Raphael with original music by John Cameron, performed by two Choristers from Westminster Abbey. It is designed by Stephen Brimson Lewis with lighting by Peter Mumford

Scottish Actor Dougray Scott (Becket) was last seen on stage in 2000 when he starred at the Donmar Warehouse in Sam Mendes' production of "To the Green Fields Beyond". Other theatre credits include "Unidentified Human Remains" at the Traverse Theatre and "The Power and the Glory" at Chichester Festival Theatre. Scott is best know for his film work, and has starred in "To Kill a King", "Enigma", "Mission Impossible II", "This Year's Love" and "Ever After". He is recently completed shooting Walter Salles' "Dark Water" opposite Jennifer Connelly.

Jasper Britton (Henry II) most recently starred as 'Petruchio' in "Taming of the Shrew" and "The Tamer Tamed" at the RSC, in the West End and in Washington DC, where he was nominated for a Helen Hayes award. Britton has worked extensively on stage and notable credits include "Bedroom Farce" (Aldwych Theatre), the title role in Tim Carroll's production of "Macbeth" (Shakespeare's Globe), "Japes" (Theatre Royal Haymarket) and "Summerfolk", "Money", "Troilus & Cressida" and "Honk!" (all National Theatre). He has also been seen on television in "My Dad's Prime Minister" and "Murder in Mind" (both BBC).

Further casting will be announced at a later date.

"BECKET" was written in 1959 by the prolific French playwright Jean Anouilh, and subsequently staged in France, London (with Laurence Olivier) and then in New York (with Anthony Quinn) where it won the 1961 Tony Award for Best Play. The piece was then filmed in 1964 with Peter O'Toole as 'Henry Plantagenet' and Richard Burton as 'Thomas à Becket', gaining 12 Academy Award nominations. The play was last seen in London 13 years ago, also at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, with Derek Jacobi and Robert Lindsay.

Anouilh's timeless play captures the conflict between love and duty. As a young man, Thomas à Becket was anything but a saint and, as King Henry II's closest friend, enjoyed the lifestyle only royalty could afford. The two men spent their time drinking and wenching until an act of friendship tore them apart. Henry made Becket Archbishop of Canterbury and finally, with a purpose to his life, Becket followed his new vocation with such zeal that their two worlds could only collide, with devastating consequences.