'Copenhagen' and 'Stage Kiss' announced as part of Hampstead Theatre spring season

Alex Kingston and Richard Schiff will star in the first London staging of Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen since its 1998 premiere. Performances will begin on 7 March, running through 2 May.

Two new shows have been announced as part of Hampstead Theatre's spring season.

Alex Kingston and Richard Schiff will star in the first London staging of Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen since its 1998 premiere. Performances will begin on 7 March, running through 2 May.

Directed by Michael Longhurst and inspired by real events, Copenhagen follows two great physicists, Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg, when they meet at the height of the Second World War — but the trip is fraught with danger and embarrassment.

Further casting is to be announced.

Following Copenhagen is Sarah Ruhl’s romantic comedy, Stage Kiss, which makes its UK premiere in a new production directed by Blanche McIntyre. The production opens on 8 May, running until 13 June.

The play within a play format follows two leading actors in rehearsals for The Last Kiss, a play set in 1930s New York about Ada who is dying and meets her former lover for a final embrace. As opening night approaches, it becomes clear the actors have a romantic history of their own.

Greg Ripley-Duggan, Producer and Chief Executive of Hampstead Theatre, said: “Hampstead Theatre owes an enormous amount to Michael Frayn: he served on our Board for an amazing 25 years, and was the shrewd and perspicacious leader of the Foundation that created the astonishing building we now occupy. Over the years we’ve premiered four of his works and revived two more, and I’m delighted to have persuaded Michael Longhurst to create a fresh production of Copenhagen, last produced in London in 1998. I’m also overjoyed to be bringing Blanche McIntyre and Sarah Ruhl back together again at Hampstead, this time for Sarah’s brilliant comedy, Stage Kiss. It’s hard to imagine a play more different from Letters From Max, but if this production is even half as good as that one we’re in for a treat!”

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Photo credit: Alex Kingston and Richard Schiff. (Courtesy of production)