David Hare’s The Bay at Nice to be revived at Menier Chocolate Factory

A major revival of David Hare's play The Bay at Nice has been announced at the Menier Chocolate Factory, directed by Richard Eyre.

The play is set in Leningrad in the 1950s when Valentina Nrovka is invited with her daughter Sophia to verify the authenticity of a Matisse painting at the city's Hermitage Museum.

Eyre's production, which is the first revival of the play since it premiered at the National Theatre in 1986, will star Penelope Wilton, Ophelia Lovibond, David Rintoul and Martin Hutson when it runs at the Menier from 14^th March to 4^th May.

The Bay at Nice premiered in the Cottesloe as part of a double bill alongside Hare's play Wrecked Eggs, and starred Zoe Wanamaker and Irene Worth. Its last major production was its US premiere at Hartford Stage in Connecticut in 2004.

Penelope Wilton, who recently appeared in Jamie Lloyd's Pinter at the Pinter season, will play Nrovka alongside Ophelia Lovibond, last seen in Nightfall at the Bridge Theatre, who will play daughter Sophia.

David Rintoul (Hamlet, Almeida Theatre) will play Peter Linitsky, while Martin Hutson (Titus Andronicus, RSC) will play Assistant Curator.

The Bay at Nice is at the Menier Chocolate Factory from 14^th March to 4^th May.

_{Photo credit: Frankie Fouganthin, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link}