Paul Rhys has had to withdraw from the title role of Ivanov

Paul Rhys has had to withdraw from the title role of Ivanov

Paul Rhys has had to withdraw from the title role of Ivanov, due to family illness. The role will now be played by Owen Teale. The play will now open at the Cottesloe on Monday 16th Sep at 7.30pm, with preview performances from Sat 7th Sep 02. (The production was originally scheduled to preview from 2nd Sep, with an opening night on 10th Sep. The preview performances on 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 Sep and the matinee performance on 7 Sep have been cancelled.)

Owen Teale's many theatre credits include Katie Mitchell's production of "The Country" at the Royal Court; Mark Antony in "Julius Caesar", Edmund in "King Lear" and The King of Navarre in "Love's Labour's Lost" for the RSC; and Torvald in "A Doll's House" in the West End and on Broadway, for which he won a Tony Award. He has previously appeared at the National in "Berenice". His films include "Cleopatra", "Conspiracy" and Lopahkin in "The Cherry Orchard"; his television work includes "Ballykissangel", "Bryncoed" and "Dangerfield".

Ivanov, by Anton Chekhov, in a new version by David Harrower, is directed by Katie Mitchell, and now features Owen Teale, Juliet Aubrey, Robert Bowman, Sarah Flind, Gillian Hanna, Stuart McQuarrie, Bridget Turner, Indira Varma, Philip Voss and Peter Wight.

It is designed by Vicki Mortimer, with lighting by Paule Constable.

Set in a country suffering from political, ideological and spiritual stagnation, Chekhov's first full-length play anticipates the explosive revolutionary atmosphere of Russia at the turn of the century. Ivanov, a driving force in local government and a visionary landowner, feels burnt out at thirty-five. Once the pioneer of scientific farming methods and of education for the peasants, he now drowns in bureaucracy and debt, his large estate neglected. While his wife is dying, Sasha, a young, educated woman, falls in love with Ivanov and determines to save him.

 

Originally published on

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