2020 is proving to be an incredible year for theatre. Adding to the excitement is Robert Icke's The Doctor and Laura Wade's The Watsons, with both bound for the West End in a few months time.
Juliet Stevenson in The Doctor
The Doctor
Following its sell-out premiere at The Almeida last year, Robert Icke’s The Doctor is due to transfer to the West End in April. Based on the play Professor Bernhardi by Arthur Schnitzler, this moral drama has proved a blistering, burning success. Here, Icke plants the seed of Schnitzler’s central narrative and lets it grow, expanding on its branches of identity politics. When a renowned physician of Jewish faith, Professor Ruth Wolff, disallows a priest from delivering the last rites to a 14-year-old girl on her deathbed, there ensues a poisonous publicity storm.
As the character of Wolff, Juliet Stevenson has been credited with her best performance to date. She will also be starring in The Doctor’s run at The Duke Of York’s, with further casting to be announced. Playing from 20th April-11th July 2020, this transfer is billed to be one of the theatrical events of this year. Haunting, thrilling and darkly funny, The Doctor is positively electrifying: book now or forever hold your peace.
Tickets from just £17.75
The Watsons
The Watsons
Best known for her riotous play Posh (2010), Laura Wade is a figurehead of contemporary British theatre. Her latest endeavour, The Watsons enjoyed glowing reviews upon its premiere at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 2018 and again during its run at the Menier Chocolate Factory later last year. An unfinished novel by none other than Jane Austen, The Watsons was given its title by her nephew. Notably, Wade’s adaptation plays with elements of metatheatricality. Following a writer named Laura, who has been commissioned to complete Austen’s work, the piece takes a dizzying turn when she herself is plunged into the narrative in question.
Originally a fragment of approximately 7,500 words – some 80 pages – Wade has broadened Austen’s initial storyline and characters to great effect. Witty and wise, the tale of Emma Watson is given an ending like no other. Running at the Harold Pinter Theatre from the 19th May-26th September 2020, The Watsons is bold and beautiful – don’t miss it!
Tickets from £23.75
Have we got news for you: this spring, comedy icon Paul Merton is set to make his West End debut in Hairspray. Is it April yet?