“A” list, film star Jude Law will be returning to the London stage in May 2017 when he stars in the world première of OBSESSION directed by the highly-regarded Ivo van Hove; part of a residency the Dutch director and his theatre company will have at the Barbican Theatre.
Law’s presence in a play usually ensures sell outs and queues around the block for returned tickets. This was certainly the case with his previous London stage appearances which included notable performances in the title roles of HAMLET (Also on Broadway) HENRY V and DR FAUSTUS.
Law says, of this forthcoming collaboration –
“I’d heard great things about Ivo van Hove and when I saw A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE at the Young Vic and then ANTIGONE at the Barbican I knew he was someone I really wanted to have the opportunity to work with. And now I can’t wait to return to the Barbican, where I performed 22 years ago with the RSC, to take on the role of Gino, immortalised in the 1943 classic, OSSESSIONE by Luchino Visconti, whose films I adore.”
Equally enthusiastically Van Hove has said –
“It’s very exciting to bring British actors and specifically Jude Law together with actors from our Toneelgroep Amsterdam ensemble for the first time. OBSESSION is a raw and timeless tale about idealised love and its fleeting nature. Major themes that resonate for all time which I am looking forward to staging at the Barbican, a venue I consider to be our London home.”
But what’s OBSESSION about?
Well, it’s based on James M Cain’s racy novel THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE and we’re told Law will play a sexy drifter called Gino who plots with an infatuated young woman, Giovanna, to murder her husband in a roadside restaurant and petrol station. You won’t be surprised to learn that this doesn’t bring either of them any happiness and the pair descends into a spiral of passion, laced with guilt, that leads to mutual destruction.
Expect an erotic, sizzling evening’s theatre but book early to avoid disappointment.
There's been several failed attempts to write a successful musical about Marilyn Monroe over the years and no one has yet succeeded.