Sir Trevor Nunn returns to Arts Theatre Cambridge to direct Noel Coward’s EASY VIRTUE
Sir Trevor Nunn (“One of the best living directors” – The Guardian) will return to The Arts Theatre Cambridge to direct Noël Coward’s glittering comedy Easy Virtue, running from 19 February - 7 March, on the same stage that launched his career over six decades ago.
The cast includes Alice Orr-Ewing (The Theory of Everything) as Larita, Michael Praed (Robin of Sherwood) as Colonel Whittaker, and Greta Scacchi (White Mischief) as Mrs Whittaker, with Lisa Ambalavanar as Sarah Hurst, Zena Carswell as Nina Vansittart, Imogen Elliott as Marion Whittaker, Grace Hogg-Robinson as Hilda Whittaker, Hugh Osborne as Mr Harris, Joseph Potter as John Whittaker, Harmage Singh Kalirai as Furber, Jordan Kilshaw as Hugh Petworth, Fiona Tong as Mrs Hurst, Kishore Walker as Philip Bordon, and Jamie Wilkes as Charles Burleigh.
Written in 1924, Easy Virtue introduces us to Colonel and Mrs Whittaker, shocked and scandalised as they learn that their son, John, has, without any consultation, got married in the South of France. Even worse, he is soon to arrive at their country estate with his new bride, an American divorcée, Larita. She proves to be glamorous, witty, sophisticated and very much a modern woman ... everything that Mrs Whittaker is not. Larita’s cosmopolitan lifestyle causes tensions to rise and, in the process, hidden truths are revealed.
Sir Trevor Nunn said: “For me, this venture is a very special return journey. I first directed a show at The Arts Theatre when I was a student – a production of The Taming of the Shrew. But then, since traditionally the productions of The Marlowe Society and Footlights were presented at The Arts, I directed both Shakespeare’s notoriously unlucky Scottish play there and the Footlights Review (with my student cast including John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Miriam Margolyes). A wonderful time was had by all!
“More recently, to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the foundation of The Marlowe Society, I returned to The Arts to direct students in Cymbeline (and found, at auditions to play Posthumus, a student actor called James Norton).
“Now, thanks to the astonishing philanthropy of Susie Sainsbury, the entirely, beautifully refurbished Arts Theatre is to present my new production of Noel Coward’s futuristic (banned in London in 1925!) serious comedy Easy Virtue. For me, opening at the Arts will be a homecoming.”
Easy Virtue has set and costume design by Simon Higlett, lighting by Johanna Town, sound by Anna Wood, and casting by Ginny Schiller.