Eliot Festival for the Donmar
In December and January the Donmar Warehouse is planning a T S Eliot festival with a series of readings. These will include ‘Four Quartets’ performed by Stephen Dillane and directed by Katie Mitchell, ‘Murder in the Cathedral’ directed by Douglas Hodge, an evening of Eliot verse including his masterpiece ‘The Waste Land’ to be directed by novelist Josephine Hart and ‘The Cocktail Party’ directed by Jamie Lloyd.
These will all take place upon the set of a production which will be the centrepiece of the festival. Jeremy Herrin will revive the rarely performed verse drama ‘The Family Reunion’, which was written in 1939.
It promises to be a top London show. The cast will include real life mother and daughter, Anna Carteret and Hattie Morahan, Samuel West, Penelope Wilton, Gemma Jones, Christopher Benjamin, Phil Cole, William Gaunt, Una Stubbs, Paul Shelley, Kevin McMonagle, and Ann Marcuson.
The play tells the story of Harry who returns to his family home for his mother’s birthday. He confides a dark secret to his Aunt Agatha who reveals that the family has its own hidden demons.
T S Eliot was an American who moved to London at the age of 26. Amongst his other work was ‘Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats’, which provided the inspiration for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Cats’.
Tags: donamr t.s. eliot festival, Donmar