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Lesley Manville and Anna Maxwell Martin set to star in August: Osage County in the West End
The award-winning drama returns to London next year for a limited run at the Noël Coward Theatre
Lesley Manville and Anna Maxwell Martin will head the bill as August: Osage County by Tracy Letts returns to London in 2027 for a limited 12-week run. The Pulitzer Prize and Tony-Award winning play will appear at the Noël Coward Theatre from 18 January.
First performed by Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre company in 2007, August: Osage County had its London premiere at the National Theatre before it was adapted into the 2013 Oscar-nominated film starring Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts. The first major London revival will be brought to the West End stage next year by director Jeremy Herrin.
The play follows a dysfunctional Weston family reuniting at their Oklahoma home after a family crisis. As they spend time together, old wounds are reopened and long-buried secrets come to light. Manville, who recently won an Olivier and Tony Award for her performance in the West End and on Broadway as Jocasta in Oedipus, will play matriarch Violet Weston, whilst two-time BAFTA Award winner Martin plays her daughter Barbara Fordham.
Manville said: “I’m delighted to be taking on August: Osage County with Jeremy Herrin directing. It’s an epic piece of American literature written by the truly great Tracy Letts. It has not been seen in London for almost 20 years, so I cannot wait to bring this complex, funny, tragic, ultimate family saga to the West End and create the matriarch, Violet Weston.”
Herrin added: “August: Osage County is one of the great plays of our time, and it firmly places Tracy Letts as heir to O’Neill, Miller and Williams in the continuum of the best American playwrights. It’s a darkly funny and gripping family drama that transcends its form. As a brilliant actor himself and long-standing member of Steppenwolf, Tracy knows how to write for actors. I’m excited to bring together a fantastic ensemble for the first major revival of this play.
“I’m thrilled to be reunited with Lesley Manville after her Tony Award win, and I can’t wait to see her square up against Anna Maxwell Martin, whose work I’ve long admired. I’ve loved this play since I saw it on Broadway in 2008, and I can’t wait to explore all its twists and turns in the Noël Coward Theatre, the perfect space for this searing and epically entertaining show.”
