Next spring, David Morrissey (Hangmen, Julius Caesar) will lead the cast of a double bill of plays by Harold Pinter at Theatre Royal Bath's Ustinov Studio. Running March 14, 2024 to April 13, 2024, the double bill of The Lover and The Collection will open March 20.
Both plays explore the intricacies of love and relationships. The Lover is a one-act which debuted on the London stage in 1963 as part of a double bill with Pinter's The Dwarfs. In an exploration of private desires, the play features three characters: a wife, a husband, and a lover. But all of them are playing an unexpected role for the others.
The 1961 play The Collection follows two couples: Harry and Bill, and James and Stella. When Stella tells James she had a one-night affair, James becomes obsessed with meeting the man. Harry and Bill receive an unsettling and anonymous phone call, and soon James is presented with multiple versions of what happened, leaving the "truth" murkier than before. The Royal Shakespeare Company first presented the work in 1962 at London's Aldwych Theatre.
Director Lindsay Posner (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, God of Carnage) will return to Ustinov Studio to helm the productions. Further casting and creative team members will be announced at a later date.
Visit TheatreRoyal.org.uk.
