London Theatre Direct

Kevin Spacey's first acting role at the Old Vic will be in the UK premiere of a 1988 play by Dennis McIntyre. "I performed this play in 1989 and felt so strongly about it I have held onto the rights ever since," said the actor.

Set during the late 80s in a plush Detroit suburb, National Anthems chronicles the class clash between an affluent couple with social aspirations and the neighbour they grudgingly invite into their home. This parable of American materialism sees the action played out over real time, as tensions between the cast of three - Spacey's threatening stranger Ben, and the Reeds - inevitably intensify.

Dennis McIntyre's darkly comic play represents a personal choice for artistic director, Kevin Spacey, who will make his stage debut for The Old Vic Theatre Company in a role he first played in 1988 at Connecticut's Long Wharf Theatre.

Rising star of British theatre, David Grindley, whose recent productions include Journey's End and Abigail's Party, will direct.

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39 Steps | A Bowl Of Cherries | A Tale of Two Cities | Abigail's Party | Absent Friends | Akram Khan - Desh | All New People | Alternative Comedy Gala | Being Shakespeare | Billy Elliot | Blood Brothers | Chicago | Classic Lunch Cruise | Crazy For You | Dreamboats and Petticoats | English National Ballet: My First Sleeping Beauty | Evening Dinner Cruise | GATZ | Ghost | Hay Fever | Horrible Histories | Jackie Mason - Fearless | Jersey Boys | Julius Caesar | Ladykillers | Legally Blonde | Les Miserables | Lion King | London Dungeon | London Eye | Long Day’s Journey Into Night | Madame Tussauds | Madness Of George III | Mamma Mia! | Mamma Mia! | Master Class | Matilda The Musical | Matthew Bourne's Play Without Words | Midnight Tango | Mousetrap | Much Ado About Nothing | Naked Boys Singing | Noises Off | Noises Off | One Man, Two Guvnors | Pajama Men: In The Middle Of No One | Pet Shop Boys & Javier De Frutos - The Most Incredible Thing | Phantom of The Opera | Pippin | Pitmen Painters | Proud Cabaret | Rambert Dance Company: Mixed Bill | Reduced Shakespeare Company's The Complete World Of Sports(Abridged) | Richard III | Rock Of Ages | Rockin' Horses | Shrek The Musical | Singin' In The Rain | South Downs/The Browning Version | Stomp | Sweeney Todd | That Thing Friday Night | The Awkward Squad | The Bodyguard | The Duchess of Malfi | The Fitzrovia Radio Hour | The Houdini Experience | The King's Speech | The Leisure Society | The Sunshine Boys | Three Days in May | Thriller Live | Tiger Who Came to Tea | Top Hat | Twelfth Night | UMOJA: The Spirit Of Togetherness | Wah! Wah! Girls | War Horse | We Will Rock You | Wicked | Wizard of Oz | Woman In Black

 

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