American film and stage actress and Academy Award-winner Holly Hunter will make her West End debut in
Marina Carr's By The Bog Of Cats which will have its British premiere when
it opens in the West End at Wyndhams Theatre on 19 November. The show will have a cast of eleven, led by Hunter
(as Hester Swane), and will be directed by Dominic Cooke with design by
Hildegard Bechtler. Further casting will be announced at a later date.
By The Bog Of Cats was written in 1998 and was last performed during a
sell-out season at the San Jose Repertory Theatre in 2001, when Hunter first
played the role of Hester.
Set in the mysterious and stark landscape of the bogs of rural Ireland,
Carr's lyrical and timeless play tells the story of Hester Swane, an Irish
traveller with a deep and unearthly connection to her land. Tormented by
the memory of a mother who deserted her, Hester is once again betrayed, this
time by the father of her child, the man she loves. On the brink of despair
and heartbreak, she embarks on a terrible journey of vengeance as the
secrets of her tangled history are revealed. Powerful and at times
hilarious, the drama unfolds towards its tragic conclusion.