Simon Russell Beale and John Simm to star in Harold Pinter's The Hot House at The Trafalgar Studios

Simon Russell Beale (Privates on Parade, National Theatre’s Timon of Athens and Collaborators) is playing Roote and John Simm (Elling, Sheffield Theatres’ Hamlet and Betrayal) is Gibbs.   Further casting will be announced shortly.
 
Jamie Lloyd said "It is a dream come true to be working with Simon Russell Beale and John Simm on this funny, peculiar and frightening play as a part of Trafalgar Transformed.   The Hothouse is the third Pinter project I have worked on (following The Caretaker and The Lover & The Collection) and I am thrilled to be introducing Harold's work to a young, diverse audience"
 
It’s Christmas Day in a nameless state-run mental institution where the inmates are subjected to a tirade of mindless cruelty.   A maniacal and self-obsessed leader breeds a contagion of hierarchical savagery amongst his staff, who thrive on a noxious diet of delusion and deceit.
 
The day got off to a lousy start!    A death and a birth.   Absolutely bloody scandalous!   Is it too much to ask – to keep the place clean?
 
Under a veil of devilish wit and subversive humour, Pinter’s biting political commentary on the perils of unchecked power is as vital and pertinent today as when it was written in the 50s.
 
Simon Russell Beale was recently on stage in Privates on Parade at the Noel Coward Theatre.   Other stage credits include The Seagull and The Tempest for the RSC, for the National Theatre; Hamlet (for which he won the Evening Standard Best Actor Award), Humble Boy (also in the West End), Jumpers (also in the West End and on Broadway), Much Ado About Nothing, Major Barbara, London Assurance, Collaborators and Timon of Athens (for which he won the Critics Circle Award for Best Shakespearean Performance in 2012).   Simon’s stage credits for the Donmar Warehouse include Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night (for which he won the 2002 Olivier and Evening Standard Awards).   Further theatre credits include Spamalot at the Palace Theatre/Broadway, The Winter’s Tale and The Cherry Orchard at the Old Vic and Deathtrap at the Noel Coward Theatre.  His film credits include The Deep Blue Sea and My Week with Marilyn.    On television, Simon’s credits include Henry IV Parts I & II, A Dance to the Music of Time (for which he won the BAFTA for Best Television Actor) and two series of Spooks and Sacred Music.   Simon is an Associate Artist of the RSC and National Theatre.
 
John Simm’s stage credits include Speaking In Tongues at the Duke of York’s Theatre, Elling at the Bush Theatre and Trafalgar Studios (for which he was nominated for the Olivier and Theatregoer’s Choice Award for Best Actor 2008), Danny Rule at the Royal Court, Hamlet and Betrayal for Sheffield Theatres and Goldhawk Road at the Bush Theatre.   John’s film credits include Everyday, Tuesday, Brothers of the Head, 24 Hour Party People, Wonderland, Human Traffic, Boston Kickout and Understanding Jane.   On television, John’s credits include The Village, Mad Dogs, Exile (for which he was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Actor 2012), Doctor Who, The Devil’s Whore, Life on Mars (for which he was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Actor 2007), Blue/Orange, Sex Traffic, State of Play, Crime and Punishment, The Lakes and Cracker.
 

Harold Pinter wrote twenty-nine plays including The Birthday Party, The Caretaker, The Homecoming, and Betrayal, twenty-one screenplays including The Servant, The Go-Between, The French Lieutenant's Woman and Sleuth, and directed twenty-seven theatre productions, including James Joyce's Exiles, David Mamet's Oleanna, seven plays by Simon Gray and many of his own plays including his last, Celebration, paired with his first, The Room, at The Almeida Theatre in the spring of 2000.   In 2005 he received the Nobel Prize for Literature.   Other awards include the Companion of Honour for services to Literature, the Legion D’Honneur, the Laurence Olivier Award and the Moliere D'Honneur for lifetime achievement. In 1999 he was made a Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature.   He received honorary degrees from eighteen universities.
 
Jamie Lloyd's theatre credits include Macbeth starring James McAvoy, the first production for Trafalgar Transformed, Cyrano de Bergerac at the Roundabout; American Airlines Theatre, Broadway, The Duchess of Malfi at the Old Vic, She Stoops to Conquer at the National Theatre, The Faith Machine and The Pride (Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement) at the Royal Court, Inadmissible Evidence, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Passion (Evening Standard Award for Best Musical) and Polar Bears all at the Donmar Warehouse, Piaf at the Donmar/Vaudeville/Teatro Liceo, Buenos Aires/Nuevo Teatro Alcala, Madrid (Hugo Award for Best Director, Clarin Award for Best Musical Production and ADEET Award for Best Production), The Little Dog Laughed at the Garrick Theatre, Three Days of Rain at the Apollo Theatre, The Lover and The Collection at the Comedy Theatre, Elegies: a Song Cycle at the Arts Theatre, The School for Scandal at Theatre Royal, Bath, Salome for Headlong, Eric's at Liverpool Everyman and The Caretaker at Sheffield Crucible and the Tricycle Theatre.   Jamie was Associate Director of the Donmar Warehouse from 2008 to 2011.
 
Jamie Lloyd Productions is a partnership with Jamie Lloyd and Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG).
 
Howard Panter is a key figure in the Arts and Entertainment industry - topping The Stage 100 four times consecutively, from 2010 to 2013, alongside his wife and business partner, Rosemary Squire.   As co-founder, Joint CEO and Creative Director of the Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) Howard has worked on productions throughout the world.   He has been responsible for nurturing the talents of some of the brightest lights from film and television in the theatrical world, from Kristen Scott Thomas to Sheridan Smith.    Howard is the stimulus behind some of the most important production companies in the West End, UK regions and Broadway, including Sonia Friedman Productions, Theatre Royal Brighton Productions and Jamie Lloyd Productions.  With over thirty years’ experience, Howard has worked with world-renowned organisations such as The Royal Court Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company and Michael Codron Ltd.
 
Ambassador Theatre Group Ltd (ATG) was co-founded by Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire in 1992, and is the largest owner/operator of theatres in the UK with 39 venues, an internationally recognised theatre producer and a leader in theatre ticketing services through ATG Tickets.    Current and recent ATG co-productions include Posh, Jumpy, and Constellations (Royal Court at the Duke of York’s), Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 the Musical, Monty Python’s Spamalot starring Marcus Brigstocke and Jon Culshaw and now Stephen Tompkinson.   Coming soonfor ATG: Passion Play by Peter Nichols starring Zoë Wanamaker directed by David Leveaux (a co-production with Tali Pelman Productions), The Rocky Horror Show, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and Maurice’s Jubilee. 


For more information about the upcoming production of The Hot House join our mailing list
 

Book tickets for Zoë Wanamaker in Peter Nicholls' Passion Play now