Oedipus w/Mark Strong & Lesley Manville - Wyndham’s

According to Greg Doran in 2014 he offered Falstaff to McKellen when he was directing Henry IV but he turned it down. This left Doran totally stumped until someone (I think McKellen himself) said “But the perfect Falstaff is under your nose !” and only at that point did Doran consider offering it to Anthony Sher.

Ha ha. If you believe that etc. Not sure that McKellen is right for that part - Justice Shallow maybe - but what is not in doubt is that he normally chooses the best director for his Shakespeares (his last Hamlet being an obvious exception).

Last year we had a Juliet 5 years older than a Lady Macbeth (Buckley and Ronan). At this point it's either Harriet Walter or Lily Allen.

Gambon is one of several actors I’ve seen disappoint as Falstaff - you would have thought he’d have been perfect for it. The only one I can remember who was good in the role was Robert Stephens. Of current actors I’d rather see Conleth Hill play it than McKellen.

I like Gambon, King Lear, A View from the Bridge, and others. But for Henry IV by mistake I went to a surtitled performance and he was departing from the text, it made for an anxious viewing, probably for the other actors too.

Roger Allan’s falstaff all the way for me. David Warner was my first falstaff in Michael Boyd’s histories but I can’t remember much now. I did think Boyd’s vision didn’t match with Henry part 1’s lighthearted tone. Part 2 was better, and that was directed by his assistant director

I do also remember liking Anthony Quayle in the 1979 bbc version

I didn’t see Allam. I thought Warner was hopelessly miscast, Sher too, even Simon R-B was mediocre in the TV version. John Woodvine was very good years ago.

Indeed. A bit of a blow.

This might be a new most-anticipated show of the year. The ITA production sounds thrilling and the fact it's coming during the US election seems to be no coincidence (Icke adapts it to be a Succession-style election drama, according to reviews.)

It's a shame Hans Kesting won't come to London, but Strong and Manville are sure to be excellent, and the Wyndham's will be a good house for it.

Typical. You wait ages for an Oedipus, and then two show up at once.

The dates are available on the OV Website: 21 Jan–29 Mar 2025.

The Icke version is set to start on the 4th October, for a "limited run" - so will likely close early December at worst, or early January at best (in the vein of Sunset Boulevard, Old Friends, Dear England etc. this season.)

The Oedipus-Oedipus double show day appears unlikely...

It’s tremendous. I’ve seen it twice and will happily see it again, notwithstanding the absence of the supremely charismatic Kesting and Heebink.