The big Broadway news this morning is the announcement that Mike Nichols will direct Daniel Craig and his actress wife Rachel Weisz in Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal,” which will open Nov. 3, 2013 at the Barrymore Theater. Rafe Spall will co-star in the marital romantic triangle.
Previews will begin Oct. 1. “Betrayal” is a strictly limited engagement, running 14 weeks only, through January 5, 2014.
“Betrayal” originally premiered at London’s National Theatre in 1978 and won the 1979 Olivier Award for Best New Play and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play (Foreign).
In the play, Emma (Rachel Weisz) is married to Robert (Daniel Craig), a publisher, but she has long had an affair with Jerry (Rafe Spall), a literary agent and Robert’s best friend.
Daniel Craig returns to Broadway for the first time since starring opposite Hugh Jackman in “A Steady Rain” in 2009.
Last year, Craig returned as James Bond for the third time in the box office smash “Skyfall” (read Jane’s review here). Craig has also starred as Bond in “Quantum of Solace” and “Casino Royale.”
In 2011, he starred in “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” directed by David Fincher. Craig’s earlier film credits include “The Power of One,” “Obsession,” “Love and Rage,” “Road to Perdition,” “Layer Cake,” “Infamous,” and Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated film “Munich.”
Craig’s additional theatre credits include leading roles in “Hurlyburly” with the Peter Hall Company at the Old Vic, “Angels in America” at the National Theatre, and “A Number” at the Royal Court.
Rachel Weisz (Emma) will make her Broadway debut in “Betrayal.” She received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in “The Constant Gardener” in 2005. In 2012, she received a Golden Globe nomination for her highly acclaimed performance in Terence Davies’ “The Deep Blue Sea.”
She currently stars as Evanora in Sam Raimi’s “Oz: The Great and Powerful” (read Jane’s review here), opposite James Franco and Michelle Williams. Weisz won the 2010 Olivier Award for her performance as Blanche DuBois in the West End revival of “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
Rafe Spall (Jerry) will also make his Broadway debut in “Betrayal.” He has most recently been seen on stage at the Royal Court and then at the Duke of York’s in “Constellations” opposite Sally Hawkins, for which he has been nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actor.
In 2012, Spall appeared in Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus” alongside Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron, as well as in Ang Lee’s award-winning film, “Life of Pi.”
Legendary playwright Harold Pinter lived with Antonia Fraser from 1975 until his death on Christmas Eve 2008. (They were married in 1980.) He wrote 29 plays including “The Birthday Party,” “The Caretaker,” “The Homecoming,” and “Betrayal”; 21 screenplays including “The Servant,” “The Go-Between,” “The French Lieutenant’s Woman,” and “Sleuth”; and directed 27 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, London in the spring of 2000. In 2005 he received the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Director Mike Nichols has been one of the leading directors of stage and screen for more than 40 years. His Broadway directing credits include “Barefoot in the Park,” “Luv,” “The Odd Couple,” “Plaza Suite,” “The Prisoner of Second Avenue,” “The Real Thing,” “Spamalot,” and “Death of a Salesman,” each of which has garnered him a Tony Award for Best Director.
He additionally won Tony Awards for his productions of both “The Real Thing” and “Annie.” His film credits include “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” “The Graduate” (Academy Award for Best Director), “Catch 22,” “Carnal Knowledge,” “Silkwood,” “Heartburn,” “Working Girl,” “Postcards From the Edge,” “Regarding Henry,” “Wolf,” “The Birdcage,” “Primary Colors,” “Closer,” and “Charlie Wilson’s War,” and, for HBO, “Wit” and “Angels in America” (2001 and 2004 Emmy Awards for Direction of a Miniseries/Movie).
Scott Rudin will produce.
This production should have a lot of heat and will be the hottest ticket on Broadway. I saw newlyweds Craig and Weisz at the New York Film Critics Circle last winter and heard they were looking for a project to do together. They didn’t want to spend so much time apart. They held hands throughout much of the evening and seemed very much in love.
Leave a Reply