Six-time Academy Award nominated actress Amy Adams will make her West End debut in a new production of Tennessee Williams’ celebrated memory play The Glass Menagerie, the debut production from Second Half Productions, a new entertainment company founded by Jeremy Herrin (Wolf Hall Trilogy, People Places and Things, This House), Alan Stacey and Rob O’Rahilly.
Six-time Academy Award nominated actress Amy Adams will make her West End debut in a new production of Tennessee Williams’ celebrated memory play The Glass Menagerie, the debut production from Second Half Productions, a new entertainment company founded by Jeremy Herrin (Wolf Hall Trilogy, People Places and Things, This House), Alan Stacey and Rob O’Rahilly.
Herrin directs the production, playing for 14 weeks at London’s Duke of York’s Theatre from 23 May to 28 August 2022 with opening night on 31 May. The cast also features Paul Hilton (The Inheritance, Lady Macbeth, A Very British Scandal), Tom Glynn-Carney (The Ferryman, Dunkirk), Lizzie Annis and Victor Alli. Tickets will go on general sale from 14 September, with 10,000 available at £20 and under available across the run.
Award-winning director Herrin’s bold new staging will explore the fragility and fallibility of memory in Williams’ semi-autobiographical masterpiece. Six-time Academy Award nominated and two-time Golden Globe winning actress Adams takes on the role of one of Williams’ most iconic matriarchs Amanda Wingfield, a former Southern Belle living precariously with her two children, Tom and Laura, in a space between past and present.
Tony award-nominee Hilton and Glynn-Carney will both play Tom – at different stages of the character’s life – with newcomers Annis and Alli as Laura and The Gentleman Caller.
The Glass Menagerie is designed by Vicki Mortimer with lighting design by Paule Constable and video design by Ash J Woodward.
Amy Adams said:
“I am so honoured and excited to be a part of bringing The Glass Menagerie to the stage in the West End! I have always felt a strong pull towards the work of Tennessee Williams and to this deeply personal story. I am so grateful to be working with the brilliant Jeremy Herrin and with all of the talented cast and creative team. I look forward to the shared experience of theater. See you in 2022!”
Jeremy Herrin, co-director of Second Half Productions, added: “I can’t wait to work with such a talented cast led by the brilliantly transformative Amy Adams on one of the best plays ever written. Tennessee Williams’ masterpiece is a delicate work of genius and I look forward to working with a world class creative team including Vicki Mortimer, Paule Constable and Ash J Woodward to allow the play to resonate in a fresh and exciting way.
“I’m grateful to the Williams’ estate who have allowed me to split the role of Tom Wingfield – and thrilled to have cast Paul Hilton to play him, and Tom Glynn-Carney to play his younger self. And it is a privilege for Second Half Productions to give West End debuts to the wonderful talent of Lizzie Annis and Victor Alli as Laura Wingfield and Jim O’Connor respectively.”
Amy Adams has won two Golden Globes and has been nominated for six Academy Awards. The actress is appearing in the film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical, Dear Evan Hansen, alongside Ben Platt. Universal will release the film on 24 September 2021. She is currently in production on Disenchanted, the sequel to her 2007 blockbuster hit, Enchanted, for Disney+. She is reprising her role of Giselle and also executive producing the film. It is expected to be released in 2022.
Adams’ recent credits include: Woman in the Window; Hillbilly Elegy (SAG nomination); Vice (Golden Globe, SAG, Critics’ Choice, BAFTA, Academy Award nominations); Sharp Objects (“Best Actress in Limited Series or Movie Made for Television” Critic’s Choice award and Golden Globe, SAG and Emmy nominations); Arrival (named Best Actress by the National Board of Review and Critics’ Choice award, SAG and Golden Globe nominations); Justice League; Nocturnal Animals and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Jeremy Herrin, formerly artistic director of Headlong and deputy artistic director of the Royal Court, will direct the final instalment in the Wolf Hall Trilogy – The Mirror and The Light, adapted for stage by Hilary Mantel and Ben Miles.
Second Half Productions has been formed to create innovative work by world-leading artists for stage and screen, breathing new and unexpected life into classic stories and championing extraordinary writing from new and established voices.
