Michael
Frayn’s 1976 comedy Donkey's Years
will open at the Comedy theatre on 9 May
(previews 27 April) starring Mark
Addy, Samantha Bond, James
Dreyfus and David Haig.
This is the first major West End revival
of Donkeys’ Years, in which six former
students gather at a reunion dinner at
their old university college 25 years
after they graduated. During their night
at the college, nostalgic reminiscing
leads to old friendships and feuds
resurfacing. The play won a Laurence
Olivier Award when it first opened at
the Globe (now Gielgud) in 1976. Frayn
is the author of many other
award-winning plays, most recently
Noises Off and Democracy, at the
National and West End.
Jeremy Sams directs a cast with
considerable box office clout. David
Haig, who plays Christopher Headingley,
originated the role of Mr Banks in the
London stage show Mary Poppins, for
which he was Laurence Olivier
Award-nominated. Other London credits
include Journey’s End at the Comedy in
2004, Hitchcock Blonde, Life x 3 and
Art. He is also well known for his roles
in the film Four Weddings And A Funeral
and the psychological drama Cracker.
Samantha Bond will play Lady Driver.
Bond last starred on a London stage in
The Rubenstein Kiss at the Hampstead in
2005, and her face has regularly been on
the big screen over the last few years
as Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond
films. The part of Alan Quine is played
by James Dreyfus, who originated the
role of Carmen Ghia in the West End hit
The Producers, and won a Laurence
Olivier Award for Lady In The Dark at
the National. His CV includes numerous
roles in British television comedy shows
such as My Hero, Gimme Gimme Gimme and
Absolutely Fabulous. Mark Addy, who
plays Kenneth Snell, is possibly best
known for baring all in the hit
Brit-flick The Full Monty, as well as US
TV series Still Standing. Haig, Dreyfus
and Addy all starred in the comedy
series The Thin Blue Line on British
television.
The cast will also include Jonathan Coy
(Norman Tate), Edward Petherbridge
(Sydney Birkett) and Michael Simkins
(David Buckle). The production is
designed by Peter McKintosh with
lighting by Howard Harrison.
Director Jeremy Sams’s recent credits
include the successful National, West
End and Broadway productions of Frayn’s
Noises Off in 2001/02, Little Britain
Live and the adaptation of Chitty Chitty
Bang Bang. He is also lined up to direct
the West End revival of Andrew Lloyd
Webber’s The Sound Of Music, details of
which have not yet been announced.
Donkeys’ Years is currently booking at
the Comedy theatre until 29 July.
