Location: Donmar Warehouse Theatre

Type of production: Play

Opened: 14 July 2005

Booking until: 03 September 2005

Running time: 2 Hours 45 mins

Author/Playwright: Schiller (New Version Peter Oswald)

Director: Phyllida Lloyd

Cast: Janet McTeer , Harriet Walter

Synopsis:

Play by Friedrich Schiller in a new version by Peter Oswald. Directed by Phyllida Lloyd.

Friedrich Schiller's thrilling account of the extraordinary relationship between England's Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots.

PLEASE NOTE: This production transfers to The Apollo Theatre from 7 October 2005, tickets are now available to buy, click here

The cast features Harriet Walter as 'Queen Elizabeth I' and Janet McTeer as 'Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots' along with David Burke, Tam Dean Burn, James Fleet, Stephen Fletcher, Guy Henry, David Horovitch, Barbara Jefford, Rory Kinnear and Rufus Wright.

German playwright Schiller (1759-1805) began writing as a means of escape during his enforced military service. After penning his first play, The Robbers (1782), his work was discovered by his superiors and he was forbidden to write. He deserted and lived under an assumed name, working as a court playwright and stage manager. His other plays included Intrigue and Love (1784), Don Carlos (1787), Wallenstein's Camp (1798), The Piccolomini (1799), Wallenstein's Death (1799), Mary Stuart (1800), Maid of Orleans (1801) and William Tell (1804). He formed a close friendship with Goethe, and their collaboration made the Weimar Theatre one of the most prestigious in Germany. He died in 1805 of tuberculosis. Don Carlos was recently staged at The Gielgud Theatre.

Peter Oswald revisits Mary Stuart in a new re-working of Schiller's classic for the Donmar. Oswald's original work include Augustine's Oak and The Golden Ass, both staged at The Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. His translations include Schiller's Don Carlos, Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannos, Racine's Phaedra, Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards, Lorca's Dona Rosita The Spinster and a stage adaptation of the Sanskrit epic The Ramayana.

Phyllida Lloyd's previous work for the Donmar includes her award-winning production of Boston Marriage in 2001. Her other recent London credits include The Duchess of Malfi and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, both for The National Theatre and the hit musical Mamma Mia!. Also an acclaimed opera director, Lloyd has worked with Opera North and the ENO.