The National Theatre’s production of Follies will star Imelda Staunton, Tracie Bennett and Janie Dee.
Follies will be running from 22nd August until 4th November at the Olivier Theatre in London, with additional performances to be announced.
Casting
The cast will include Imelda Staunton who is set to play the role of Sally Durrant Plumme. Staunton’s recent theatre credits include Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Gypsy.
Tracie Bennett will play Carlotta Campion and Janie Dee will play Phyllis Rogers Stone – both will join Staunton as the ‘Follies Girls’ in the musical production.
A further cast of 37 have been announced including names such as Peter Forbes, playing Buddy Plummer, Julie Armstrong as Sandra Crane, and Norma Attallah as Emily Whitman.
Synopsis: Follies
The show is set in 1971 New York. The story follow the Follies Girls who, thirty years after their beloved theatre was demolished, gather to have drinks and sing a few songs as they all lie about themselves and their lives after the theatre.
Follies includes songs such as Broadway Baby, I’m Still Here and Losing My Mind.
The production is being directed by Dominic Cooke with book by James Goldman and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
This will be the first time that Stephen Sondheim’s musical is staged at the National Theatre.
Further information about Follies
Director, Dominic Cooke, said: “I love Follies for its iconic score, brutal honesty and psychological accuracy. It depicts a profound crisis and that most American of themes: the question for authenticity in a world of illusion.”
Sondheim’s previous work at the National Theatre includes A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd and Sunday in the Park with George.
The original production of Follies premiered on Broadway in 1971, where it was nominated for eleven Tony Awards, and won seven. The show premiered in London in 1987, and has been revived around the world many times to great acclaim.
For more information, visit: nationaltheatre.org.uk.
