Marianne Elliott, the Olivier and Tony Award-winning director of the National Theatre’s hugely successful productions of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and War Horse and producer Chris Harper’s newly formed theatre company, Elliott & Harper Productions, announced the UK premiere of their first West End show today: Simon Stephens’ Heisenberg: The Uncertainty Principle. Starring Anne-Marie Duff and Kenneth Cranham and directed by Marianne Elliott, Heisenberg: The Uncertainty Principle will open at the Wyndham’s Theatre, Charing Cross Road, London on 3 October 2017 and run until 6 January 2018. The press night is on Monday 9 October 2017. Tickets go on sale today for its 14 week limited run with over 30,000 tickets at under £20.
In this uncertain world, who can predict what brings people together? When two strangers meet by chance amidst the bustle of a crowded London train station, their lives are changed forever. Tony and Olivier-Award-winning playwright Simon Stephens’ Heisenberg: The Uncertainty Principle is a surprising and life-affirming new play starring Anne-Marie Duff as Georgie and Kenneth Cranham as Alex.
Marianne Elliott, artistic director of Elliott & Harper Productions, was an associate director of the National Theatre for 10 years and directed its current sell-out production of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America. The first woman in Broadway history to win two Tony Awards for Best Director, Marianne’s ground- breaking production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time received 7 Olivier Awards in London, including Best New Play and Best Director and 5 Tony Awards, including Best Play and Best Director for its run on Broadway. Her production of Saint Joan earned her the Olivier Award for Best Revival and Pillars of the Community earned her the Evening Standard Award for Best Director.
Chris Harper worked at the National Theatre as a producer for 10 years. His credits for the NT include: War Horse in the West End for 8 years, plus tours of the UK & Ireland, North America, and productions in Toronto, Australia and Berlin, playing to a world-wide audience of over 7 million people; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in the West End and a tour of the UK & Ireland; Richard Bean’s One Man, Two Guvnors in the West End, on Broadway and a tour of the UK & Ireland and most recently the transfer of Duncan Macmillan’s award-winning People, Places & Things to the Wyndham’s Theatre.
Elliott previously directed Anne-Marie Duff in Saint Joan for the NT, a role which earned her the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress in 2007, and more recently in the highly acclaimed NT/Royal Exchange Theatre production of Husbands and Sons. Anne-Marie Duff’s many screen roles include Fiona Gallagher in Shameless for Channel 4 and Queen Elizabeth in the BBC’s The Virgin Queen. Kenneth Cranham, who has been a star of stage and screen for over 50 years gave what many consider the performance of his career so far in The Father last year; a role which earned him the Olivier Award for Best Actor. His many TV and film credits include: Shine on Harvey Moon for the BBC and Matthew Vaughan’s film Layer Cake.
Marianne Elliott has gathered together many of the creative team she worked with on her record- breaking production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time for Heisenberg: The Uncertainty Principle - including designer Bunny Christie, lighting designer Paule Constable, movement director Steven Hoggett and sound designer Ian Dickinson. Their production of Curious Incident recently completed a record-breaking 5 year run in London, continues its second tour of the UK & Ireland, its first tour of North America and will soon tour to Amsterdam and Toronto with further international dates in 2018.
Simon Stephens’ other plays include Port and Harper Regan (both directed by Marianne Elliott), Punk Rock and new English language versions of Chekhov, Ibsen, Brecht and von Horvath. His version of Ibsen’s The Doll’s House transferred to the West End in 2013 and played at the Brooklyn Academy in 2014. His most recent plays include Fatherland for the Manchester International Festival and a new adaptation of The Seagull for the Lyric Hammersmith. Simon is an Associate at the Lyric Hammersmith and the Royal Court Theatre.
Simon Stephens said: ‘I wanted to write about the most unpredictable and exciting woman I could imagine. I wanted to write a play about an older man because I’d never done that before. I wanted to write a play inspired by the way music works in the gaps between notes. I discovered ‘The Uncertainty Principle’ and it struck me that all life is contained within it’.
In addition to Heisenberg: The Uncertainty Principle, Elliott & Harper are co-producing a new production of CS Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with West Yorkshire Playhouse and Catherine Schreiber. Directed by Sally Cookson, it will play at the Quarry Theatre at West Yorkshire Playhouse from 29 November 2017 – 21 January 2018, with a press night on 6 December 2017. Joining Sally Cookson on the creative team are: War Horse designer, Rae Smith, sound designer Ian Dickinson, writer in the room, Adam Peck, movement director, Dan Canham and lighting designer, Bruno Poet with music by Benji Bower.
The producers for Heisenberg: The Uncertainty Principle at the Wyndham’s Theatre are: Elliott & Harper Productions and Catherine Schreiber, and the co-producers are: Bob Boyett/Tom Miller, LD Entertainment, David Mirvish, Ramin Sabi/Christopher Ketner, Bruno Wang.
Further productions from Elliott & Harper Productions will be announced soon.
Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle is one of the most famous ideas in physics. It was first articulated in 1927 by the German physicist Werner Heisenberg. It states that it is impossible to know simultaneously the exact position and momentum of a particle. The more exactly the position is determined, the less known the momentum, and vice-versa.
Heisenberg: The Uncertainty Principle
Box Office information:
Address: Wyndham’s Theatre, Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0DA
Dates: 3 October 2017 - 6 January 2018
Performances: Monday to Saturday at 8pm, Thursday and Saturday at 3.00pm
Press Night: Monday 9 October at 7pm
Ticket prices from £19.50
In addition, an allocation of £19.50 Day Seats are available for every performance from the
Wyndham’s Theatre box office from 10am
Wyndham’s Theatre Box Office, No booking fee, 0844 482 5120* Access Booking 0344 482 5137
Online from www.delfontmackintosh.co.uk
(Delfont Mackintosh Theatres: No fee for online or phone bookings.)
(*calls cost 7p a minute plus your standard network provider charges)
