Kristin Scott Thomas to Star in West End The Cherry Orchard

Kristin Scott Thomas to Star in West End The Cherry Orchard

Conor McPherson's new adaptation of Chekhov's classic will be directed by Ian Rickson.

April 01, 2026 By Margaret Hall

BAFTA and Olivier-winning actor Kristin Scott Thomas (Electra, Slow Horses) will reunite with director Ian Rickson (Uncle Vanya, Jerusalem) for Conor McPherson’s (The Weir, Girl from the North Country) new adaptation of The Cherry Orchard, set to play London's West End later this year.

The production will run at the Harold Pinter Theatre October 3, 2026 –January 9, 2027, with opening night set for October 13. Further casting will be announced in the coming months.

Rickson and Scott Thomas are reuniting to bring another Chekhov classic to the stage. Scott Thomas previously played Arkadian in Rickson’s acclaimed production of The Seagull, which ran both in London and on Broadway; she won the Olivier Award for Best Actress for that role. The Cherry Orchard casts the stage and screen star as Lyubov Ranevskaya.

The Cherry Orchard, Chekhov’s final masterpiece, captures a world in delicate and inevitable transition. The old order collides with the new as a charming but impractical aristocratic family refuses to face economic reality. This bittersweet tragi-comedy examines the end of the feudal era in Russia and the great changes that would eventually result in Revolution.

The creative team for Rickson's production will include set designer Chloe Lamford, lighting designer Bruno Poet, movement director Shelley Maxwell, and casting director Amy Ball.

Visit TheCherryOrchardPlay.co.uk.