Tony winner Ralph Fiennes will return to the West End this fall as the star and director of his own adaptation of Four Quartets, based on T.S. Eliot’s work. Performances begin November 18 at London's Harold Pinter Theatre for a limited run.
Earlier this year, the production reopened Theatre Royal Bath along with Royal & Derngate’s Made in Northampton season. After playing Oxford Playhouse in June, the U.K. national tour continues at Cambridge Arts Theatre (June 28–July 10), Southampton MAST (July 12–17), Malvern Theatre (July 19–24) and York Theatre Royal July (26–31).
Fiennes was last seen in the West End playing the title roles in Richard III in 2016 and more recently at the National Theatre’s production of Antony and Cleopatra in 2018. He won the Tony for his performance in Hamlet in 1995. His numerous film roles include Schindler's List, The English Patient, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and the Harry Potter series.
Four Quartets is considered a highlight of Eliot’s career as a poet, presenting four interwoven meditations on the nature of time, faith, and the quest for spiritual enlightenment. Mostly written during World War II when the closure of playhouses during the Blitz interrupted Eliot’s work in theatre, the four pieces (Burnt Norton, East Coker, The Dry Salvages, and Little Gidding), reflect survival in a national crisis.
The creative team for Four Quartets includes set and costume designer Hildegard Bechtler, lighting designer Tim Lutkin, and sound designer Christopher Shutt. The assistant director is Eva Sampson and the movement director is Fin Walker. The production is presented by Theatre Royal Bath Productions and Royal & Derngate, Northampton.
