Adapted for the stage by Didion from her best-selling memoir of the same name, the play chronicles the aftermath of the sudden death of Didion's husband, the writer John Gregory Dunne, to whom she had been married for almost 40 years; and also incorporates the death of their daughter, Quintana, who died shortly before the publication of the original book.
This stage version, directed by playwright and director David Hare and designed by Bob Crowley, was first produced at Broadway's Booth Theatre, where it opened on March 29, 2007, and ran for 144 performances to Aug. 25. It also played 23 previews before it opened. Redgrave was nominated for the 2007 Tony Award for Best Actress for her performance and won the 2007 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance.
Redgrave has previously appeared at the National in Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman in 1997 and The Cherry Orchard in 2000; other recent stage work includes Long Day's Journey Into Night on Broadway in 2003 (for which she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play) and the title role in Hecuba for the RSC in 2005 in London, Washington, New York and Delphi. The most recent of her many screen credits include "Atonement," "Evening," "The Fever," "Venus," "The Shell Seekers," "The Gathering Storm" and "If These Walls Could Talk" (Emmy and Golden Globe Awards, Best Supporting Actress).
Hare has previously directed the National productions of Howard Brenton's Weapons of Happiness, Trevor Griffiths' The Party, Shakespeare's King Lear, Shaw's Heartbreak Hosue and Wallace Shawn's The Designated Mourner as well as his own plays Plenty, A Map of the World, Pravda (co-written with Howard Brenton) and the double bill of The Bay at Nice and Wrecked Eggs. His original plays also produced at the National include the trilogy of Racing Demon, Murmuring Judges and The Absence of War, as well as Stuff Happens. His new play, Gethsemane, will open at the National in 2009.
The Year of Magical Thinking is currently booking for performances that will play in repertory to July 15. For tickets contact the box office at 020 7452 3000 or visit www.nationaltheatre.org.uk.
