The full Hampstead company will reprise their roles with Rupert Everett and Freddie Fox in the lead roles of Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas and Cal Macaninch in the role of Robert Ross. The cast also includes Ben Hardy, Kirsty Oswald, Alister Cameron and Tom Colley.
Directed by Neil Armfield, The Judas Kiss is a fascinating insight into Oscar Wilde’s relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas. David Hare’s play focuses on two critical moments in Wilde’s last years – the eve of his arrest at the Cadogan Hotel and a night in Naples after his release from two years imprisonment; The Judas Kiss speculates on the consequences of his self-destructive fatalism, betrayal and love without trust.
Rupert Everett’s many stage credits include Another Country (Greenwich and West End), Pygmalion (Chichester Festival Theatre/Garrick Theatre), Blithe Spirit (Shubert Theatre/Broadway) and The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore (Lyric Hammersmith). His numerous film credits include My Best Friend’s Wedding, Another Country, The Importance of Being Earnest and An Ideal Husband.
Freddie Fox made his Hampstead Theatre debut in this production following performances in Hay Fever (Noël Coward Theatre), Cause Célèbre, A Flea in her Ear (both Old Vic) and The Last 5 Years (Barbican). Film and television credits include Parade’s End, The Shadow Line, Marilyn in Worried About the Boy, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and The Three Musketeers.
David Hare is the author of 28 plays for the stage. They include Plenty, Racing Demon, Skylight, Amy’s View, Via Dolorosa, Stuff Happens, The Permanent Way, Pravda, Gethsemane, and most recently South Downs. He has a long standing relationship with the National Theatre where sixteen of his plays have received their premieres. His many screenplays include Page Eight, The Hours and The Reader.
Neil Armfield is Australia’s leading theatre and opera director. He was Belvoir Street Theatre’s Artistic Director for 17 years and helped to make it Sydney’s most exciting and beloved theatre. He has nurtured some of Australia’s finest actors including Richard Roxburgh, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Bille Brown, Jacqueline McKenzie and, particularly, Geoffrey Rush. His extensive opera work includes Royal Opera Covent Garden, the Lyric Opera Chicago, the Zurich Opera, the Canadian Opera, Houston Grand Opera, the Welsh National Opera and the English National Opera. Neil directed Geoffrey Rush in the acclaimed version of Ionesco’s Exit The King on Broadway for which Rush won a Tony Award.