The Jamie Lloyd Company Announces Cyrano de Bergerac Starring James McAvoy

The Jamie Lloyd Company, the hugely successful partnership between the UK’s leading theatre company Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) and Artistic Director Jamie Lloyd, today announces Golden Globe and Olivier Award nominated James McAvoy is to lead the company of Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, freely adapted by Martin Crimp. The production marks the first in a new season directed by Jamie Lloyd at the Playhouse Theatre from November 2019 to August 2020. Further productions to be announced.

Cyrano de Bergerac sees Jamie Lloyd and James McAvoy continue their long-standing collaboration following The Ruling Class and Macbeth at Trafalgar Studios, Three Days of Rain at Apollo Theatre and Heart of Darkness for BBC Radio 4. The production opens at Playhouse Theatre on 6 December, with previews from 27 November and runs until 29 February.

The Jamie Lloyd Company, supported by British Airways, deepens its commitment to making theatre more accessible, offering 15,000 free tickets to first time theatre-goers, invited through a special outreach programme and 15,000 tickets for £15 for key workers, under 30s, and those receiving job seeker’s allowance or other government benefits.

Jamie Lloyd said today, “I can’t wait to get back into the rehearsal room with James McAvoy, who shares my commitment to accessibility in the arts. In a radical move for the West End, we will invite thousands of people who have never visited a theatre before to experience our work, performed by world-class actors, for free. That’s 15,000 completely free tickets across the season, thanks to our relationship with Ambassador Theatre Group and the new partnership with British Airways. Every day, we talk about making theatre more accessible to absolutely everyone, but, inspired by free museum and gallery entry, I believe that true and meaningful access actually means free tickets. I hope that this inspires other theatre companies and producers to investigate similar schemes in the future, changing the landscape of West End theatre forever.”

Carolina Martinoli, Director of Brand and Customer Experience at British Airways added, “Theatre is a central part of Britain’s culture which attracts millions of visitors from all over the world. British Airways has a history of championing British talent, so it is a natural fit to support this season and champion extraordinary creativity in British theatre – both at home and around the World.”

With design by Soutra Gilmour, Lighting Design by Jon Clark, Sound and Composition by Ben and Max Ringham and Fight Direction by Kate Waters. Casting by Stuart Burt CDG

Tickets for Cyrano de Bergerac will be available to book from September 2019. Individuals can register their interest here: https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/cyrano-de-bergerac/playhouse-theatre/

Martin Crimp’s theatre credits include When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other, In the Republic of Happiness, Play House, The City, Fewer Emergencies, Cruel and Tender, The Country, Attempts on Her Life, The Treatment, Play with Repeats, Dealing with Clair, Definitely the Bahamas, Four Attempted Acts and Living Remains. His work in the UK has been produced by Orange Tree Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Stephen Joseph Theatre, RSC, Young Vic and the Royal Court Theatre where he was writer-in-residence in 1997. In New York his work has been seen at the Public Theater and the Classic Stage Company, as well as on Broadway.

James McAvoy plays Cyrano de Bergerac. His theatre credits include The Ruling Class, Macbeth (Trafalgar Studios), Three Days of Rain (Apollo Theatre), Breathing Corpses (Royal Court Theatre), Privates on Parade (Donmar Warehouse) and Out in the Open (Hampstead Theatre). His television credits include Watership Down, Shameless, Early Door, State of Play and the upcoming His Dark Materials. His film credits include the upcoming It 2, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Glass, Sherlock Gnomes, Submergence, Atomic Blonde, Split, X-Men: Apocalypse, Victor Frankenstein, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Filth – for which he won BIFA Best Actor Award, London Critics Circle Best British Actor Award, British Academy Scotland Best Actor Award and Empire Award for Best Actor, X-Men: First Class, The Conspirator, Gnomeo and Juliet, The Last Station, Atonement – for which he won Best Actor at the London Film Critics Circle, Best Actor at Empire Film Awards and Richard Attenborough Film Awards; and was nominated for a BAFTA and Golden Globe, Becoming Jane, Starter for Ten, The Last King of Scotland – for which he won Best Actor BAFTA Scotland Award, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Bright Young Things.

Jamie Lloyd directs. His credits for the company include Betrayal, Pinter One, Two, Three, Six and Seven (Pinter at the Pinter, Harold Pinter Theatre), Doctor Faustus (Duke of York’s Theatre), The Maids, The Homecoming, The Ruling Class, Richard III, The Pride, The Hothouse, Macbeth (Trafalgar Studios). Other theatre credits include Evita (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Apologia (Trafalgar Studios), Guards at the Taj (Bush Theatre), The Pitchfork Disney, Killer (Shoreditch Town Hall), Assassins (Menier Chocolate Factory), Urinetown (St James Theatre/Apollo Theatre), The Commitments (Palace Theatre), The Duchess of Malfi (The Old Vic), She Stoops to Conquer (National Theatre), The Faith Machine, The Pride (Royal Court Theatre – Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre), Inadmissible Evidence, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Polar Bears, Passion (Donmar Warehouse – Evening Standard Award for Best Musical and Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Musical Revival), Piaf (Donmar Warehouse/Vaudeville Theatre – Olivier Award nomination for Best Musical Revival), The Little Dog Laughed (Garrick Theatre), Three Days of Rain (Apollo Theatre – Olivier Award nomination for Best Revival), The Lover, The Collection (Comedy Theatre), Elegies: A Song Cycle (Arts Theatre), The School for Scandal (Theatre Royal Bath), Salome (Headlong), Eric’s (Liverpool Everyman) and The Caretaker (Sheffield Theatres). Lloyd was Associate Director of the Donmar Warehouse from 2008 to 2011 and is a former Associate Artist of Headlong.