Part of Kenneth Branagh’s five-play season at the Garrick Theatre is Terence Rattigan’s quirky comedy Harlequinade
Harlequinade is part of the ‘Plays’ season in London
Rob Ashford is co-directing the rarely-seen-before play alongside Kenneth Branagh. Branagh will also perform in the whimsical comedy Harlequinade in the West End.
The satirical comedy is about a professional theatre company, which is up to its eyeballs putting together two Shakespeare plays – Romeo and Juliet and The Winter’s Tale, both of which are also featuring in Kenneth Branagh’s season at the Garrick.
An unsuspecting blast from the past
The play is centred on Arthur and his wife Edna, Romeo and Juliet’s title characters. Things are going fairly smoothly until Arthur’s daughter turns up with her child, a daughter and granddaughter Arthur had no idea existed.
On learning he is a Dad and Grandad as he’s about to play the young romantic, Romeo, Arthur’s mental state dramatically sinks. The chaos escalates when Jack, the play’s stage manager, tries to quit the production in favour of a ‘real job’.
First performed at the Phoenix Theatre
Terence Rattigan’s Harlequinade was first performed in 1948 at the Phoenix Theatre. Set in post-war Britain, Harlequinade provides a satirical glimpse at the humdrum world of theatre players attempting to bring culture to the masses.
The play will run alongside The Winter’s Tale at the Garrick Theatre.
Harlequinade is booking at the Garrick Theatre from 24 October 2015 – 13 January 2016.
The show is not intended for children, but teenagers and young adults may attend if accompanied by an adult.
