Slow Horses’ Gary Oldman to return to West End stage with beloved cinematic icon

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Gary Oldman and Tilda Swinton are confirmed to perform in the Royal Court Theatre’s 70th anniversary season, which will take place in 2026.

The actor, currently appearing in the fifth season of Slow Horses, will both star in and direct a production of Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape. He previously performed the play earlier this year at the York Theatre Royal.

Gary Oldman is returning to the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs after 39 years. He last performed there in 1985, starring in Caryl Churchill’s play, Serious Money. The new production will begin on May 8th.

Each performance will begin with a short play called Godot’s To-Do List by up-and-coming playwright Leo Simpe-Asante, which is inspired by the works of Samuel Beckett.

Krapp’s Last Tape, originally performed in 1958 at the Royal Court Theatre with Patrick McGee in the lead role, is a one-person play. It features an old man listening to recordings he made of himself when he was much younger.

Oldman expressed his enthusiasm about performing Krapp’s Last Tape again at the Royal Court, and also about appearing alongside Leo’s new play, Godot’s To Do-List.

He added: “I’m very honoured and proud to be a part of it.”

Tilda Swinton, known for her role in ‘The Room Next Door,’ is revisiting a previous stage performance. Over three decades after first taking on the part, she will once again play Ella/Max in Manfred Karge’s play, ‘Man To Man’.

A new play, telling the story of a woman in 1930s Germany who pretends to be her late husband, will be performed at Jerwood Theatre Downstairs from September 5th to October 24th.

The anniversary program will begin with Luke Norris’s heartwarming play, “Guess How Much I Love You?”, featuring Robert Aramayo and Rosie Sheehy.

The festival will feature several plays, including “The Stheads” by Jack Nicholls, “Monument” by Rhys Warrington, “John Proctor is the Villain” by Kimberly Belflower, “Between the River and the Sea” by Yousef Sweid and Isabella Sedlak, “Are You Watching?” by Georgie Dettmer, “Archduke” by Rajiv Joseph, “Blood of my Blood” by Joy Nesbitt, and “The Aronauts” by Ryan Calais Cameron.

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2025-10-28 19:04