The previously announced West End revival of The Children's Hour is eyeing a Broadway transfer (with stars Keira Knightley and Elisabeth Moss intact) for fall 2011, according to The New York Times. The production would mark Knightley's Broadway debut, while the London run marks Moss' first time performing on the West End. Ian Rickson is set to direct the play by Lillian Hellman.
No specific dates have been announced for either production, although reports indicate that the show will open in London early in 2011. Both actresses have previous comittments lined up after the play's London run. Knightley is set to film a movie, while Moss will return for a fifth season of TV's hit series Mad Men. The Emmy-winning show has yet to announce its production schedule.
The Children's Hour takes place in an all-girls boarding school. When a troubled teenager starts to spin a web of deceit, all around her are soon caught up in it. Karen Wright (Knightley) and Martha Dobie (Moss) have worked for years to establish their school, and now, with the school flourishing and Karen on the verge of marriage, their lives and loves finally appear secure. However, when malicious student Mary runs away from the school and seeks to avoid being sent back, she draws on hearsay, gossip, and her own imagination, to concoct a story that threatens the school, the marriage, and their entire futures. The play opened on Broadway on November 20, 1934 and played for 691 performances.