Simon Ward Joins Rupert Everett and Diana Rigg in London's Pygmalion

British stage vet Simon Ward will join the cast of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion on the West End, joining the previously announced headliners Rupert Everett and Dame Diana Rigg. The Chichester Festival Theatre production will transfer to the Garrick Theatre on May 12. Opening night of the production, directed and designed by Phillip Prowse, is May 25.  

Ward will play dustman Alfred Doolittle, father of Eliza Doolittle, played by Strictly Come Dancing winner Kara Tointon in her West End debut. Everett and Rigg are taking on the roles of Professor Henry Higgins and Mrs. Higgins, respectively, and Peter Eyre will play Colonel Pickering. Rounding out the cast are Marty Cruickshank, Roberta Taylor and Peter Sandys Clarke.

Best known as the inspiration for the hit musical My Fair Lady, Pygmalion tells the story of Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics who makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering that he can transform the manners and speech of Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle and pass her off as a lady in society.

Ward’s theater credits include An Ideal Husband, The 39 Steps, Dangerous Obsessions, Rumours, Don’t Dress For Dinner, Cell Mates and On Approval, directed by Sir Peter Hall. Among his television and film credits are BBC crime drama Judge John Deed, The Tudors and Young Winston, Richard Attenborough’s lavish biopic in which he played Churchill.

The limited engagement will run through September 3.