Gemma Arterton and Harry Lloyd will join previously announced stars Tamsin Greig and Rupert Friend in the London production of Douglas Carter Beane’s The Little Dog Laughed. The play will begin performances at the Garrick Theatre on January 8, 2010, directed by Jamie Lloyd.
The Little Dog Laughed centers on a handsome film actor (Friend) who dares to try to come out of the closet, his tough, ballsy agent (Greig) who wants him to stay in it and the love triangle created when the actor falls for a rent boy (Lloyd) who also happens to have a girlfriend (Arterton). The black comedy premiered at Second Stage in January 2006 and moved to Broadway’s Cort Theatre the following November, where it ran for 112 performances. Nominated for a Best Play Tony Award, Little Dog earned Julie White a Best Actress Tony as the agent.
Arterton is best known for playing M16 agent Strawberry Fields in the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace. She made her stage debut as Rosalind in Love’s Labour’s Lost and her film debut St. Trinian’s. Other film and TV credits include the title role in the BBC’s adaptation of Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Elizabeth Bennet in ITV’s Lost in Austen and the upcoming The Legend of Fritton’s Gold, Prince of Persia, Clash of the Titans and Tamara Drewe.
Lloyd’s stage credits include Neil LaBute’s Bash, The Sea, Ghosts at the Arcola and A View from the Bridge. He played Will Scarlett in the BBC’s Robin Hood and appeared on the small screen in Taking the Flak, Doctor Who and the forthcoming HBO fantasy pilot Game of Thrones.