Rachel Weisz Will Return to the Stage in David Hare’s Plenty

Oscar winner and Olivier Award winner Rachel Weisz is expected to return to the stage in David Hare’s postwar drama Plenty, according to London’s Daily Mail. David Leveaux is set to direct.

Weisz was most recently seen on stage in the iconic role of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire at London’s Donmar Warehouse. She took home an Olivier Award for her efforts. Her other stage credits include the Almeida Theatre’s production of Neil LaBute’s The Shape of Things, a role which won her a Theatre World Award during the show’s run off-Broadway in 2002. Weisz also played the part in the 2003 film adaptation of the play. Additional screen credits include About a Boy, Constantine, The Constant Gardener, which won the actress a 2005 Academy Award, The Mummy and The Fountain.

Plenty was Hare’s first play produced on Broadway, in 1983. The central figure—to be played by Weisz—is Susan Traherne, the depressed diplomat’s wife who served as a secret agent during World War II, and worked behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied France. The play was turned into a 1985 film, starring Meryl Streep in the central role, and featuring a wide-ranging cast that included John Gielgud, Tracey Ullman, Ian McKellen and Sting.

No dates or theater have yet been scheduled for the revival. According to producer Robert Fox (who was also the driving force behind five of Hare’s Broadway productions including The Blue Room and The Vertical Hour), "We're not quite certain where it will start yet—it could be New York or it could be the West End.” Timing will depend largely on Weisz’s busy film schedule. The Hollywood darling is currently shooting an adaptation of Terence Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea, with Simon Russell Beale and Tom Hiddleston.