Geoffrey Rush, Alan Rickman and More Set for BAM Spring Shows

The Brooklyn Academy of Music has announced its spring 2011 lineup, which will include the Abbey Theater’s production of Ibsen’s John Gabriel Borkman (starring Alan Rickman and Fiona Shaw), the Donmar Warehouse's staging of King Lear (with Derek Jacobi in the title role) and a Geoffrey Rush-starring production of Gogol’s Diary of a Madman, according to the New York Times.

The season will begin with Frank McGuinness' retelling of John Gabriel Borkman. The show will run January 7, 2011 through February 6 with James Macdonald directing. The play follows a bank manager (Rickman) who, after being released from prison, finds himself entangled with the antics of his wife (Shaw) and her twin (Lindsay Duncan).

The Diary of a Madman will follow, running February 11 through March 12. Rush will again team with his Exit the King director Neil Armfield. The pair adapted the Gogol work with David Holman.

BAM will also play home to Edward Hall and British theater company Propeller, who will present The Comedy of Errors on March 16 through 27. Theater company Cheek by Jowl will then bring its version of Macbeth (directed by Declan Donnellan) from April 5 through 16.

Tony winner Michael Grandage, the Donmar Warehouse's Artistic Director, will present Jacobi as King Lear from April 28 to June 5.

The third installment of the Bridge Project, a global initiative between American and British actors performing classic repertory productions, was planned to be part of the theater's lineup. However, director Sam Mendes has reportedly put the series on hold to prepare to direct the next James Bond film.