Casting Set for U.K. Premiere of Purple Heart, by Tony Winner Bruce Norris

Casting is set for the U.K. premiere of Purple Heart by Bruce Norris, the Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Clybourne Park. The play will run from February 28 to April 6 at London’s Gate Theatre, opening on March 5 in a production directed by Gate artistic director Christopher Haydon.

Purple Heart will star Linda Broughton, Oliver Coopersmith, Amelia Lowdell and Trevor White. Set in October 1972 in the American Midwest, the play centers on Carla (Lowdell) who is raising her son under the watchful eye of her mother-in-law after her husband is killed in Vietnam. Everything changes, however, when a mysterious soldier arrives on her doorstep. The play had its world premiere at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre in July 2002 in a production that starred Laurie Metcalf as Carla.

Norris has become a favorite in London, where his new play, The Low Road, is set to open at the Royal Court Theatre on March 27. Clybourne Park won multiple prizes, including the Olivier Award, for its London production.