Samuel Barnett & Declan Bennett to Lead Menier's Kiss of the Spider Woman

Tony and Olivier nominee Samuel Barnett will star as Molina alongside Broadway and West End veteran Declan Bennett as Valentin in the upcoming new production of Manuel Puig's dark 1983 drama Kiss of the Spider Woman, slated to play London's Menier Chocolate Factory. Featuring a revised script by José Rivera and Allan Baker, the previously announced mounting will begin previews on March 8 with an opening slated for March 21. Laurie Sansom will direct.

Samuel Barnett earned Tony and Olivier nominations for his turn in The History Boys. He was also Tony-nommed for Twelfth Night. Declan Bennett has been seen on Broadway in Rent and American Idiot. His London theater credits include Once, Taboo and Jesus Christ Superstar.

Set in 1976 Buenos Aires in a cell at the Villa Devoto prison, Kiss of the Spider Woman follows the relationship between the revolutionary Valentin Arregui Paz (Bennett) and his cellmate Luis Alberto Molina (Barnett), a homosexual who has been planted to sniff out the secrets of Valentin's Marxist group. Based on Puig's 1976 novel of the same name, Kiss of the Spider Woman was adapted into a Tony-winning musical by Terrence McNally, John Kander and Fred Ebb in 1993.

Additional casting for Kiss of the Spider Woman at the Menier Chocolate Factory will be announced at a later date. The production is scheduled to play a limited engagement through May 5.