Don Carlos, Starring Derek Jacobi, Eyes Broadway Transfer
Don Carlos centers on the title character, who is passionately in love with Elizabeth, the French princess to whom he was once betrothed. Carlos' tyrannical father, King Philip II of Spain, decides to marry Elizabeth himself. The young prince's hatred for his cold and distant parent knows no bounds. He enlists his oldest friend the Marquis of Posa to act as go-between. But Posa decides to convert Carlos and Elizabeth's youthful passion into a full scale rebellion against King Philip's oppressive and bloody regime. This production uses a new adaptation by Mike Poulton.
This staging transferred to the Gielgud Theatre in January after a successful stint at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. In his review of the production, Variety's Matt Wolf wrote: "Derek Jacobi comes relatively late to the psychological and political unrest of Don Carlos, playing King Philip II, the fearsomely stern father of the crown prince of the title. But scarcely has Jacobi entered the scene, repeating the word 'alone' with a gravelly sonority as if some deeply malignant tumor were lodged in his gut, before a ruler hell-bent on terror has a packed theater in his merciless palm. Against the odds given Friedrich Schiller's own fearsome reputation, that turns out to be a mesmerizing place to be."
The cast currently includes Richard Coyle as Don Carlos, Jacobi as King Philip II of Spain, Claire Price as Queen Elizabeth and Una Stubbs as the Duchess of Olivarez. It is unknown at this time if any of these actors beyond Jacobi will appear in the Broadway mounting.
Don Carlos will end its run at the Gielgud Theatre on April 30. It cannot extend there because the venue has already been promised to the new Neil LaBute play, Some Girls.