McTeer, Beale & McKellen Highlight Donmar's New Season

The Donmar Warehouse has announced its next year of productions. The first will be Friedrich von Schiller's Mary Stuart with Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter, followed by Christopher Hampton's The Philanthropist, starring Simon Russell Beale, the European premiere of Sam Shepard's The God of Hell, Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck and Mark Ravenhill's The Cut headlined by Ian McKellen.

Mary Stuart, directed by Phyllida Lloyd, is scheduled to run from July 14 through September 3. The play centers on the relationship between England's Elizabeth I Walter and Mary, Queen of Scots McTeer. The cast will also include David Burke, James Fleet, Barbara Jefford and Rory Kinnear. The Donmar will use a new version of the classic by Peter Oswald.

In The Philanthropist, the Prime Minister and his cabinet have been assassinated and England's most treasured writers are being murdered one by one. Back at the university, a bachelor don tries hard to please his academic friends as he anguishes over sex, marriage, anagrams and the meaning of life. The production is scheduled to run from September 8 through October 15.

Set on a dairy farm in rural Wisconsin, The God of Hell follows the travails of a quiet Midwestern couple whose lives--and cattle--are sorely abused after the arrival of a nefarious government official. Directed by Kathy Burke, the Donmar production is scheduled to run from October 20 through December 3.

The Wild Duck centers on the idealistic son of a wealthy businessman who seeks to expose his father's duplicity and to free his childhood friend from the lie on which his happy home life is based. Michael Grandage will direct a new version of the play by David Eldridge. It is scheduled to run from December 8 to February 18.

The Cut, running from February 23 through April 1, focuses on Paul McKellen, an ordinary man with a shocking secret. At home, he is a loving husband and father. At work, he administers the Cut. In a society sickened by his profession, Paul struggles with his conscience and longs to tell the truth. Michael Grandage directs.

Donmar is having a big week. Not only did the company announce its upcoming slate of plays, it also opened This Is How It Goes last night and is a partner on the Guys and Dolls revival directed by Grandage that opens in the West End tonight.