Thomas, Hoskins & Tyzack to Star in As You Desire Me in the West End

Kristin Scott Thomas, Bob Hoskins and Margaret Tyzack will star in Luigi Pirandello's As You Desire Me in the West End. The production is scheduled to begin previews at the Playhouse Theatre on October 21.

As You Desire Me centers on a woman who calls herself Zara, whose life is interrupted when a stranger arrives insisting her name is Maria and that her husband, who she does not remember, is looking for her. The play was made into a film in 1932 starring Greta Garbo as the possible amnesiac.

Thomas received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for her performance in The English Patient. Her other film credits include Gosford Park, Life as a House, Up at the Villa, The Tenth Man, Random Hearts, The Horse Whisperer, Angels and Insects for which she received the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress, Richard III, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bitter Moon, A Handful of Dust for which she received the Evening Standard Award for Best Newcomer and the French films Force Majeure, Le Bal du Gouverneur and Aux Yeux du Monde. In 2001, Thomas, who was trained at the École Nationale des Arts et Technique de Théâtre in Paris, starred in a Paris stage production of Jean Racine's Bérénice. She also earned great acclaim when she starred in a West End production of Three Sisters.

Hoskins, who last appeared in the West End in 1996 in Old Wicked Songs, is best known for his film work. He was nominated for an Academy Award in 1987 for his work in Mona Lisa. His other big screen credits include The Long Good Friday, Pink Floyd The Wall, Lassiter, The Cotton Club, Brazil, A Prayer for the Dying, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Mermaids, Hook, The Inner Circle, The Big Freeze, Super Mario Bros., Nixon, Cousin Bette, Parting Shots, Enemy at the Gates, Last Orders, Maid in Manhattan, Vanity Fair, Beyond the Sea and Son of the Mask.

Tyzack has a long history on the London stage. Her most recent credits are His Girl Friday at the National and the West End mounting of Auntie & Me. She has appeared on Broadway twice in her career in All's Well that Ends Well and Lettice and Lovage and received Tony nominations for both appearances, winning the 1990 Best Featured Actress in a Play Tony Award for her performance in Lettice and Lovage.

Hugh Whitemore has written a new adaptation of As You Desire Me which will be used in this production. Jonathan Kent will direct.

As You Desire Me is set to officially open on October 27.