Jeremy Irons to Return to the London Stage in Embers

Jeremy Irons will return to the London stage this spring. He will star in Christopher Hampton's Embers, based on the novel of the same name by Sandor Marai, at the Duke of York's Theatre starting on February 15.

Irons received a Tony Award for his performance in The Real Thing. His other theatrical credits include mountings of Godspell, Carnival of the Animals, My Fair Lady, A Little Night Music, The Winter's Tale, The Rover, The Taming of the Shrew and Wild Oats. While he appeared for one-night-only in A Soldier's Tale at the Trafalgar Studios last year, his last full-fledged London role was the title role in a 1986 Royal Shakespeare Company production of Richard II. Irons appeared this summer as King Arthur in a Hollywood Bowl concert staging of Camelot.

Irons is best known for his film career. He won a Best Actor Academy Award in 1991 for his performance in Reversal of Fortune. His other big screen credits include Nijinsky, Betrayal, Dead Ringers, Kafka, Damage, M. Butterfly, The House of the Spirits, Die Hard: With a Vengeance, Stealing Beauty, Lolita, Dungeons & Dragons, The Time Machine, Mathilde, The Merchant of Venice, Being Julia and the upcoming Casanova.

Embers is set in a Hungarian castle in 1940 war-torn Europe. There a retired general, Henrik Irons, awaits the arrival of his old friend Konrad. Henrik has not seen Konrad since the latter left a hunting party the two were involved with and abruptly fled Vienna some 30 years prior.

Embers, directed by Michael Blakemore, is scheduled to officially open on March 1.