The Jamie Lloyd Company today announces a season of Shakespeare at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane with The Tempest starring BAFTA winner Sigourney Weaver, who is being awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, making her West End debut as Prospero; and Much Ado About Nothing starring Tom Hiddleston (Benedick) and Hayley Atwell (Beatrice), both directed by Jamie Lloyd.

 

The two productions run at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, owned and operated by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s LW Theatres, marking the first Shakespeare plays to be presented at the venue since Peter Brook’s production of The Tempest starring John Gielgud in 1957. The Tempest opens on Thursday 19 December, with previews from 7 December 2024, running until 1 February 2025, and Much Ado About Nothing opens Wednesday 19 February, with previews from 10 February, running until 5 April 2025. Full cast and creatives to be announced.

 

The Jamie Lloyd Company also continues its commitment to accessibility, offering 25,000 tickets at £25 across the season exclusively for under 30s, key workers and those receiving government benefits. These tickets will be available across the first three levels of the theatre, and go on sale at a later date. Further information to be announced.

 

Jamie Lloyd said today, “It is such an honour to be invited by Andrew Lloyd Webber to be the first company to present Shakespeare at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in decades. I could not be more thrilled to welcome three-time Academy Award nominated and BAFTA and Golden Globe winning actress, Sigourney Weaver — an international icon of stage and screen — to London. Then to collaborate again with two of the greatest actors of their generation — Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell — on one of Shakespeare’s wittiest and most tender comedies is a dream come true.”

 

Andrew Lloyd Webber also commented, “When I was nine years old I was taken to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane to see Peter Brook's legendary production of The Tempest with John Gielgud as Prospero.  It made a profound impression on me.  At the final performance Gielgud broke Prospero's staff and pronounced that Shakespeare would never again be performed at the Theatre Royal as it would be "lost to musicals." Ever since I owned the Theatre Royal I have been determined to prove him wrong.  It is therefore a massive joy that Jamie Lloyd is bringing back Shakespeare to the
Lane and even more wonderful that the first of two Shakespeare plays will be The Tempest.”

 

Sigourney Weaver said, “I am delighted to be making my West End debut in Shakespeare’s The Tempest directed by the brilliant Jamie Lloyd - and to do so in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s beautiful and historic Theatre Royal Drury Lane is an extraordinary opportunity. Come and see us!”

 

Tom Hiddleston said, “Working with Jamie Lloyd on Harold Pinter’s Betrayal was one of the most fulfilling and meaningful experiences of my performing life. I could not be more thrilled to have been given the opportunity to collaborate with him again, this time on one of Shakespeare’s most warm-hearted and joyful plays: Much Ado About Nothing. It’s an honour to have been invited by Andrew Lloyd Webber to bring Shakespeare back to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, in a season alongside Sigourney Weaver in The Tempest, and to be working with the great Hayley Atwell for the first time.”

 

Hayley Atwell said, “I am thrilled to be joining Jamie Lloyd’s company for the third time in my career. His bold and electric direction, combined with the warmth and wit of one of Shakespeare’s most celebrated comedic duos is a truly exciting opportunity and one that I hope will delight our audiences. I look forward to working with my talented friend Tom Hiddleston and bringing The Bard back to Theatre Royal Drury Lane.” 

 

Tickets for The Tempest go on sale to those signed up for priority booking on Tuesday 6 August at 11am; general booking opens on Wednesday 7 August at 11am. On sale dates for Much Ado About Nothing to be announced.

 

Sign up for priority booking and more information here: thejamielloydcompany.com or lwtheatres.co.uk.

 

The Jamie Lloyd Company presents

THE TEMPEST

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Jamie Lloyd

 

Theatre Royal Drury Lane

Saturday 7 December 2024 – Saturday 1 February 2025

Press Night: Thursday 19 December, 7.30pm

 

“We are such stuff as dreams are made on.”

 

The legendary Sigourney Weaver makes her West End debut as Prospero in this enchanting story of revenge and forgiveness.

 

Produced by The Jamie Lloyd Company.

 

Sigourney Weaver plays Prospero.  

 

Theatre credits include: The Constant Wife (Shubert Theater), Crazy Mary (Playwrights Horizons), Mrs. Farnsworth, The Guys (The Flea Theater), The Mercy Seat (New York), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Lincoln Center and Broadway), Sex and Longing (Broadway), The Merchant of Venice (Classic Stage Company of New York), Hurlyburly (Broadway - Tony Award nomination), Das Lusitania Songspiel (cowritten by Weaver with Christopher Durang), Titanic, The Nature and Purpose of the Universe. 

 

Film credits include: Alien, Aliens (Academy Award nomination), Aliens 3, Alien Resurrection, Gorillas In The Mist (Academy Award nomination), V (Golden Globe Award for Best Actress), Working Girl (Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and Academy Award nomination), Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, The Year Of Living Dangerously, Eyewitness, Half Moon Street, One Woman Or Two, 1492: Conquest Of Paradise, Death And The Maiden, Snow White, Jeffrey, Copycat, The Ice Storm (BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress), A Map Of The World, Galaxy Quest, Heartbreakers, Imaginary Heroes, The Village, Holes, The Guys, Infamous, The TVSet, Snow Cake, Wall-E, The Tale Of Despereaux, Baby Mama, You Again, Avatar, Avatar: The Way Of Water, Master Gardener, Call Jane, The Good House, My Salinger Year, Reassignment, A Monster Calls, Chappie, The Cabin In The Woods, Vamps, Cedar Rapids, Paul. 

 

Television credits include: The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, Call My Agent, The Defenders, Political Animals, Prayers for Bobby, The Best of Families, Secrets of the Whales. 

 

Forthcoming projects include: Dust Bunny and The Gorge.

 

 

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Jamie Lloyd

 

Monday 10 February – Saturday 5 April 2025

Press Night: Wednesday 19 February, 7.30pm

 

“I do love nothing in the world so well as you: is not that strange?”

 

Tom Hiddleston is Benedick and Hayley Atwell is Beatrice. Two of their generation’s finest actors collaborate with director Jamie Lloyd again in this savagely funny and beautifully tender battle of wits.

 

Produced by The Jamie Lloyd Company.

 

Tom Hiddleston plays Benedick. 

 

For The Jamie Lloyd Company: Betrayal (Harold Pinter Theatre/ Broadway/Bernard B. Jacobs Theater - Tony Award nominee for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, Evening Standard Theatre Award nominee for Best Actor).

 

Other theatre credits include: Hamlet (Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company), Coriolanus (Donmar Warehouse - Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actor), Ivanov and Othello (Donmar Warehouse), Cymbeline (Cheek by Jowl - Olivier Award for Best Newcomer) and The Changeling (Cheek by Jowl). 

 

Television credits include: Loki (Critics Choice’ Award Nomination, People's Choice Award), The Essex Serpent, The Night Manager (Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television, Emmy Leading Actor Nomination), Henry IV Parts 1&2 and Henry V (South Bank Sky Arts Award for Breakthrough performance), Return to Cranford, Wallander, Miss Austen Regrets, The Gathering Storm, Conspiracy and Nicholas Nickleby.

 

Film credits include: Loki in Marvel's Thor, The Avengers (MTV Movie Awards for Best Villain and Best Fight), Thor: The Dark World, Thor: Ragnorak, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Early Man, Kong: Skull Island, I Saw the Light, High-Rise, Crimson Peak, Tinker Bell and The Pirate Fairy, Muppets Most Wanted, Only Lovers Left Alive, Exhibition, The Deep Blue Sea, War Horse, Midnight In Paris, Archipelago and Unrelated. 

 

Forthcoming projects include: The Life of Chuck and The Night Manager 2.

 

Hayley Atwell plays Beatrice.

 

In 2018 Hayley was awarded the Fellowship in recognition of her contribution to the arts.

 

For The Jamie Lloyd Company: The Pride (Trafalgar Studios – Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress, WhatsOnStage Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play).

 

Other theatre credits include: Rosmersholm (Duke of York’s Theatre – Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress), Measure for Measure  (Donmar Warehouse), Dry Powder (Hampstead Theatre), The Faith Machine (Royal Court Theatre – Directed by Jamie Lloyd), A View from the Bridge (Duke of York’s Theatre – Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress), Major Barbara (National Theatre - Ian Charleson Commendation), Women Beware Women (RSC) and Prometheus Bound (Sound Theatre).

 

Television credits include: The Long Song, Howards End, Conviction, Agent Carter Series 1 & 2, Life of Crime, Black Mirror: Be Right Back series 2, Restless, Falcon: The Blindman of Seville, The Silent and the Dammed, Any Human Heart, Pillars of the Earth, The Prisoner, Mansfield Park, Ruby in the Smoke, Fear of Fanny and The Line of Beauty. 

 

Film credits include: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part One, Blinded by the Light, Christopher Robin, The Complete Walk: Cymbeline, Ant Man, Cinderella, Testament of Youth, The Avengers: Age of Ultron,  Captain America -The Winter Soldier,  Jimi: All Is by My Side, The Man, The Sweeney, I, Anna, Captain America-The First Avenger, The Duchess, Brideshead Revisited, How About You and Cassandra’s Dream. 

 

Forthcoming projects include: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part Two, Heartstopper and Rogue Trooper.

 

Jamie Lloyd directs. His credits for The Jamie Lloyd Company include Romeo & Juliet (Duke of York’s Theatre), Sunset Blvd. (Savoy Theatre – winner of seven Olivier Awards including Best Director and Best Musical Revival; Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Director), The Effect (National Theatre/The Shed, New York), A Doll’s House (Hudson Theatre, New York – nominated for six 2023 Tony Awards including Best Direction of a Play and Best Revival of a Play), The Seagull (Harold Pinter Theatre), Cyrano de Bergerac (Playhouse Theatre/Harold Pinter Theatre/Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York – Olivier Award for Best Revival; Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Best Director), Betrayal (Harold Pinter Theatre/Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre – nominated for four 2021 Tony Awards including Best Direction of a Play and Best Revival of a Play; Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Best Director), Pinter at the Pinter (Harold Pinter Theatre), The Maids, The Homecoming, The Ruling Class, Richard III, The Pride, The Hothouse and Macbeth (Trafalgar Studios).