McKellen and Stewart to wait for Godot in 2009
Friday, 31 Oct 2008 16:33
Sir Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart to star in Waiting for Godot
Sir Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart will spend 2009 failing again and failing better in a new production of Waiting for Godot.
The esteemed British actors, who appeared together in the X-Men films, will tour the UK in Sean Mathias' adaptation of the Samuel Beckett classic.
Stewart is to play Vladimir while Sir Ian takes on the role of Estragon in the production which will tour the UK before its London opening at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in April.
"I am in work again. And I couldn't be happier," Sir Ian wrote on his official website, mentioning a poll held by the National Theatre of Great Britain that claimed Waiting for Godot was the most significant English language play of the 20th century.
"There are no more juicy parts amongst modern classics than Didi and Gogo - Vladimir and Estragon to you - the tramps who wait for Godot," the Lord of the Rings actor added.
Sir Ian and Stewart first worked together at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in a 1977 production of Tom Stoppard's Every Good Boy Deserves a Favour.
Sir Ian last appeared on stage in the title role of the RSC's tour of King Lear while Stewart is currently appearing alongside Doctor Who actor David Tennant in Hamlet.