The play premiered in the
Cottesloe Theatre at the
Royal National Theatre, London, beginning previews from 7 April 2000 with an opening night on 13 April, where it ran in repertory until 23 August, starring
Bill Nighy as Robert,
Andrew Lincoln as Bruce and
Chiwetel Ejiofor as Christoper. The production was directed by
Roger Michell, designed by
William Dudley, with lighting by
Rick Fisher and sound by Neil Alexander. The production transferred to the
Duchess Theatre (re-configuring the stalls for an
in-the-round setting) in London's
West End beginning previews on 24 April 2001, with an opening night on 30 April with Nighy, Lincoln and Ejiofor reprising their roles until 18 August. From 20 August, the second cast featured
Shaun Parkes as Christopher,
Neil Stuke as Bruce and
David Threlfall as Robert until the production closed on 15 December 2001. In 2007, an audio production of the play was released starring
Daniel Davis, Teagle F. Bougere and
Matt Letscher. In 2008,
Plain Clothes Theatre Productions toured the show around the South-West. Venues included the Tobacco Factory, Bristol; and Cheltenham Everyman and the Rondo Theatre, Bath. In 2012 it ran at the
Theatre Royal, Brighton, starring
Robert Bathurst,
Gerard McCarthy and Oliver Wilson. A 2016 revival ran at the
Young Vic directed by
Matthew Xia starred
David Haig as Robert,
Daniel Kaluuya as Christopher and
Luke Norris as Bruce. A 2019 production ran at the
Birmingham Repertory Theatre directed by Daniel Bailey starred Thomas Coombes as Bruce,
Richard Lintern as Robert and Ivan Oyik as Christopher. A 2021 production will tour
Theatre Royal, Bath,
Oxford Playhouse and
Royal & Derngate, Northampton directed by James Dacre and starring
Giles Terera as Robert, Michael Balogun as Christopher and Ralph Davis as Bruce. ==Synopsis==