Nicole Kidman is in talks with producers about appearing in two West End productions: a new adaptation of Turgenev's A Month In The Country by Patrick Marber, with Ian Rickson set to direct, and a second show yet to be announced.
The last time the Oscar-winning actress performed on a London stage was her 1998 appearance in David Hare's The Blue Room at the Donmar Warehouse, with a subsequent run on Broadway "to which," Frank Rich wrote disparagingly in the New York Times, "pilgrims flock from miles around to worship Nicole Kidman's tush."
While that production got much more press for its brief partial nudity than for its artistic merits, A Month In The Country is a serious drama in five acts. Kidman is to play Natalya Petrovna, a rich landowner's wife who falls in love with her son's tutor.
Brian Friel, Isaiah Berlin and Emlyn Williams are among the distinguished artists who have previously created translations or adaptations of A Month In The Country. The most recent major productions occurred in the mid-1990s with Helen Mirren playing Natalya in London and New York. Uta Hagen, Ingrid Bergman and Susannah York are among the many other top performers who have taken on the role.
Said Kidman, "Everything is being done to make the plays happen. There's commitment from me and everyone involved."
