New production of Uncle Vanya starring Toby Jones and Richard Armitage to run at the Harold Pinter Theatre in January 2020

Updated on 9 October 2023

https://www.londontheatredirect.comA new adaptation of Uncle Vanya by renowned Irish playwright Conor McPherson has been in the works with prolific film and television actor Toby Jones and The Hobbit actor Richard Armitage set to star. The all-new production of Anton Chekhov's famous play is produced by Sonia Friedman Productions and is slated to run at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London's West End beginning 14 January 2020.

Uncle Vanya to run at the Harold Pinter Theatre in 2020

Following the venue's unprecedented and widely acclaimed Pinter at the Pinter Season, London's Harold Pinter Theatre is now slowly beginning to assemble their line-up for the 2019/2020 season and a new Uncle Vanya is officially on the books as part of their programme. Conor McPherson is behind the penmanship for the new adaptation of Russian play Uncle Vanya. The new production will open in January 2020, which is perfect timing as the fast-selling Ian McKellen On Stage production closes at the turn of the New Year.

Uncle Vanya Harold Pinter Theatre cast

The Sonia Friedman production is guaranteed to star Toby Jones in the titular role opposite Richard Armitage in the role of Vanya's friend Astrov.

Toby Jones is perhaps best known for providing the voice of Dobby The House Elf in the Harry Potter film series (Chamber of Secrets and The Deathly Hallows - Part 1). Other notable film credits of his include the voice of Owl in Christopher Robin, Gunnar Eversoll in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Arnim Zola in the Captain America films (The First Avenger, The Winter Soldier), and Claudius Templesmith in The Hunger Games film series. His television credits include John Mayhew in a 2-episode miniseries adaptation of Agatha Christie's Witness for the ProsecutionThe Dream Lord in Doctor Who, a BAFTA Award-winning performance as Lance Stater in Detectorists, and a Golden Globe-nominated performance as Alfred Hitchcock in the made-for-TV movie, The Girl. Jones is also no stranger to theatre, or the Harold Pinter Theatre for that matter, and most recently starred in the role of Stanley in the 2018 revival of Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party at The Pinter.

Richard Armitage is perhaps best known for his role in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy in which he played Thorin Oakenshield, The Dwarf Prince and Leader. His role in the films earned him a 2015 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Film for The Battle of the Five Armies plus two Empire Award nominations and two SFX Award nominations. Armitage has starred in a number of stage plays, including the roles of Bernardo in Shakespeare's Hamlet (Birmingham Repertory Theatre), Angus in Macbeth (Swan Theatre Stratford, Young Vic), and most recently John Proctor in Arthur Miller's The Crucible in the 2014 Old Vic Theatre production. Armitage's other notable credits include Claude Becker in Ocean's 8 and King Oleron in Alice Through the Looking Glass.

Further casting for Uncle Vanya at The Pinter Theatre including the lead female roles will be confirmed in due course as more information on the production surfaces.

What is Uncle Vanya about?

Famed Anton Chekhov play Uncle Vanya is set at the end of the nineteenth century in the Russian countryside where Vanya and his niece Sonya have bent over backwards to manage the estate of Professor Serebryakov, Sonya's father and Vanya's former brother-in-law. But soon the Professor returns to the estate with his glamorous wife Yelena, who has feelings for Dr. Astrov. Things get shaken up when the Professor announces his intentions to sell the estate, a place that has served as Vanya and Sonya's home for years.

Uncle Vanya tickets for the Harold Pinter Theatre run on sale 30 September!

You won't want to miss a brand-new production by Conor McPherson, the same man that brought you Girl From the North Country. Details of this new West End production may be scarce, but you can sign up for our mailing list for all the latest details about Uncle Vanya at The Pinter as they become available. Also keep checking back on our news pages for all the latest info on casting, on-sale dates, and more.


What Sonia Friedman productions are on right now?

If you can't wait for Uncle Vanya to hit the Harold Pinter Theatre this January, then be sure not to miss this other hit Sonia Friedman productions now currently on sale:

Fiddler on the Roof at the Playhouse Theatre
It completely sold out during its Menier Chocolate Factory run, now Fiddler on the Roof is taking the Playhouse Theatre by storm!
🎫 Book Fiddler on the Roof tickets from just £24.

Leopoldstadt at the Wyndham's Theatre
The latest play by acclaimed Czech-British playwright Tom Stoppard is set to premiere in the West End next year and is Stoppard's most personal work yet! Telling the tale of a Jewish family in Vienna in the early 1900s, this heartwarming new tale is not to be missed!
🎫 Book Tom Stoppard Leopoldstadt tickets from just £18.

The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales Theatre
The hit musical by South Park's Trey Parker and Matt Stone is among the hottest shows in London's West End, and it shows no signs of stopping anytime soon!
🎫 Book The Book of Mormon tickets London from just £24.


Also playing at the Harold Pinter Theatre...

Ian McKellen On Stage
(20 September 2019 to 5 January 2020)
🎫 Book Ian McKellen On Stage tickets from £11.

Nicholas Ephram Ryan Daniels

By Nicholas Ephram Ryan Daniels

Ephram is a jack of all trades and enjoys attending theatre, classical music concerts and the opera.