| Plague Over England | |
|---|---|
West End Premiere Poster |
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| Written by | Nicholas de Jongh |
| Characters | John Gielgud Sybil Thorndike |
| Date premiered | February 2008 - World Premiere February 24, 2009 - West End Premiere |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Drama |
| Setting | London |
| Official site | |
Plague Over England is a play written by Nicholas de Jongh, based on an incident that occurred during John Gielgud's life, when he was arrested for lewd behaviour; it offers an insight into the changes of the gay lifestyle over the last fifty years. It received universally positive reviews when it received its world premiere at the Finborough Theatre in 2008, and subsequently transferred to the West End with an updated cast for a limited run.
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On 21 October 1953, John Gielgud was arrested in a public lavatory after being entrapped by a pretty policeman. There followed a high-profile court case, reenacted in Plague Over England.
Evening Standard critic Nicholas de Jongh's first play premiered at the Finborough Theatre in February 2008, and transferred to the West End's Duchess Theatre in February 2009, with Michael Feast as Gielgud and Celia Imrie as Sybil Thorndike. It included the following cast: Michael Brown, David Burt, Simon Dutton, Steven Hansell, Sam Heughan, Hugh Ross and John Warnaby. It was directed by Tamara Harvey.
The production received largely positive reviews, many particularly praising Imrie and Feast.[1] However, despite rave reviews, the production closed two weeks early on the 2nd of May 2009.[2][3][4]