Celebrated gay epic ‘The Inheritance’ gets West End transfer
It's been described as "perhaps the most important American play of the century so far."
By Will Stroude
The Telegraph called it “perhaps the most important American play of the century so far”, and now stunning LGBT stage show The Inheritance is heading to the West End.
Matthew Lopez’s seven-hour epic about the loves and lives of gay men in New York a generation after the AIDS crisis will open at London’s Noel Coward Theatre this September, The Guardian reports.
“At the risk of sounding a little hackneyed … it is a dream come true,” Lopez said of the transfer. “It is exciting and gratifying to know that the play is going to have another life and enable more people to come and see it.”
Directed by Stephen Daldry and with a case featuring Vanessa Redgrave (Atonement), The Inheritance has enjoyed a sell-out run at The Young Vic since opening in March.
Inspired by E.M. Forster’s 1910 novel Howards End, it has enjoyed comparisions to Tony Kushner’s modern gay classic Angels in America, which enjoyed its own revival at the National Theatre last year.
The Inheritance consists of two parts of over three hours which can be viewed on the same same day or over consecutive evenings, but Lopez has indicated that the run-time will be cut down from seven hours to six and a half by the time it hits the West End.
The Inheritance begins previews at the Noel Coward Theatre on 21 September. Tickets go on sale on Friday May 18.