Stephen Fry set for Broadway debut in Twelfth Night after revealing his suicide bid

 
The Ormeley Dinner at bridgewater House St James London The Ormeley Dinner is one of Europeís most important environmental and conservation charity dinners. The event is organised and hosted by Damian Aspinall, Zac Goldsmith and Trudie Styler, and will be held at the historic Bridgewater House in Westminster, London, on 6 June. It will feature a performance by Coldplayís Chris Martin. The target is to double the £2.8 million raised by the last two Ormeley Dinners. Stephen Fry
Alan Davidson/The Picture Library Ltd.
7 June 2013

Stephen Fry is to make his Broadway debut with a revival of his celebrated performance in Twelfth Night with Mark Rylance, it was announced today.

The comedian this week told how he tried to kill himself last year — a revelation that shed new light on the bravery of his return to the stage last September after an absence of 17 years.

He took on the tragicomic role of the pompous steward Malvolio in the all-male company at Shakespeare’s Globe, and then enjoyed a sell-out West End run.

The play will preview at the Belasco Theatre from October in a double bill with Rylance as Richard III, in Broadway’s first experience of the Globe’s work. Rylance, who suffered his own tragedy last July with the sudden death of his stepdaughter, film-maker Nataasha van Kampen, is already a star name on Broadway, with Tony Awards to his name for Jerusalem and Boeing-Boeing.

This will be the first time New York has seen him in Shakespeare — and the first time its audiences will have seen Fry on stage at all.

Fry talked about his suicide attempt to an audience for Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Theatre podcast. He did not say when it happened but fans noted his normally active Twitter account was silent for four weeks during July and August.

Fry, who has bipolar disorder and is president of the Mind mental health charity, said he tried to kill himself with drink and pills while filming abroad. A producer found him unconscious and summoned help. The actor has spoken before about suffering suicidal thoughts, including when he walked out of the play Cell Mates in 1995 — the last time he was on stage before Twelfth Night at the Globe.

The New York company also includes Twenty Twelve and History Boys star Samuel Barnett, and seven musicians who perform on traditional Elizabethan instruments.

In an echo of affordable ticket initiatives in Britain, 250 seats at every performance will cost the equivalent of £16, far below usual New York prices.

The producers of the plays — a long list including London-based Sonia Friedman and Rupert Gavin — said in a statement: “These productions show how laugh-out-loud funny, thrillingly theatrical and immediate Shakespeare plays can be.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in