Ring Round the Moon
Encyclopedia
Ring Round the Moon is a 1950 adaptation by the English dramatist Christopher Fry
of Jean Anouilh
's Invitation to the Castle (1947). Peter Brook
commissioned Fry to adapt the play and the first production of Ring Round the Moon was given at the Globe Theatre
. The production starred Paul Scofield
, Claire Bloom
and Margaret Rutherford
.
Music was composed by Jason Carr and Wayne McGregor
was movement director. Lighting was designed by Mark Henderson and sound was designed by Gregory Clarke.
Christopher Fry
Christopher Fry was an English playwright. He is best known for his verse dramas, notably The Lady's Not for Burning, which made him a major force in theatre in the 1940s and 1950s.-Early life:...
of Jean Anouilh
Jean Anouilh
Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh was a French dramatist whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1943 play Antigone, an adaptation of Sophocles' Classical drama, that was seen as an attack on Marshal Pétain's...
's Invitation to the Castle (1947). Peter Brook
Peter Brook
Peter Stephen Paul Brook CH, CBE is an English theatre and film director and innovator, who has been based in France since the early 1970s.-Life:...
commissioned Fry to adapt the play and the first production of Ring Round the Moon was given at the Globe Theatre
Gielgud Theatre
The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, London, at the corner of Rupert Street. The house currently has 889 seats on three levels.-History:...
. The production starred Paul Scofield
Paul Scofield
David Paul Scofield, CH, CBE , better known as Paul Scofield, was an English actor of stage and screen...
, Claire Bloom
Claire Bloom
Claire Bloom is an English film and stage actress.-Early life:Bloom was born in the North London suburb of Finchley, the daughter of Elizabeth and Edward Max Blume, who worked in sales...
and Margaret Rutherford
Margaret Rutherford
Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford DBE was an English character actress, who first came to prominence following World War II in the film adaptations of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest...
.
Notable productions
- A West EndWest End theatreWest End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
production of Ring Round the Moon was given at the Theatre Royal Haymarket starring John StandingJohn StandingSir John Ronald Leon Standing, 4th Baronet is an English actor.-Early life:Standing was born John Ronald Leon in London, the son of Kay Hammond , an actress, and Sir Ronald George Leon, a stockbroker...
as the twins and Angela ThorneAngela ThorneAngela Thorne is an English actress who is best known for her roles in To the Manor Born and Anyone for Denis?-Early life:Angela Thorne was born in Karachi, British India, , in 1939...
as Diana in 1967. - The play was revived on Broadway in 1999 and starred Toby StephensToby StephensToby Stephens is an English stage, television and film actor who has appeared in films in both Hollywood and Bollywood. He is best known for playing megavillain Gustav Graves in the James Bond film Die Another Day , Edward Fairfax Rochester in the BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre and Philip...
. - The most recent West End production opened on 19 February 2008 at the Playhouse TheatrePlayhouse TheatreThe Playhouse Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Northumberland Avenue, near Trafalgar Square. The Theatre was built by F. H. Fowler and Hill with a seating capacity of 1,200. It was rebuilt in 1907 and still retains its original substage machinery...
. The production, presented by Karl Sydow, and Act Productions, was directed by Sean MathiasSean MathiasSean Gerard Mathias is a British theatre director, film director, writer and actor.Mathias was born in Swansea, south Wales. He is known for directing the film, Bent, and for directing highly acclaimed theatre productions in London, New York, Cape Town, Los Angeles and Sydney...
with design by Colin Richmond and starred the following: - Emily BruniEmily BruniEmily Bruni , is an English actress.Born to an Italian father who is an academic at Exeter University, Bruni was educated at St Peter's school. Bruni was a member of the Devon Youth Theatre and Exeter Children's Orchestra before training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.Bruni...
- Lady Dorothy India - Fiona ButtonFiona ButtonFiona Button is an English actress.After graduating from the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in 2007, she has played various parts both on stage and television...
- Isabelle - Joanna DavidJoanna DavidJoanna David is a British actress, best known for her television work.She was born in Lancaster, England. Her first major television role was as Elinor Dashwood in the BBC's 1971 dramatisation of Sense and Sensibility followed a year later in War and Peace, in which she played Sonya...
- Geraldine Capulet - Elisabeth Dermot-WalshElisabeth Dermot-WalshElisabeth Dermot Walsh is an English actress, known for portraying Elizabeth in Falling for a Dancer and Dr Zara Carmichael in Doctors.-Background:...
- Diana Messerschmann - Peter EyrePeter EyrePeter Eyre is an American actor.Eyre was born in New York City, New York, the son of Dorothy Pelline and Edward Joseph Eyre, a banker. He was sent to a public school in England at the age of twelve, and has been based in the country ever since. Although offered a place at the Royal Academy of...
- Joshua - JJ FeildJJ FeildJohn Joseph Feild , known professionally as J. J. Feild, is an Anglo-American actor.-Early and personal life:John Joseph Feild was born in Boulder, Colorado, to British academic Reshad Feild and his American wife. Through his father, he is a relative of British astronomer John Feild...
- Hugo/Frédéric - Andrew HavillAndrew Havill-Life and career:Havill has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and at the National Theatre, and was in The Woman in Black in London's West End...
- Patrice Bombelles - Belinda LangBelinda LangBelinda Lang is an English actress, best known in the United Kingdom for her role as Bill Porter in the long running BBC sitcom 2point4 children .-Television:...
- Mother (Josephine) - Leigh LawsonLeigh LawsonLeigh Lawson is a film and stage actor, director, and writer.-Career:Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Lawson has acted in film and television since the early 1970s, directed plays in the West End and on Broadway...
- Romuald Messerschmann - John RammJohn RammJohn Ramm is a British comedian and actor. He plays Raymond Box in the National Theatre of Brent, and has also appeared on film and television in Robin Hood , The Palace, Foyle's War and as Makepeace's neighbour in Shakespeare in Love.On stage, he has appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company...
- Guy-Charles Romainville - Angela ThorneAngela ThorneAngela Thorne is an English actress who is best known for her roles in To the Manor Born and Anyone for Denis?-Early life:Angela Thorne was born in Karachi, British India, , in 1939...
- Madame Desmortes
Music was composed by Jason Carr and Wayne McGregor
Wayne McGregor
Wayne McGregor CBE is a British choreographer of contemporary modern dance. His work is highly distinctive in its vocabulary of movement, for its integration of dance with film and visual art, and for his active interest and incorporation of computer technology and biological science...
was movement director. Lighting was designed by Mark Henderson and sound was designed by Gregory Clarke.