Kevin Spacey brings critical success ‘Richard III’ to İstanbul

The play, directed by another well-known name in the movie world, Sam Mendes, will be staged as part of this year’s İstanbul International Theater Festival Oct. 5-9 at the Harbiye Muhsin Ertuğrul Stage.

Having debuted in the play on June 29 to great acclaim at London’s Old Vic Theater in front of an audience that included actor Robert Lindsay, DJ Goldie and singer Gareth Gates, Spacey, who plays the part of Shakespeare’s famous villain with his leg in a metal brace, is accompanied in a star studded cast by Maureen Anderman, Haydn Gwynne, Chuk Iwuji, Gemma Jones and Chandler Williams.

“Richard III” marks the third and final season of the Bridge Project, an initiative at the Old Vic, one of London’s most established theater companies, that brings together British and American actors in classic theatre productions. The production, set in the modern day, reunites Spacey with “American Beauty” director Mendes. The dynamic pair previously worked together in 1999 on the film “American Beauty,” sweeping up at total of five Academy Awards including those for best actor and best director.

Following the performances in İstanbul in October, the production will head to the Far East with performances in Beijing, Singapore and Sydney, eventually reaching the bright lights of New York in January 2012.