Film · London
Tilda Swinton Returns to the Royal Court, 38 Years On
She opens on Saturday in Man to Man, the one-woman play she originated there in 1988 — her first stage role in more than three decades.
Tilda Swinton walks back onto the Royal Court stage on Saturday 5 September, in the play she first performed there in 1988. Man to Man runs in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs until 24 October. It is her first stage appearance in more than three decades — an Academy Award winner returning not to a new vehicle built around her, but to the piece she originated as a young actor.
Manfred Karge's one-woman play, translated by Anthony Vivis, is set in 1930s Germany. The Royal Court's own description is the whole premise in three sentences: 'In 1930s Germany, a woman puts on her dead husband's trousers and never takes them off. As the world around her changes, she endures war and dictatorship, hunger and humiliation – always fighting to stay alive.' Swinton created the role of Ella/Max in the 1988 UK premiere, staged at the Traverse Theatre and the Royal Court.
The same play, the same theatre, the same pair of trousers — thirty-eight years later.
Stephen Unwin directs and Bunny Christie designs. London is the first leg of three: the production then transfers to the Berliner Ensemble for a limited run in Germany, and on to New York in spring 2027. Which makes Sloane Square, for the next seven weeks, the only place on earth it is playing.
Tickets run £15 to £74.50. It opens on Saturday and closes on 24 October.