York Theatre Royal has today announced that Gary Oldman will return to the theatre where he began his career in Samuel Beckett play, Krapp’s Last Tape. The production begins previews on April 14, and runs until May 17, 2025.
Academy Award, BAFTA, SAG, BIFA and Golden Globe winner, Gary Oldman, began his professional career in York in 1979. He worked in the theatre for several years, from 1985 through 1989, working extensively at the Royal Court Theatre.
Gary Oldman will be starring in Krapp’s Last Tape at York Theatre Royal (Image: York Theatre Royal)
With a career spanning more than 30 years, winning acclaim, appearing in record breaking blockbusters, playing iconic characters, Oldman is not only regarded as one of the foremost cinema greats of all time, but one of the highest grossing actors in film history.
His many iconic screen parts include playing Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, Sirius Black in the Harry Potter franchise, and Commissioner Jim Gordon in Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.
The York theatre’s CEO, Paul Crewes, said: “When Gary visited us at the beginning of the year, it was fascinating hearing him recount stories of his time as a young man, in his first professional role on the York Theatre Royal stage.
“In that context when we started to explore ideas, we realised Krapp’s Last Tape was the perfect project. I am very happy that audiences will have this unique opportunity to see Gary Oldman return to our stage in this brand new production.”
Some of Oldman’s other acclaimed screen appearances include Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Mank, Oppenheimer, The Book of Eli, Meantime, The Firm, Sid and Nancy, Prick Up Your Ears, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, State Of Grace, JFK, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Romeo Is Bleeding, True Romance, Leon/The Professional, The Fifth Element, Immortal Beloved, and Dawn of the Planet Of The Apes.
Currently Oldman is appearing in the hugely acclaimed hit Apple TV+ series, Slow Horses, for which he has been nominated for the BAFTA, the SAG Award and a Golden Globe.
Tickets for Krapp’s Last Tape start from £25, priority booking for the theatre’s director’s circle opens on November 6 at 1pm, with YTR Members priority booking from November 11 at 1pm, and public booking opens on November 16 at 1pm.
Krapp’s Last Tape completes York Theatre Royal’s Spring Season joining the previously announced co-production with Wise Children of North by Northwest.
The play will see Oldman play Krapp, who records a tape of the year gone by every year on his birthday.
On his 69th birthday, he has become a lonely man, and sits with a bottle of wine, a banana and his tape recorder, listening back to a recording he made as a young man, Krapp must face the hopes of his past self.
Samuel Beckett was an Irish writer, dramatist and poet. He wrote in both English and French, and his principal works for the stage also include Endgame and Waiting for Godot. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969.
Tickets can be accessed via York Theatre Royal’s website, or their box office: 01904 623568.
