Home will be staging Ian McDiarmid in the world première of Julian Barnes’ The Lemon Table.

The production, which McDiarmid has adapted for performance, opens at Salisbury Playhouse part of Wiltshire Creative on 15 October, with a preview on 14 October, before touring to Sheffield Theatres; Cambridge Arts Theatre; Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford; HOME Manchester and Malvern Theatres.

A play in two parts, The Lemon Table celebrates a love of music, live performance, and life itself. In the first half we are introduced to an obsessive concert goer who goes to unorthodox lengths to enjoy his evening. In the other, the concert’s composer reflects on the music he has created – his successes, his failures, and the life he has lived.

A darkly funny and beautifully written piece that celebrates our return to live performance and the artists that make it.

The Lemon Table sees McDiarmid and Grandage renew their long-term creative collaboration, having previously worked together on productions including The Doctor’s Dilemma , The Jew of Malta , Henry IV , and John Gabriel Borkman .

Ian McDiarmid said today, “Two connected stories from Julian Barnes’ The Lemon Table, his witty and touching reflections on mortality and the workings of love, seem positively to invite the engagement and tensions of live performance.

“It’s a delight to be working once again with Michael Grandage and, at this particular time, to be embarking on a tour of the English regions with the enthusiastic support of a cohort of producers and venues.”

Michael Grandage added, “Ian McDiarmid is the reason I’m a director. He has been my collaborator and mentor for over a quarter of a century. We’ve worked together many times, many of those times on tour – we both believe passionately in presenting work to as wide an audience as possible. This year, in particular, it felt important to share this beautiful piece by Julian Barnes with audiences nationwide.”

Julian Barnes is the author of several books of stories, essays, a translation of Alphonse Daudet’s In the Land of Pain, and numerous novels, including the 2011 Man Booker Prize winning novel The Sense of an Ending and the acclaimed The Noise of Time. His other recent publications include Keeping an Eye Open: Essays on Art and The Only Story. His most recent book The Man in the Red Coat was published in the UK in 2019 and in the US in 2020. Barnes has received several awards and honours for his writing, including the David Cohen Prize for Literature in 2011.

HOME Manchester

16 – 20 November

Box Office: 0161 200 1500 / www.homemcr.org

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