LONDON -- "Festen," the London stage version of the Thomas Vinterberg film and play also known as "The Celebration," will open on Broadway in September at a Shubert house, co-producer Marla Rubin said Wednesday.
David Eldridge's dramatization of the Dogma 95 original will feature an American company. Rubin said she and co-producer Bill Kenwright wanted to bring the entire British cast to New York, but it's not feasible.
Nor is it strictly necessary on nationalistic grounds. The tale, set at a patriarch's 60th birthday party gone cataclysmically awry, is a Danish one.
Rubin declined to name any cast members as of yet, though Jake Gyllenhaal was among those whose name had been circulated earlier. Rufus Norris will remain as director, having shepherded the play from its Almeida Theater debut last season through two West End companies. Along the way, Norris was named best director of 2004 by both the London Critics' Circle and the Evening Standard Theater Awards.
The London stand finishes its Lyric Theater engagement April 16, after an extended eight-month run.
Rubin added that she is in discussions with the Dogma people about further English-language theater work. "This has become a very strong collaborative thing," she said. "It's going to go on through the years."
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