Donmar unveils 2010 slate

'Passion' revival, Haddon play on tap at Warehouse

By GORDON COX

A revival of Stephen Sondheim tuner “Passion” is among the offerings on tap for the 2010 lineup at London’s Donmar Warehouse, where American director-choreographer Rob Ashford has been appointed associate director.

“Passion,” the 1994 musical from composer-lyricist Sondheim and book writer James Lapine, will be staged at an unspecified date sometime in the second half of 2010.

Jamie Lloyd, director of Donmar hit “Piaf” (currently running in Buenos Aires), will helm the production, part of what will be a series of Donmar events to mark Sondheim’s 80th birthday. Elena Roger (“Piaf,” “Evita”) is rumored to be in the casting mix.

Lloyd also will direct the world preem of “Polar Bears,” the first play from novelist Mark Haddon (“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”), about a man in love with a woman who suffers from a psychological condition. Show runs April 1-May 22.

Prior to that the Donmar will produce a new staging of Lanford Wilson’s 1970 drama about two suburban couples, “Serenading Louie.” Simon Curtis (“The Rise and Fall of Little Voice”) will helm the revival, set to play Feb. 11-March 27.

Ashford, who will direct the upcoming Broadway revival of “Promises, Promises,” has long been associated with the Donmar, having helmed the company’s well-received productions of “Parade” and “A Streetcar Named Desire.” (“Parade” is currently on the boards at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.)

Among the Donmar’s international outings are “Hamlet,” the Jude Law starrer now playing on the Rialto, and Katie Mitchell’s staging of T.S. Eliot’s “Four Quartets,” set to play in December at Gotham’s Baryshnikov Arts Center as part of Lincoln Center’s Great Performers Series. Stephen Dillane will star.

Company a.d. (and helmer of “Hamlet”) Michael Grandage is currently directing the Donmar’s upcoming production of new play “Red,” written by screenwriter John Logan (“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” “Gladiator”) and starring Alfred Molina. Show begins perfs in London Dec. 3.