Jez Butterworth is perhaps best known for his 2009 play Jerusalem, however, he first lit up the West End in 2005 with his Olivier Award winning black comedy Mojo. While it was subsequently produced as a movie in 2007 it hasn’t been seen on stage since its original run at the Royal Court Theatre, London, which is why the news of its revival at the Harold Pinter Theatre later this year is so noteworthy.
To add to the potential of the play’s second run, the production has also confirmed a number of popular faces to the gritty comedy. The cast is set to include Rupert Grint (The Necessary Death Of Charlie Countryman, Postman Pat The Movie), Brendan Coyle (Starlings, Downton Abbey Series 4), Ben Wishaw of Skyfall fame and Daniel Mays (The Adventures Of Tintin: Secret Of The Unicorn).
The play is set in late 1950s Soho as the rock ‘n’ roll music scene is beginning to take hold of the city. During the summer of 1958, up and coming musician Silver Jonny is on the road to stardom, but with Ezra, his protective manager and owner of the Atlantic Club, the seedy advances of local gangster and businessman, Sam Ross, a pilled up band member called skinny and the conniving manoeuvre of Ezra’s associate, Mickey, the route to fame and fortune isn’t without it’s obstacles.
Mojo is set to open at the Harold Pinter Theatre on the 26th October 2013. Priority booking is open to sign up for, but public booking won’t be open until September. Ticket prices haven’t been released at the time of writing, although, based on the prices of the current production at the Harold Pinter Theatre, we expect them to be between £10 and £75 with a £3 online transaction fee.
Mojo is being directed by Ian Rickson once again, reuniting with Jez Butterworth having directed the first run of the play as well as Jerusalem and The River. Rickson has also recently directed both Harold Pinter’s Old Times at the Harold Pinter Theatre and Hamlet at the Old Vic.
Rupert Grint takes on his first role in theatre following his rise to stardom following his long stint as Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter series. As well as The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman and Postman Pat The Movie, Grint has also been confirmed to star as Eddie The Eagle Edwards in the upcoming Eddie The Eagle film biopic. Ben Wishaw (Q from Skyfall), however, is a bit of an old hand to working on stage having previously starred in His Dark Materials, Hamlet and Chekov’s The Seagull.
