Playwright and screenwriter Patrick Marber has agreed to sprinkle some stardust on the script of a classic Victorian play being revived this spring.
Joe Wright, the director of films including Atonement, has asked Marber to spruce up Trelawny of the Wells by Arthur Wing Pinero for his stage directing debut at the Donmar Warehouse in February.
Marber has strong connections with the theatre which previously presented After Miss Julie, his new version of the August Strindberg play, and Don Juan in Soho, after Moliere’s Dom Juan.
Josie Rourke, the artistic director, said it was good to have the 48-year-old back.
“Patrick has been asked by me and Joe to do a sort of rather loving spruce-up, what Patrick calls ‘some respectful additions and ornamentation’.”
She admitted Marber had reservations to begin with as he adores the play, about a young star actress prepared to give up her career for an aristocratic suitor.
But he agreed - with the aim that the gentle improvements should scarcely be noticeable to fans of the original.
The “rather joyous collaboration” was driven partly by the need to cut or conflate some of the characters. She added: “If you love the theatre, you cannot help but love this play.”
Marber’s other work includes stage plays such as Dealer’s Choice and Closer and the screenplays for films including Notes on a Scandal.
