Taking Sides

This show has now closed, click here for a listing of current and future London shows

Previewed 22 May 2009, opened 27 May 2009, closed 29 August 2009 at the Duchess Theatre in London

A major revival of Ronald Harwood's play Taking Sides in London at the Duchess Theatre starring Michael Pennington.

Prized by Hitler as the cultural jewel in the crown of the Third Reich, the conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler became the perfect post-war target for interrogation as a Nazi sympathiser. In Ronald Harwood's play Taking Sides, Major Steve Arnold, who has witnessed the horrors of Belsen, is about to interrogate the conductor.

The cast features Michael Pennington as 'Wilhelm Furtwängler' and David Horovitch as 'Major Arnold'. The production is directed by Philip Franks with original music by Matthew Scott, designs by Simon Higlett, lighting by Mark Jonathan and sound by John Leonard.

Taking Sides plays in repertory with Ronald Harwood's new play Collaboration. Written as companion pieces, separate plays designed to complement each other, Collaboration and Taking Sides both explore the fine line between collaboration and betrayal during the Second World War.

"Brilliant - and devastating. They're the only words that do justice to the experience of watching Ronald Harwood's latest play, Collaboration, in tandem with a fresh revival of his 1995 hit, Taking Sides... Blessed with the thrilling tension of courtroom dramas, neither play puts a foot wrong - and the same goes for Philip Franks's exquisitely paced and performed productions." The Daily Telegraph

"The Harwoods - as this double bill is being referred to at Chichester - are economically directed by Philip Franks and prove a marvellous showcase for the virtuosity and range of Pennington and Horovitch... If the day belonged to anyone, however, it was Harwood. Here is a playwright who does not himself take sides but leaves it to his audiences to decide whether his characters are good or bad. Such respect for theatre-goers these days is a rare and wonderful thing." The Sunday Telegraph

Taking Sides in London at the Duchess Theatre previewed from 22 May 2009, opened on 27 May 2009 and closed on 29 August 2009 (plays in repertory with Collaboration).