Gary Oldman is to return to the theater where he began his career, for his first stage role since the late 1980s.
The Oscar-winning actor will star in Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape at York Theater Royal next April.
Oldman started out at the venue in 1979 in plays like Privates on Parade and She Stoops to Conquer – as well as playing the cat in the pantomime Dick Whittington that Christmas.
“My professional public acting debut was on the stage at the York Theater Royal,” he said. “York, for me, is the completion of a circle. It is ‘the where it all began’. York, in a very real sense, for me, is coming home.”
The combination of York and Krapp’s Last Tape is “all the more poignant” because it is “a play about a man returning to his past of 30 years earlier”, the star added.
After starting out in York, London-born Oldman went on to act at the Royal Court and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
He then swapped theater for film with break-out roles in Sid and Nancy, JFK and Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
He went on to play Sirius Black in the Harry Potter films, won the Oscar for best actor in 2018 for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, and is currently starring in Apple TV’s hit drama Slow Horses.
The 66-year-old said he had been considering going back to the stage for a long time.
“I have never been far from the theater and, in fact, have been discussing plays and my return to the theater for nearly 30 years,” Oldman said.
He took his family to visit the historic York theater this March, which was when he met the venue’s current chief executive Paul Crewes.
“When Gary visited us at the beginning of the year, it was fascinating hearing him recount stories of his time as a young man, in his first professional role on the York Theater Royal stage,” Crewes said.
“In that context, when we started to explore ideas, we realized Krapp’s Last Tape was the perfect project.
“I am very happy that audiences will have this unique opportunity to see Gary Oldman return to our stage in this brand new production.”
Krapp’s Last Tape, a one-act play about an old man listening to his younger self via taped recordings, will run from 14 April to 17 May 2025.
Priority booking will open on November 6, with public sales from November 16.
