Orson's Shadow June 27, 2007

Award-winning actor and playwright Austin Pendleton has devised an ingenious tale of two Hollywood giants - Orson Welles and Laurence Olivier. The time is 1960, the place is a West End theatre. Legendary critic Kenneth Tynan has made a startling proposal: Welles should direct Olivier and the young Joan Plowright in 'Rhinoceros,' Ionesco's absurdist masterpiece. But it is the rehearsal process that brims with absurdity as titanic personalities, including Vivien Leigh, wrestle the muse in this witty and incisive depiction of the drama of theatre.