Lesley Manville and Anna Maxwell Martin to Star in Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County. Performances Begin at the Noël Coward Theatre Monday 18 January, 2027.
Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning sensation August: Osage County will return to London’s West End in 2027 in the play’s first major revival. Starring two-time Olivier Award winner and 2026 Tony Award Best Actress winner, Lesley Manville as Violet Weston, alongside two-time BAFTA TV Award winner Anna Maxwell Martin as Barbara Fordham.
Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning landmark family drama returns to the stage for a strictly limited 12-week season at the Noël Coward Theatre from Monday 18 January – Saturday 10 April 2027, directed by Jeremy Herrin whose award-winning work includes People, Places and Things and Wolf Hall.
Following a sudden family crisis, the fiercely dysfunctional Weston family reunites at their Oklahoma home. As old wounds reopen and long-buried secrets come to light, simmering resentments in this unfiltered portrait of family life. By turns darkly funny and deeply moving, Tracy Letts’ modern masterpiece is packed with unforgettable characters, blistering dialogue and explosive family truths.
Widely regarded as one of the defining plays of the 21st century, August: Osage County was first performed by Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre company in 2007 – of whom Tracy Letts remains a long-time member – before successful engagements on Broadway and at London’s National Theatre.
After a clutch of award wins, Letts adapted his play into the 2013 film directed by John Wells, featuring Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts as part of its magnificent ensemble cast. Both earned Academy Award nominations for their performances.
The play has earned international acclaim for its fearless exploration of family, addiction and grief. Its blend of pitch-black comedy and devastating drama has made it a modern classic, celebrated by critics and audiences around the world.
Monday 18 January – Saturday 10 April 2027
Evenings at 6.30pm; matiness at 1pm & 2.30pm
ACCESS PERFORMANCES
Audio Described: Friday 26 February 6.30pm
Captioned: Monday 1st March 6.30pm
Lesley Manville
Lesley Manville plays Violet Weston. Lesley is a multi-award-winning stage, film and television actress, known for her Tony award-winning performance for Jocasta in Oedipus on Broadway, Emmy and BAFTA-nominated role as Princess Margaret in The Crown and her Academy Award and BAFTA-nominated role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s film Phantom Thread.
Her recent theatre work includes her role in Oedipus on Broadway. She won both an Olivier and Critics’ Circle Award for Best Actress in the West End last year for the London Wyndham’s Theatre run in 2025, in Robert Icke’s acclaimed adaptation. Lesley has just completed an on-stage run of Christopher Hampton’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the National Theatre in London.
Theatre credits include: Ghosts (Almeida, West End and BAM New York) for which she won a Best Actress Olivier Award and Critics Circle Award. She also received Best Actress Olivier nominations for Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Bristol Old Vic, Wyndham’s, BAM New York and LA) and Grief (National Theatre). Other recent theatre includes The Visit at the National Theatre and Talking Heads at The Bridge.
Anna Maxwell Martin
Anna Maxwell Martin plays Barbara Fordham. Anna’s prolific career has earned her two BAFTA awards—Best Actress for Bleak House and Poppy Shakespeare—alongside four further nominations, including Best Female Comedy Performance for the hit BBC series Motherland.
Her extensive theatre work includes leading roles in His Dark Materials, Consent, Honour and Three Sisters all at the National Theatre, Constellations for the Donmar Warehouse in the West End and in productions at the Almeida, The Royal Court, The Young Vic and The Old Vic.
