Entertainment

Gary Oldman to return to theatre where his career began for Krapp’s Last Tape

The actor starred in Thark and panto Dick Whittington And His Cat at York Theatre Royal in 1979.

Gary Oldman is to return to the theatre where his career began
Gary Oldman is to return to the theatre where his career began (Yui Mok/PA)
By Casey Cooper-Fiske, PA Entertainment Reporter

Actor Gary Oldman is to return to the theatre where he began his career to perform Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape.

The 66-year-old starred in Thark and panto Dick Whittington And His Cat in 1979, playing Puss in the latter, at York Theatre Royal becoming the first from his drama school to find work.

Now the London-born actor will return to York to perform the Beckett work from April 14 2025 to May 17 2025.

Gary Oldman once performed as Puss in Dick Whittington And His Cat at the York Theatre Royal
Gary Oldman once performed as Puss in Dick Whittington And His Cat at the York Theatre Royal

The theatre’s chief executive Paul Crewes said: “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 Theatre Royal stage.

“In that context when we started to explore ideas, we realised 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.”

Tickets will cost £25 with a public sale beginning on November 16 at 1pm on the theatre’s website.

The show will complete York Theatre Royal’s Spring Season.

The play will see Oldman play Krapp, who records a tape of the year gone by every year on his birthday.

On his 69th birthday, he has become a lonely man, and sits with a bottle of wine, a banana and his tape recorder, listening back to a recording he made as a young man, Krapp must face the hopes of his past self.

Oldman’s career has seen him win a best actor Oscar for his role as former British prime minister Winston Churchill in 2017’s Darkest Hour.

He is also known for playing Sex Pistols bass player Sid Vicious in 1986’s Sid and Nancy, Lee Harvey Oswald in 1991’s JFK, and Count Dracula in 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Oldman plays Jackson Lamb in the Apple TV+ British spy series Slow Horses.