Waiting for Godot & No Man's Land in repertoire starring Ian McKellen & Patrick Stewart

Ian McKellen ("X-Men movies" and, "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" trilogies) and Patrick Stewart ("X-Men movies" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation") will star on Broadway in a limited season repertoire of Harold Pinter's No Man's Land and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, directed by Sean Mathias, in the fall of 2013.

Waiting for Godot played a critically acclaimed, sold-out run in London's West End in 2009. Prior to Broadway, No Man's Land will play an out-of-town engagement this summer.

Rehearsals for the repertory will begin this summer after Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart finish filming the next installment of the "X-Men" film series in their signature roles of "Magneto" and "Professor Xavier."

Designs for the productions include sets and costumes by Stephen Brimson Lewis and lighting by Peter Kaczorowski.

Ian McKellen made his Broadway debut in Arbuzov's 'The Promise' in 1967 and won the Tony Award for his performance in 'Amadeus' in 1981. Patrick Stewart first appeared on Broadway in Peter Brook's production of Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' in 1971 and 'A Christmas Carol' in 1992. The two actors have appeared together on stage once before. In 1977 they performed in the premiere of Tom Stoppard's 'Every Good Boy Deserves Favour.'

Ian McKellen said "British actors are used to playing in repertory, whether for The National Theatre or the Royal Shakespeare Company. We enjoy the challenge of variety, and audiences, myself included, enjoy watching a group of actors in contrasting roles. We hope, at least once a week, to give Broadway audiences the chance of seeing Beckett and Pinter on adjacent nights, perhaps even on the same day."

Patrick Stewart said, "All my acting life, I have been drawn to the principals and practice of a 'company,' and working with familiar, trusted friends/colleagues. whether in British repertory theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company, "Star Trek" or X-Men. It's not that strangeness/newness isn't exciting - it is - but when there is a common language and experience, then the unpredictable can happen. So, Ian McKellen, Sean Mathias, Stephen Brimson Lewis, Sam Beckett, Harold Pinter- plus two yet-to-be cast actors - it feels good."

In Harold Pinter's No Man's Land we wonder if two writers, Hirst (Patrick Stewart) and Spooner (Ian McKellen) really know each other, or are they performing an elaborate charade? The ambiguity - and the comedy - intensify with the arrival of two other men. Do all four inhabit a no-man's-land between the present and time remembered, between reality and fantasy? No Man's Land was first produced in 1975 by The National Theatre in London with John Gielgud playing Spooner and Ralph Richardson as Hirst. No Man's Land debuted on Broadway a year later.

Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot follows two consecutive days in the lives of Vladimir (Patrick Stewart) and Estragon (Ian McKellen), who divert themselves by clowning around, joking and arguing, while waiting expectantly and unsuccessfully for the mysterious Godot. Waiting for Godot premiered in Paris in 1953, followed by London in 1955 and eventually opened in New York in 1956.

Director Sean Mathias said, "Beckett and Pinter - the idea of connecting these two giant authors by examining two of their most remarkable plays with the same company of four actors portraying the writers' eight characters is one of the most exhilarating challenges I have yet faced in my work."

Sean Mathias (Director) was Artistic Director of the Theatre Royal Haymarket for 2009/2010 where his production of Waiting for Godot starring Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart smashed all box office records and the debut production of 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' enjoyed a susccesful run. He will be directing 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' on Broadway this spring. His Broadway credits include directing Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren in 'Dance of Death'; 'Indiscretions,' which starred Eileen Atkins and Jude Law, for which he received a Tony nomination; and the 2002 revival of 'The Elephant Man.' His London credits include 'A Little Night Music' and 'Design for Living.'