© JOHAN PERSSON
Connecticut, 1912: a once-great actor complains about his drunken, unimpressive son. Westminster, 1402: a once-great king complains about his drunken, unimpressive son. The West End’s two biggest openings in March, both of which run to June, each tackle weary fathers and wayward heirs.
Our patriarchs are played by theatre legends-turned-screen stars. Succession’s Brian Cox leads Jeremy Herrin’s production of Long Day’s Journey into Night, as domineering thesp James Tyrone. Robert Icke’s crammed-together adaptation of Henry IV: Parts I and II, repackaged as Player Kings, offers two competing father figures for the prodigal Prince Hal. Richard Coyle, whom 1990s kids remember as Jeff from Coupling, plays Henry IV, but the show is headlined by Ian McKellen as Falstaff, Hal’s preferred, indulgent and ultimately flawed mentor in medieval London’s demimonde.