Dawn French will star in The Druid production of My Brilliant Divorce, by Geraldine Aron, at the Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London from Monday 24th February. Directed by Garry Hynes and designed by Francis O’Connor, the play (a Druid commission) premiered at The Town Hall Theatre, Galway in November 2001.

Dawn, one of the UK’s most loved actresses and comediennes, plays Angela and the many characters she meets along the way in this hilariously funny play. The ‘French’ half of the comedy duo ‘French and Saunders’, Dawn recently appeared in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the West End, while continuing to enjoy great success in film and television roles including The Vicar of Dibley and most recently Ted and Alice and Wild West. Dawn will appear on Parkinson Saturday 22nd of February.

Garry Hynes recently won the award for Best Director in The Irish Times/ESB 2002 Irish Theatre Awards for the Druid production of John B Keane’s Sive. Of Druid's return to the West End, Garry said she was delighted and particularly pleased to have Dawn French working with Druid. Geraldine Aron’s association with Druid goes back to 1978 when Garry Hynes directed the Irish premiere of her first play, the multi-award winning Bar and Ger. Her plays, produced throughout the world, include A Galway Girl, Same Old Moon, The Donahue Sisters and The Stanley Parkers. Other works are Mickey Kannis Caught My Eye, Spider, Average Joe, Joggers, The Spare Room, On The Blue Train, Olive and Hilary, and Rustlers, which is in pre-production at the Artscape Theatre in Cape Town. She is the author of twelve radio and television productions and is currently working on a new play, Vacant Possession.

And what’s the play all about? Well, when Angela’s husband Max departs to lustful younger pastures, Angela has to build her life anew. Can she survive Christmas on her own? Is it possible to have fun on a blind date? Will she miss Max on her exotic holiday for one? And, most of all, can she find true happiness again? Eccentric, poignant and extremely funny, Angela's journey will touch everyone who has ever broken up.

Opens on
Monday 24th February.