Andrew Scott is heading back to the stage, and this time, the cameras will be rolling.
The Fleabag and All of Us Strangers star will reprise his role in Sea Wall, a one-man play written specifically for him by Tony-winning playwright Simon Stephens. The production will run for just 19 performances at Studio Seaview in New York from Oct. 16 through Oct. 30, with each show filmed as part of an ambitious feature adaptation. So if you can’t make it in person, you can still see Scott in action.
Rather than simply recording the play from the audience, the film will capture the full experience surrounding the production. That includes what happens backstage, onstage, and throughout the theater, with audiences at all 19 performances becoming part of the finished movie.
What Is ‘Sea Wall’ About?
The 50-minute monologue follows Alex, a photographer whose seemingly happy life with his wife and young daughter is suddenly shattered. The intimate play asks Scott to carry the entire story alone, moving between moments of warmth, humor and devastating grief.
Stephens first wrote Sea Wall for Scott after the Bush Theatre in London commissioned a work that could be staged in natural daylight. The unusual request came in 2008 after flooding damaged the theater’s lighting system.
Scott later returned to the role for a 2018 revival at London’s Old Vic. Now, nearly two decades after he first performed the piece, he is bringing Alex back to life for both a new audience and the screen.
The Audience Will Become Part of the Film
Peabody Award winner Tina Satter will direct both the stage revival and its filmed adaptation. According to the production, the movie is being conceived as a film about the making of theater, with Scott’s performances forming only one part of the story.
Paul Yee will serve as director of photography, while Parker Lutz will advise on production design. The stage production will feature lighting design by Isabella Byrd and sound design by Ben Williams.
Scott’s Latest Awards-Season Role
The announcement arrives as Scott earns awards-season attention for Elsinore. In the film, he portrays gay actor Ian Charleson, the Chariots of Fire star who delivered an acclaimed performance as Hamlet at London’s National Theatre while living with AIDS. Charleson died in 1990 at age 40.
Between Elsinore and his return to Sea Wall, Scott is once again taking on emotionally demanding stories that place him at the center of the action. A release date for the Sea Wall feature has not yet been announced.