{"id":534647,"date":"2026-07-05T20:01:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T20:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/534647\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T20:01:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T20:01:12","slug":"slow-horses-and-the-night-manager-stars-to-lead-new-drama-about-a-spark-of-desire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/534647\/","title":{"rendered":"Slow Horses and The Night Manager stars to lead new drama about a “spark of desire”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Slow Horses’ Sophie Okonedo will lead the cast of a new production of A Month in the Country, Brian Friel’s reworking of Ivan Turgenev’s 19th century play. The production will run from 22 August to 3 October at the Donmar Warehouse in London.<\/p>\n

The synopsis for A Month in the Country reads: “Hundreds of women would envy me, wouldn\u2019t they? A beautiful house in the Russian countryside.<\/p>\n

\"sophie<\/p>\n

Dave J Hogan\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Related: Best streaming services<\/a><\/p>\n

“A doting husband, a circle of admirers. A life of order, tranquillity and quiet restraint. It\u2019s enough to make you scream.<\/p>\n

“Natalya Petrovna looks to all the world like a contented woman, but the arrival of a penniless young tutor stirs a restless heart, igniting a spark of desire that sets the Summer ablaze.”<\/p>\n

The synopsis continues: “A Month in the Country pits passion against propriety, as a cast of characters struggle to reconcile the lives they lead with the happiness they crave. Lyndsey Turner directs Brian Friel\u2019s reworking of Turgenev\u2019s most famous play.”<\/p>\n

Okonedo stars as Natalya, alongside The Night Manager’s Alistair Petrie, Jessica Brindle, Susan Brown, Rachelle Diedericks, and Patrick Gibson. Mark Hadfield, Michael Hodgson, Jonathan Livingstone, Daniel Rigby and Amanda Wilkin also star.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Okonedo’s new film Mouse premiered to rave reviews from critics<\/a> at the Berlin International Film Festival.<\/p>\n

\"alistair<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

Related: Near-perfect British spy thriller that ‘stands head and shoulders above others’ confirms return date<\/a><\/p>\n

The film follows, Callie and Minnie, two high school friends whose relationship falls apart as they enter their senior year. Following the end of their friendship, Minnie forms a complex relationship with Callie’s mother, letting her escape from her chaotic home life. <\/p>\n

Mouse currently holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film’s distribution rights were acquired by the Independent Film Company and Sapan Studio in May, with a release date for later this year yet to be confirmed.<\/p>\n

A Month in the Country runs from 22 August to 3 October at the Donmar Warehouse in London.<\/p>\n

Visit our Streaming Guide<\/a> now to see at a glance where you can view ALL your favourite shows and movies.<\/p>\n

The new edition of Living Legends, celebrating the global phenomenon of BTS, is here! Buy this ultimate fan guide in newsagents or online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Reporter, Digital Spy \u00a0<\/p>\n

Stephanie is a freelance news writer, who previously covered WWE and AEW for Digital Spy.<\/p>\n

After graduating with a degree in history from Queen Mary University, London, she studied journalism at Birkbeck University.<\/p>\n

Outside of her work at Digital Spy, she writes about pop culture, with a special focus towards Irish media and how it intersects with politics.<\/p>\n

You can read more of her work on her Substack<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

LinkedIn<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Slow Horses’ Sophie Okonedo will lead the cast of a new production of A Month in the Country,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":534648,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[131124,137029,1105,227307,1107,93,61,60,184510,1135,227306,223989,282],"class_list":["post-534647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-collection-latest-news","tag-collection-theatre","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-153429a9-8a4a-4021-888b-9a71af7d4c49","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-slow-horses-star-leads-new-drama-about-a-spark-of-desire","tag-sponsored-false","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=534647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/534648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=534647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=534647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=534647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}