Shane Richie to star in The Entertainer at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

The Eastenders star will play Archie Rice in the show that comes to the Lichfield Street theatre this October.

Talking about the role, the 54-year-old actor said: “Following in the black patent shoes of Olivier, Gambon, Lindsay and Branagh, it’s an incredible honour to be asked to play one of literatures greatest fictional characters, Archie Rice.

"In the words of the great man himself 'you’re a long time dead, let’s just whoop it up'”

The show follows the tale of a washed-up entertainer. As his soldier son sails with the Task Force to liberate the Falklands, his daughter Jean returns from campaigning against the war, and Archie’s professional and personal lives collide with devastating consequences.

Directed by Sean O’Connor, this innovative adaptation will open at Leicester Curve in August. Curve’s Chief Executive Chris Stafford and Artistic Director Nikolai Foster said: “Osborne’s masterpiece was first presented in 1957 and alongside Archie Rice’s failing career, invited the audience to consider its own culture and what it meant to be English at a time of huge shifts within British society.

"Times have clearly changed, but as our country faces one of the most tumultuous periods since the end of the Second World War, the play once again captures the zeitgeist and is tantalisingly ripe for revival.

"It’s a thrilling play - epic and filled with humanity - and provides Shane Richie with a role he was born to play; we know it will be a hilarious and heart-breaking performance.

"We are also thrilled to welcome director Sean O’Connor, whose compelling vision for the play will reveal it afresh to an entirely new generation".

The Entertainer comes to Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from October 7 to 12.

Tickets go on sale to friends of the Grand on Tuesday, March 12. General sale tickets are then open to the public from Friday, March 15.

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