The Ruling Class

JAMES MCAVOY NOMINATED FOR THE BEST ACTOR OLIVIER AWARD

BAFTA-winning heartthrob, James McAvoy (Filth, X-Men) returns for another stint as part of Jamie Lloyd's Trafalgar Transformed season, following his Olivier-nominated, critically acclaimed performance in Lloyd's Macbeth in 2013.

This brand-new revival of Olivier Award-winning and Oscar-nominated writer Peter Barnes' acerbicly witty play takes aim at the often ridiculous foibles of English nobility, with his characteristic razor-sharp satire combining horror with hilarity at every turn. McAvoy's role was first played on film by late legendary actor Peter O'Toole in 1972. Despite being set in the Sixties, as was the original story, the tale remains chillingly relevant, as Britain struggles with class divisions.

WHAT IS The Ruling Class ABOUT?

McAvoy stars as Jack, a paranoid schizophrenic who inherits the title of the 14th Earl of Gurney after his father dies in a somewhat bizarre accident. Very much unsuited to a life in the upper reaches of elite society, Jack soon finds himself at the centre of a bitter power struggle as his ruthlessly scheming family strives to uphold their reputation, even going so far as to have him committed to an insane asylum. Enter an over-zealous therapist who is determined to restore Jack to a sliver of his previous sanity - in reality, a cold-hearted blue-blood with right-wing beliefs, rather than the hippy-like, unsuitable "God of Love" that he first proclaimed himself to be.

The action turns bloody and dark when Jack agrees to electroshock therapy; his family first believe he is cured, but he actually thinks that he is Jack The Ripper. This manifests when his uncle's wife tries to seduce him, and he murders her in rage - he pins it on his Communist butler. The therapist, being the only one who knows the truth watches on in horror as Jack takes his place in the House of Lords, and suffers a nervous breakdown.

DID YOU KNOW?

Peter O'Toole in fact was the holder of the rights to Barnes' play. One night after a notoriously heavy post-theatre drinking session, he was persuaded by director and friend Peter Medak to exercise those rights and set up a production of the play. Peter went one better, called up his manager in the middle of the night and gave him 24 hours to set up the movie. Within 24 hours, United Artists were ready to discuss terms, and the movie was greenlit.