Zachary Quinto to make West End debut in Best of Enemies
The Stark Trek actor will portray TV political titan Gore Vidal in the play.
Words: Emily Maskell; pictures: WikiCommons
Zachary Quinto is set to star in the critically acclaimed play Best of Enemies in the West End at the Noël Coward Theatre from mid-November.
This will mark Quinto’s West End stage debut, he is best known for playing Spock in the Star Trek films but Best of Enemies will see him alongside David Harewood play two political commentator writers.
Best of Enemies will be performed from 14 November to 18 February, and tickets for the play will go on general sale at 10am on 6 September here.
1968 – a year of protest that divided America. As two men fight to become the next President, all eyes are on the battle between two others…
Best of Enemies opens at the Noël Coward Theatre from 14 November. #BestofEnemies pic.twitter.com/YP1NMY6KmM
— Best of Enemies (@BestEnemiesPlay) September 5, 2022
Written by James Graham and directed by Jeremy Herrin, Best of Enemies is based on a 2015 documentary of the same name.
Quinto will play the role of liberal writer Gore Vidal opposite Harewood who will play the conservative author and political commentator William F Buckley Jr as the two long-time opponents engage in a series of televised debates that took place in August 1968.
The pair “feud nightly in a new television format, debating the moral landscape of a shattered nation […] little do they know they’re about to open up a new frontier in American politics, and transform television news forever,” the plot synopsis reads.
Harewood is reprising his role as Buckley Jr from the play’s run at the Young Vic Theatre in 2021.
For Quinto, performing on the West End is something he has wanted to do for “a very long time”, the Guardian reports.
“He was an incredibly formidable debater and an incredible author, and never shied away from expressing opinions about the political and social landscape,” Quinto said of his character.
“I felt really magnetised to the idea of playing the character,” the actor added.
Quinto goes on to note that the political landscape of 1968 look remarkably different from the situation today: “I don’t think we’re really as concerned with that kind of intellectual foundation, there’s not the same kind of nuance,” Quinto explained. “We’ve come accustomed to this kind of reductive culture war position.”
Quinto has previously starred in Broadway’s Tony-winning play The Boys in the Band alongside Matt Bomer, Jim Parsons and Andrew Rannells, which featured an entirely openly gay cast.
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