Former Holby City star Stella Gonet will take on the role of a foreboding nun and school principal in Doubt, A Parable, as it moves to the London stage.
John Patrick Shanley’s Bronx-based play will see her portray the conservative Sister Aloysius Beauvier, who questions a progressive priest’s ambiguous relationship with a troubled young student.
Known for her two-year stint as Jayne Grayson in the BBC hospital drama and her leading role in The House Of Eliott, the 57-year-old described her new job as a highlight in her career.
FULL CAST of 10th anniversary @JohnJpshanley play @Doubt_Play #StellaGonet @clare_latham #JoMartin & @MrJChambers at @swkplay from Sept 6 pic.twitter.com/lwP2Hv9c9Z
— Kevin Wilson (@KevinWilsonPR) July 14, 2017
“I was so excited to read this play,” she said.
“It is an amazing, page-turning, perfectly paced thriller, with brilliantly written roles.
“The chance to pull out the complex strands of Sister Aloysius and examine them, that certainty of hers, the shaking of that certainty, it’s the sort of challenge you hope to get at least once in your career.”
Gonet follows in the footsteps of Hollywood’s Meryl Streep, who portrayed the role in the Oscar-nominated 2008 big screen adaptation Doubt.
Directed by Che Walker, the new stage production will also feature Jonathan Chambers as Father Brendan Flynn (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman in the film), Clare Latham as Sister James (Amy Adams) and Jo Martin as Mrs Miller (Viola Davis).
Gonet is no stranger to the West End, having played Margaret Thatcher in the Olivier award-winning Handbagged, and once starred opposite Daniel Day-Lewis as she played Ophelia in a National Theatre production of Hamlet.
Opening at Southwark Playhouse on September 6, this will be the first time Doubt, A Parable has come to the UK capital in 10 years.
