According to a report in The Telegraph, the UK tour of David Seidler's play The King's Speech may conclude in the West End. The tour has so far officially confirmed dates in Guildford, Nottingham, Bath, Brighton, Richmond and Newcastle.
As BroadwayWorld has previously reported, the show may transfer to Broadway as early as the fall.
The Telegraph states: "A cynic might conclude that the reason audiences in theatres across the country – and maybe in the West End, too, in the future – are being offered the chance to see the theatrical premiere of The King’s Speech, as of this week, is that Seidler could do with making a few more bucks. He owns the stage rights."
The tour is a tie-in with the 2010 British historical drama film of the same name directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Seidler wrote the screenplay for The King's Speech after he wrote it as a play, and says he always wanted to see it on the stage.
"In my mind, the film’s function was to give me enough money to help me to get the play done," Seidler told the Telegraph.
The UK tour of the original play is directed by Adrian Noble, former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and stars Charles Edwards as George VI.
The film won the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award. It stars Colin Firth as King George VI and Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue, a speech therapist who helped George VI overcome a stammer.
The film's script includes real quotations from the diaries and notes of Logue, which were discovered just nine weeks before photography began and quickly incorporated.
Filming commenced in the United Kingdom in November 2009. The film was given a limited release in the United States on 26 November 2010 before being generally released on 10 December 2010 and it was given general release in the UK on 7 January 2011.
Read the full feature in the Telegraph here.
