Theater News

Deborah Warner, Director of the Tony-Nominated Play The Testament of Mary, Steps Down as Director of Eugene Onegin

Tony-nominated Fiona Shaw, star of The Testament of Mary, will take the reins as director of the Met’s opening-night production.

Deborah Warner will be unable to direct the staging of the Metropolitan Opera‘s season-opening production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin because of an unexpected surgical procedure and the anticipated recovery time.

Fiona Shaw, who starred in the Tony-nominated play The Testament of Mary under Warner’s direction, will take over directing responsibilities.

The 25-year working partnership between Shaw and Warner started with a landmark production of Electra in 1988. Their many collaborations since then have included Medea (for which both Shaw and Warner received Tony nominations), The Waste Land, Happy Days, and The Testament of Mary.

Shaw makes her Met debut with this production. Her previous directorial credits include Henze’s Elegy for Young Lovers, Vaughan Williams’ Riders to the Sea, and Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.

Eugene Onegin opens the Met season on September 23.