Orson’s Shadow

Alley Theatre, Houston

About the Show

Orson’s Shadow is set in 1960, as notorious film director Orson Welles senses his foothold in the screen industry slipping. Persuaded into taking on a new endeavor by theater critic and friend Kenneth Tynan, the directorial giant finds himself at the helm of a London production of Ionesco’s Rhinoceros featuring Sir Laurence Olivier and his young mistress, the actress Joan Plowright. Olivier’s eccentric wife Vivien Leigh adds to the mix as these legendary egos begin to collide. A fictional rendering of actual events, Orson’s Shadow reveals the funny, complex, and all-too-human behavior of these titan personalities.