Amadeus

Amadeus by Peter Schaffer. A play about Mozart and Salieri. First produced in 1979 at the National Theatre in London by Peter Hall, with Paul Scofield as Salieri and Simon Callow as Mozart and in 1980 at the Broadhurst Theatre, New York, with Ian McKellen as Salieri, Tim Curry as Mozart and Jane Seymour as his wife. Hall, who has reworked the play six times with Shaffer, wrote in his revival of the script in 1998-99: "It is probably the most successful serious play of the last century. It has triumphed everywhere. Peter Shaffer has done more to encourage the love and understanding of Mozart than anyone this century." The legendary 1984 film adaptation by Milos Forman starring Tom Hulce and F. Murray Abraham won eight Oscars, including Best Actor, Best Film and Best Director.

The first South African production was in 1981 by Pieter Toerien Productions, directed by Nikolas Simmonds at the Baxter Theatre, with Ralph Lawson as Mozart and Richard Haines as Salieri. The cast included John Rogers, Pierre Knoesen, Albert Raphael, Nigel Kane, George Jackson, Terry Norton, Michael Findlay, Kerry Jordan, Ros Chapman, Michelle Bestbier, Basil Soper, Len Sparrow-Hawk, James Whyle, Gordon Sara, Alberto Pereira. (Source: Barrow, Brian & Williams-Short, Yvonne (eds.). 1988. Theatre Alive! The Baxter Story 1977-1987). Pieter Toerien staged this production starring Richard Haines and Ralph Lawson and directed by Nikolas Simmonds at the Alhambra Theatre in 1981. Michael Atkinson replaced Haines in a subsequent extended season.

In 2006 produced by the Baxter Theatre, directed by Lara Foot Newton, with designs by Peter Cazalet, and starring Brian Murray and Nicholas Pauling. Amadeus by Peter Shaffer.

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