EDUARDO de Filippo’s classic comedy Filumena comes to Bath Theatre Royal from Tuesday 12th to Saturday 16th November in a new production starring Felicity Kendal and Matthew Kelly, and directed by Sean Mathias. The production uses the translation by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall.

Set in the balmy heat of Naples, this sparkling comedy-drama, full of entanglement and intrigue, questions the family ties that bind us and whether we can ever escape our past. In a battle of wills between all involved, Filumena mixes charm and optimism with acerbic wit and a moral examination of how where we come from can define who we become.

Felicity Kendal stars in the title role. An original member of the Actors’ Company formed by Ian McKellen and Edward Petherbridge, her many theatre credits include Michael Frayn’s Clouds in the West End, for which she won the Variety Club’s Best Stage Actress Award, and Peter Hall’s National Theatre production of Amadeus. She starred in the original productions of On the Razzle, The Real Thing and Hapgood, the revival of Jumpers, and won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for her performances in Much Ado About Nothing and Ivanov. More recent West End roles include Winnie in Happy Days, Esme in Amy’s View, Florence in The Vortex, Mrs Warren in Mrs Warren’s Profession, Sheila in Relatively Speaking and Judith Bliss in Hay Fever.

Matthew Kelly stars as Don Domenico. He starred in Noises Off with Felicity Kendal at the Theatre Royal in 2022, followed by a West End transfer in 2023. His numerous stage credits include Waiting for Godot with Ian McKellen, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Lennie in Of Mice and Men, receiving the Olivier Award for Best Actor.

Julie Legrand, who plays Rosalia, grew up in Bath. She has performed in numerous productions at the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company; and in the West End in the musicals Wicked, An American in Paris, Gypsy and Fiddler on the Roof. Her television credits include playing Paula Burrow in Holby City, Jeanette Dunkley in Footballers’ Wives and roles in Ludwig, Silent Witness, Call the Midwife, Doctor Who and Inspector Morse.

Photographs by Jack Merriman.