Yahoo Lifestyle Isabelle Huppert, Geoffrey Rush, Abbie Cornish and Ray Winstone Join Paris-Set Feature ‘Burnt Piano,’ Based on Australian Stage Play (EXCLUSIVE)
A quartet of French, Australian and English stars are set to come together for upcoming feature “Burnt Piano.”
Isabelle Huppert (“Elle,” “The Piano Teacher”), Geoffrey Rush (“The King’s Speech,” “Shine”) Abbie Cornish (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” “Jack Ryan”) and Ray Winstone (“The Gentlemen,” “The Departed”) have joined the cast of the film, which is based on the stage play by Australian writer and playwright Justin Fleming. Newcomer Tarquin Cameron will also star.
More from Variety
Adapted by Fleming, the film — an Australian-French co-production — is being directed by Fred Schepisi (“Roxanne,” “Six Degrees of Separation”) and is described as “a tragedy, a comedy, a drama and a mystery.”
Set in the late 1980s, “Burnt Piano” revolves around a boutique bookstore owner (Cornish) who is infatuated with and would do anything to meet famed playwright Samuel Beckett (Rush), much to the chagrin of her father, a mediocre short story writer (Winstone). Reluctantly aided by her son troubled (Cameron) and vehemently resisted by the playwright’s devoted but overprotective wife (Huppert), she ropes her family into a quixotic quest to Paris to find ask Beckett himself some of life’s biggest questions.
Producers include Janice Eymann for Filmworks and Stuart Quin for Full Circle Productions, with Michael Ryan exec producing.
According to the producers, “Burnt Piano” will mostly shoot in Paris with one week in Australia.
Fleming’s stage play “Burnt Piano” was performed around Australia and went on to win the New York New Dramatists’ Award in the year 2000 and opened in New York City in March 2001. It was short-listed for various awards, including the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and won the Banff PlayRites Residency, Canada.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
