John Lithgow takes the title role in THE MAGISTRATE by Arthur Wing Pinero, a fast, furious, brilliantly plotted farce set in Victorian London and directed by Timothy Sheader. With his louche air and developed taste for smoking, gambling, port and women, it's hard to believe Cis Farringdon is only fourteen. And that's because he isn't. Agatha his mother lopped five years from her true age and his when she married the amiable Magistrate Posket. The imminent arrival of Cis' godfather sends Agatha incognito to the Hotel des Princes to warn him of her deception. But it's also where her son has cajoled his otherwise staid stepfather into joining him for a binge. High-spirited carousing leads to a police raid and a night of outrageous mishap as the trapped guests make desperate attempts to conceal themselves from the law and from each other. Indignities escalate at court the next day where Posket, the police magistrate, must preside. John Lithgow's extensive stage and screen appearances include the films The World According to Garp and Terms of Endearment (for both of which he was Oscar-nominated), Footloose, Shrek, 3rd Rock from the Sun (winning three Emmys and a Golden Globe Award) and Dexter (Emmy and Golden Globe Awards). His many leading roles on Broadway include Sweet Smell of Success (Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical), M.Butterfly, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Columnist (all earning Tony nominations), The Front Page and All My Sons; and Malvolio in Twelfth Night for the RSC. He performed his one-man theatrical memoir Stories by Heart at the National Theatre in 2009. Designed by Katrina Lindsay with lighting design by James Farncombe and sound design by Paul Arditti, the cast for THE MAGISTRATE is completed by Nicholas Blane, Nicholas Burns, Nancy Carroll, Tamsin Carroll, Alexander Cobb, Christina Cole, Jonathan Coy, Richard Freeman, Don Gallagher, Amy Griffiths, Joshua Lacey, Christopher Logan, Nicholas Lumley, Joshua Manning, Joshua McGuire, Sean McKenzie, Sarah Ovens, Peter Polycarpou, Beverly Rudd, Roger Sloman and Jez Unwin.