Ava Gardner comes to Riverside Studios in world premiere of a new play by Elizabeth McGovern

Photo credit: Simon Annand

Spellbinding new play by Elizabeth McGovern, AVA: The Secret Conversations, will receive its world premiere at Riverside Studios from 14 January-16 April 2022, it has been announced today.

Based on the book by Peter Evans and Ava Gardner, the production will star Elizabeth McGovern herself, with design by 59 Productions.

Oscar nominated Ava Gardner was one of Hollywood’s greatest stars during the 1940s and 1950s, co-starring with legends such as Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster and Humphrey Bogart. But Ava’s film career was sometimes overshadowed by her three marriages to Mickey Rooney,  Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra.

AVA: The Secret Conversations follows Ava’s collaboration with writer Peter Evans for her biography; throughout the process, Evans struggled to elicit material from his often elusive and moody subject and, in the end, learned things about Ava he never expected. The book based on Evans’ notes, drafts and recordings was finally published in 2013, the year after his death.

This is the stunning story of a legendary star’s public and private lives. Part fact, part fiction, the play assumes the time Ava and Evans spent together  collaborating while she was living in London, flashing back to various moments throughout her  career and introducing audiences to the men in her life.

Elizabeth McGovern said: “I was drawn to The Secret Conversations to begin with by my  fascination with Ava Gardner. There is something in her character that goes beyond physical  beauty: an unselfconscious combination of humour, intelligence, warmth and humility that the camera was able to capture and we can still enjoy today. But also, the conversations were  mostly unadulterated, and , without coming to any pat conclusions, reveal the price she paid for fame, the toll it took on her life. I wanted to explore this for selfish reasons. I feel qualified to  draw from my own experience in order to explore the subject.”

For more information and to book tickets, please click here.