Childrens Hour

The hottest ticket of this still-young London theater year is the director Ian Rickson’s scorching revival of The Children’s Hour, Lillian Hellman’s play about charges of lesbianism and the power of a lie at a 1930s New England boarding school. The Anglo-American is company headed by movie star Keira Knightley and Mad Men leading lady Elisabeth Moss, plus stage and screen veterans Ellen Burstyn and Carol Kane. (All three Americans are making their London stage debuts.) Oscar nominee and Emmy winner Kane, 58, who gives a scene-stealing turn as Moss’ daffy Aunt Lily, took time during her opening week at the Comedy Theatre to chat to Broadway.com about the play’s enduring power, playing Madame Morrible in Wicked, and swapping New York’s Upper West Side for the West End.

Photos of Keira Knightly