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

Foot steps

It seems to be retracing Knightley's steps across the Peak District: the grand estates the place she filmed The Duchess, a vine-coated medieval corridor the place she filmed Satisfaction and Prejudice. All that flouncing around in corsets and wigs required a suitably elegant backdrop, and the British nationwide park in Derbyshire, with its rolling green fields, countless stone partitions and stately houses minimize the (English) mustard.

"Keira was so small and slim it was amazing," says the information manning the lobby at Chatsworth House.

"She didn't get it right working down the steps so she had to do it several times."

Photos of Keira Knightly

Childrens Hour

Her new West End role may be in The Children's Hour, but it was strictly adults only as Keira Knightley and Elisabeth Moss celebrated opening night yesterday.

After a successful press night of the Lillian Hellman play at London's Comedy Theatre, the two Hollywood stars dressed up to swig champagne at The Penthouse nightclub nearby.

In contrast to their dowdy schoolmistress on-stage outfits, Keira, 25, opted for a striking black gown with long train, while Mad Men star Elisabeth, 28, opted for a bright red dress. Both women wore Jimmy Choo heels.