Key Points
- Two well-known American actors and longtime friends, Elizabeth McGovern and Ann Cusack, have decided to collaborate with each other to perform a theatrical and musical production, called “What We Know Now.”
- The play will be performed only five times, between 16 and 20 September in the Tabard Theatre, Chiswick.
- It will include music, original compositions by Elizabeth McGovern, blues songs, and comments on aging and identity, as well as being in show business for many years.
- The actresses will be accompanied by live performance of the band The Hotheads.
- The play is directed by Tabard Artistic Director Simon Reilly and lasts for 70 minutes without intervals.
uk/local/hounslow/chiswick/">Chiswick (West London Times) September 11, 2026 — Two celebrated figures of stage and screen are stepping away from major cinematic and television projects to present a raw, music-driven exploration of their lives and careers. As detailed in announcements from the venue and reported across cultural listings, Elizabeth McGovern—globally recognised for her role as Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, in Downton Abbey—is joining forces with actress and blues vocalist Ann Cusack for an intimate five-performance run titled What We Know Now.
The production, hosted at the 80-seat studio space on Bath Road, avoids a conventional career retrospective. Instead, as noted in programming details released by the Tabard Theatre, the project brings together two long-standing friends to look back at their evolving identities as women and performers through original compositions and selected covers.
How do the backgrounds of Elizabeth McGovern and Ann Cusack shape the production?
Both performers bring decades of extensive cross-medium experience to the stage, though the collaboration allows audiences to engage with facets of their artistry less frequently seen on mainstream television.
Long before achieving global household recognition in Downton Abbey—a run spanning six television series and three feature films—Elizabeth McGovern earned an Academy Award nomination at the age of 20 for her breakthrough performance as Evelyn Nesbit in Miloš Forman’s 1981 film Ragtime. Her extensive screen credits also include iconic features such as Once Upon a Time in America and The Wings of the Dove, alongside television work including The Handmaid’s Tale. However, alongside her acting trajectory, McGovern has spent nearly two decades writing and performing music, fronting the band Sadie and the Hotheads as lead singer.
Co-star Ann Cusack brings an equally diverse background to the stage. Coming from the prominent Cusack acting family, she has established a distinguished career across film and television, with notable credits ranging from A League of Their Own and Grosse Pointe Blank to Private Practice, Better Call Saul, The Boys, and The Informant!. Alongside her acting resume, Cusack is an accomplished blues singer, providing a natural musical synergy with McGovern.
What can audiences expect from the live performances in Chiswick?
According to production schedules and previews, the collaboration deliberately shifts focus away from standard Hollywood narratives to centre on the realities of ageing, changing perspectives, and navigating an industry with rigid historical expectations of women.
The musical framework of the evening weaves together original material written by McGovern with classic blues numbers and tracks associated with influential artists, including Nina Simone. The intimate scale of the Tabard Theatre—operating under the direction of Artistic Director Simon Reilly—provides a stark contrast to the large studio lots and global broadcast platforms where both actors have spent much of their professional lives. For local residents in Chiswick, where McGovern maintains a residence, the engagement offers a rare community-level encounter with international artists.
Performances for What We Know Now are scheduled from Wednesday 16th September through Sunday 20th September. Evening shows commence at 7.30 pm from Wednesday to Friday, with an earlier 6.00 pm start on Saturday and a 3.00 pm matinee on Sunday. The production has a running time of approximately 70 minutes with no interval, and tickets are standardised at £25. Booking information remains accessible via the theatre’s official digital platform.
Explore more Hounslow News:
Hounslow Approves £3.978m Children’s Home Project in Bedfont 2026
Fatal Railway Incident Causes Severe Disruption in Hounslow 2026
Background of the Development
The staging of What We Know Now reflects a broader contemporary trend among veteran screen actors seeking direct, unmediated engagement with live audiences through multidisciplinary performance. Over recent years, regional studio theatres like the Tabard have increasingly functioned as incubators for personal, artist-led projects that bypass traditional commercial blockbusters.
For Elizabeth McGovern, this production builds upon a long-standing parallel career in music that began running concurrently with her mainstream acting commitments during the 2000s. By integrating her work with Sadie and the Hotheads into a theatrical format alongside peer Ann Cusack, the project formalises a transition toward intimate storytelling models that explore personal identity and career longevity outside the constraints of standard television and film production cycles.
How This Development Can Affect the Local Community and Theatre Patrons
This high-profile collaboration is expected to significantly boost autumn ticket sales and visibility for the Tabard Theatre, reinforcing its reputation as a premier destination for intimate, star-driven work in West London. For local theatre patrons and Chiswick residents, the residency provides rare, affordable access to internationally recognised talent within a neighbourhood venue, fostering a stronger community connection to the arts. Furthermore, by drawing wider regional press attention to the Bath Road venue, productions of this calibre help drive foot traffic to surrounding local businesses and hospitality providers during the autumn season.
