National Theatre: November 2012 to April 2013

• Antony Sher plays the title role in THE CAPTAIN OF KÖPENICK, directed by Adrian Noble in the Olivier
• Marianne Elliott directs Simon Stephens’ PORT in the Lyttelton
• THIS HOUSE moves to the Olivier Theatre
• THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME transfers to the West End
• ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS continues its UK and international tour
• NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE presents The Magistrate, People and THIS HOUSE

 

THE CAPTAIN OF KÖPENICK                                            Olivier Theatre

Previews from 29 January, press night 5 February, in repertoire until 4 April

Antony Sher plays the title role in THE CAPTAIN OF KÖPENICK by Carl Zuckmayer, in a new English version by Ron Hutchinson, opening in the Olivier Theatre on 5 February, directed by Adrian Noble. The cast also includes Sandy Batchelor, Paul Bentall, Jason Cheater, Paul Chequer, Alan David, Robert Demeger, James Hayes, Barnaby Kay, David Killick, Siobhán McSweeney, Nick Malinowski, Anthony O’Donnell, Olivia Poulet, Iris Roberts, Nick Sampson, Adrian Schiller, Robin Weaver, Joseph Wilkins and Lynne Wilmot. The production will be designed by Anthony Ward, with lighting by Neil Austin, music by Steven Edis, movement by Sue Lefton, fight direction by Malcolm Ranson and sound by Mic Pool.

Released after fifteen years in prison, trapped in a bureaucratic maze, petty criminal Wilhelm Voight wanders 1910 Berlin in desperate, hazardous pursuit of identity papers. Luck changes when he picks up an abandoned military uniform in a fancy-dress shop and finds the city ready to obey his every command. At the head of six soldiers, he marches to the Mayor’s office, cites corruption and confiscates the treasury with ease. But still what he craves is official recognition that he exists.

A nation heads blindly towards war as the misfit takes on the state in Ron Hutchinson’s savagely funny new version of Carl Zuckmayer’s play, first staged in Germany in 1931.

Antony Sher’s recent appearances at the National include Travelling Light and his own adaptation of Primo Levi’s ‘If this is a Man’, Primo, which transferred to New York and for which he won the Outer Critics’ Circle and Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Solo Performance; the production was also filmed and he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor. His extensive stage credits also include, most recently, Freud in Terry Johnson’s Hysteria for Theatre Royal, Bath; Arthur Miller’s Broken Glass in the West End; Tomas Stockmann in An Enemy of the People (Sheffield Crucible); and the title role in Kean (West End). His many leading roles for the Royal Shakespeare Company include Prospero, Iago, Macbeth, Leontes, Cyrano de Bergerac, Shylock, Tamburlaine, Henry Carr in Travesties, Shylock, Tartuffe, Molière and Richard III for which he won the Evening Standard and Olivier Awards for Best Actor. His previous NT appearances include Stanley (Olivier Award for Best Actor), Titus Andronicus, Uncle Vanya, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, The Trial and True West.  His many screen credits include The Shadowline, Disraeli in Mrs Brown (Evening Standard Film Awards:  Peter Sellers Award for Comedy), Hitler in Churchill: The Hollywood Years, and Gerald Ballantyne in Home. A distinguished writer, novelist and artist,Antony Sher received a knighthood in 2000.

Ron Hutchinson’s many plays include Rat in the Skull, The Dillen, The Mysteries, Moonlight and Magnolias, Durand’s Line (part of the Tricycle Theatre’s ‘The Great Game’ cycle), Calculated Risk (for the Tricycle’s cycle on British nuclear weapons policy), Dead on her Feet and Paisley and Me.  His television work includes the Emmy-winning Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story.

THE CAPTAIN OF KÖPENICK is Adrian Noble’s first production for the National Theatre.  Artistic Director of the RSC from  1990 – 2003, his recent work includes The Tempest and Hedda Gabler for Theatre Royal, Bath; The King’s Speech (UK tour); Inherit the Wind and As You Like It for The Old Globe Theatre, San Diego  where he is Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director; and Hamlet at the Stratford, Ontario Shakespeare Festival.

 

PORT                                                                          Lyttelton Theatre

Previews from 22 January, press night 28 January, in repertoire until 24 March

Marianne Elliott directs PORT by Simon Stephens, opening in the Lyttelton on 28 January 2013;  with designs by Lizzie Clachan, lighting by Neil Austin, music by Damon Gough (also known as Badly Drawn Boy) and sound by Ian Dickinson. The cast will include John Biggins, Calum Callaghan, Jack Deam, Danny Kelly, Mike Noble, Kate O’Flynn, Katherine Pearce and Liz White.

Stockport, 1988. It’s midnight. Rachel, eleven, and Billy, six, wait in the car in agitated excitement.  Their mother is at her wits’ end with all their chatter and fighting and dreams of Disneyland. She is about to leave them for good. Their father, drunk in the flat above, has locked the door. It’s a pivotal moment, the beginning of a thirteen-year odyssey for two kids, largely abandoned and growing up in the deprived suburban shadows of Manchester, a city that felt itself to be the most exciting in the world.

A richly colourful portrait of a town with the everyday writ large, Simon Stephens’ PORT is a celebration of the human spirit as Rachel, through sheer courage and despite an economic and political climate that pushes her into the very margins, looks to the future and opts for love and life and for something better.

The world premiere of PORT at the Royal Exchange, Manchester in 2002 was directed by Marianne Elliott, who has since directed at the NT Simon Stephens’ Harper Regan and his adaptation of  Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which transfers to the West End in March. Simon Stephens’ many other plays include On the Shore of the Wide World (NT co-production with Royal Exchange: Olivier Award for Best New Play), Morning,Three Kingdoms, Wastwater, Punk Rock, Seawall, Pornography, Country Music, Christmas and Herons; and A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky (co-written with Robert Holman and David Eldridge).

Marianne Elliott is an Associate Director at the National, where her productions also include Season’s Greetings, All’s Well That Ends Well, Saint Joan (Olivier Award for Best Revival, South Bank Show Award for Theatre), Pillars of the Community (Evening Standard Award for Best Director); and the award-winning War Horse (co-directed with Tom Morris).

 

THIS HOUSE                                                             Olivier Theatre

Previews from 23 February, press night 28 February, continuining in repertoire

National Theatre Live broadcast on 16 May

 

Following a sell-out run in the Cottesloe, James Graham’s highly acclaimed new play THIS HOUSE will transfer to the Olivier Theatre from 23 February 2013. Directed by Jeremy Herrin, the production is designed by Rae Smith with lighting design by Paule Constable, music by Stephen Warbeck, choreography by Scott Ambler and sound by Ian Dickinson.  Original cast members continuing with their roles include Gunnar Cauthery, Phil Daniels, Charles Edwards, Vincent Franklin, Christopher Godwin, Andrew Havill, Ed Hughes, Helena Lymbery, Lauren O’Neil, Matthew Pidgeon. Richard Ridings, Giles Taylor, Tony Turner, Rupert Vansittart and Julian Wadham. THIS HOUSE will also be broadcast to cinemas worldwide by National Theatre Live on 16 May (see page 5).

1974.  TheUKfaces economic crisis and a hung parliament.  In a culture hostile to cooperation, it’s a period when votes are won or lost by one, when there are fist fights in the bars and when sick MPs are carried through the lobby to register their vote.  It’s a time when a staggering number of politicians die, and the building creaks under idiosyncrasies and arcane traditions.

Set in the engine rooms of Westminster, This House strips politics down to the practical realities of those behind the scenes: the whips who roll up their sleeves and on occasion bend the rules to shepherd and coerce a diverse chorus of MPs within the Mother of all Parliaments.

James Graham won the Pearson Playwriting Bursary in 2006 and went on to win the Catherine Johnson Award for Best Play of 2007 for Eden‘s Empire.  His plays also include Tory Boyz for the National Youth Theatre and The Whisky Taster at the Bush Theatre.

Jeremy Herrin is Associate Director of the RoyalCourtTheatre.  His recent credits include Absent Friends (Harold Pinter Theatre), Uncle Vanya (Chichester), Death and the Maiden (Comedy Theatre), David Hare’s South Downs (Chichester and West End) and Children’s Children (Almeida).

The original production of This House was sponsored by the National Theatre’s Cottesloe Partner, Neptune Investment Management.

 

BEYOND THE SOUTH BANK

 

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME

Marianne Elliott’s much-acclaimed production of THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, based on the novel by Mark Haddon, adapted by Simon Stephens will transfer to the Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1, from 1 March, with a press night on Tuesday 12 March, booking until 25 May.

 

ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS on tour to England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales;  Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong

Actor, stand-up comedian and presenter Rufus Hound leads the cast in Nicholas Hytner’s five-star award-winning production of Richard Bean’s ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS for its second UK tour this autumn. He will play the lead role of Francis Henshall at all the regional tour dates with the exception of Venue Cymru, Llandudno (2 – 5 January) and Wales Millennium, Cardiff (22 – 26 January), where Welsh-born Owain Arthur, who is currently appearing as Francis Henshall in the West End production of One Man, Two Guvnors, will play the role. The tour visits Leicester Curve (25 Oct – 3 Nov), Newcastle Theatre Royal (6 – 10 Nov), Glasgow Theatre Royal (13 – 17 Nov), Belfast Grand Opera (20 – 24 Nov), Blackpool Grand (27 Nov – 1 Dec), Norwich Theatre Royal (4 – 8 Dec), Leeds Grand (11 – 15 Dec), The Lowry, Salford (8 – 19 Jan) and Nottingham Theatre Royal (29 Jan – 2 Feb. This second UK tour will play alongside the show’s West End run, where it is currently booking at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket until January 2013.

Following its UK tour, the production tours internationally with Owain Arthur leading the cast, visiting the Hong Kong Festival (15 – 23 February), the Adelaide Festival (28 February – 9 March), the Auckland Festival (14 – 23 March), Sydney Theatre (30 March – 11 May) and Melbourne Arts Centre (17 May – 29 June).

 

NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE

The fourth season of National Theatre Live broadcasts continues Pinero’s The Magistrate (17 January); Alan Bennett’s PEOPLE (21 March); and James Graham’s THIS HOUSE (16 May). The recent broadcasts of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and The Last of the Haussmans achieved record UK audiences, with almost 250 UK cinemas and performing arts venues now hosting the broadcasts. Over one million people worldwide have now seen a National Theatre Live broadcast in 24 countries.

National Theatre Live is supported by Aviva. For venue information and booking details, please visit www.ntlive.com

 

PRODUCTION AND CASTING UPDATES

 

PEOPLE

The cast for Alan Bennett’s PEOPLE, opening in the Lyttelton on 7 November, is led by Frances de la Tour, Selina Cadell and Linda Bassett, with: Frances Ashman, Ellie Burrow, Philip Childs, Jack Chissick, Giles Cooper, Carole Dance, Andy de la Tour, Peter Egan, Miles Jupp, Barbara Kirby, Nicholas le Prevost, Jess Murphy, Alastair Parker, Robin Pearce and Alexander Warner. The production is directed by Nicholas Hytner.

THE MAGISTRATE

Timothy Sheader’s production of  Pinero’s farce The Magistrate opens in the Olivier Theatre on 14 November. John Lithgow plays the title role;  joining him in the cast are: 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.

HANSEL AND GRETEL

The cast for Katie Mitchell’s production of HANSEL AND GRETEL, written by Lucy Kirkwood and devised by Katie Mitchell and Lucy Kirkwood, based on the story by the Brothers Grimm, is: Ruby Bentall, Kate Duchêne, Dylan Kennedy, Justin Salinger and Amit Shah. Hansel and Gretel opens in the Cottesloe on 13 December.

 

PLATFORMS

www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/platforms
6pm (45 mins), £4/£3 unless stated;  BS = Platform followed by booksigning

Tom Cairns on Scenes from an Execution           Mon 12 Nov, Lyttelton

The director discusses his new production with Genista McIntosh.

Howard Barker                                                          Tue 13 Nov, Lyttelton BS

The writer of Scenes from an Execution talks to Mark Brown about his work.

Life Saving: Josephine Hart’s Introduction to Great Poets  Wed 14 Nov, Lyttelton

As Josephine Hart’s illuminating introductions are published posthumously, actors including Fiona Shaw read her selection of British and Irish verse.

 Phil Redmond                                                           Mon 19 Nov, Cottesloe BS

Mid-Term Report is the story of a working class lad from Liverpool, who created Grange Hill, Brookside and Hollyoaks, and became one of the most influential producers and screenwriters in modern TV history.

Edna O’Brien                                                             Tue 20 Nov, Cottesloe BS

In Country Girl, the author reflects on a literary life of high drama, which began in 1960 with her controversial first novel, The Country Girls. Chaired by Mark Lawson.

Alan Bennett                                                             Wed 21 Nov, Lyttelton

Alan Bennett reads from his work, and talks about his new play, People.

Rupert Goold and Lucy Prebble on The Effect     Fri 23 Nov, Cottesloe

The director and playwright discuss this co-production between the NT and Headlong. Chaired by Dan Rebellato.

 Ray Cooney                                                               Tue 27 Nov, Cottesloe BS

Marking his 80th birthday and his 66-year career, including the play Run for Your Wife, the comedy writer talks to Roger Foss, author of May the Farce Be With You.

The Political Dairy                                                    Wed 28 Nov, Cottesloe BS

Chris Mullin, former MP, diarist and author of A Very British Coup, joins Ruth Winstone, editor of Events, Dear Boy, Events, a compilation of 20th-century political diarists, to discuss Britain’s political triumphs and disasters. Chaired by Genista McIntosh.

An Evening with Private Eye           Mon 3 Dec, 5.45pm (1hr) £5/£4, Olivier BS

Ian Hislop takes a satirical look at the events and people of 2012 with Craig Brown, Harry Enfield, Lewis Macleod, Jan Ravens and John Sessions.

Michael Morpurgo                                                    Wed 5 Dec, Olivier BS

The author talks about his life and work with his biographer, Maggie Fergusson, and reads a new autobiographical short story from War Horse to War Child

John Lithgow                                                                        Mon 10 Dec, Olivier BS

Currently appearing in The Magistrate, the actor, musician and author talks to Nicholas Hytner about his career, which includes Dexter on TV, and the Shrek films.

Theatre Quiz                                                             Mon 17 Dec, Olivier

The annual battle for theatrical knowledge between two competing teams from NT companies, hosted by quizmistress Emma Freud.

Philip Pullman                                                           Wed 2 Jan, Olivier BS

Philip Pullman talks about his approach to retelling the fairytales of the Brothers Grimm in his new version of the stories, Grimm’s Tales for Young and Old, as Hansel and Gretel plays in the Cottesloe.

Timothy Sheader on The Magistrate                      Fri 4 Jan, Olivier

The director discusses his production of Pinero’s farce.

Mark Rylance                                                                        Mon 7 Jan, Cottesloe BS

The actor, director and writer reads from and talks about his first play, I Am Shakespeare.

The Annual Jocelyn Herbert Lecture Christopher Hampton – Simplifying the Jungle                                                                       Fri 11 Jan, Olivier

Christopher Hampton, whose screenplays include Dangerous Liaisons and Atonement, worked with Jocelyn Herbert on two of his plays. He gives a playwright’s perspective on the role of the designer in the theatre.

Jonathan Miller                                                         Mon 14 Jan, Cottesloe BS

The director, author, broadcaster, humorist and sculptor talks to Kate Bassett, author of In Two Minds: A Biography of Jonathan Miller.

Ian Kelly                                                                     Tue 15 Jan, Cottesloe BS

The actor and historian discusses Mr Foote’s Other Leg, the riotously true story of the one-legged comedian and ‘Oscar Wilde’ of the Georgian stage, Samuel Foote.

Steven Berkoff                                                          Tue 22 Jan, Cottesloe BS

The actor, director, writer and playwright talks to Geoffrey Colman about a new collection of his one-act plays – sharply written, shocking and endlessly surprising.

Andy de la Tour                                                        Tue 5 Feb, Cottesloe BS

In his book Stand-up or Die, the actor currently appearing in People takes us on a journey into the gritty underground New York comedy circuit. He discusses the experience with Miles Jupp.

Marianne Elliot and Simon Stephens on Port       Thu 7 Feb, Lyttelton

The director and playwright talk to Rachel Cooke about the new production.

Benedict Nightingale                                                Fri 8 Feb, Cottesloe BS

The former Times theatre critic is joined by Michael Billington to discuss Great Moments in Theatre, his entertaining tour through theatrical openings from Oedipus Rex to Jerusalem, including Plenty and Arcadia at the NT.

Adrian Noble on The Captain of Köpenick            Tue 5 Mar, Olivier

The director talks about his production.

James Graham and Jeremy Herrin on This House   Tue 19 Mar, Olivier

The writer and director discuss the production with Christopher Campbell as it transfers from the Cottesloe.

In Conversation with…                                            3pm (1hr), £5/£4

Afternoon interviews with members of the company, talking to Al Senter

about their current role and career, and answering your questions.

Fiona Shaw Wed 14 Nov, Lyttelton

Billie Piper Mon 7 Jan, Cottesloe

 

FREE EXHIBITIONS

www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/exhibitions

 Dazzle

Olivier Exhibition Space, 5 November – 6 January

Dazzle returns for the annual Christmas selling exhibition of jewellery, silversmithing and printmaking. The largest show of its kind in Europe, Dazzle is remarkable for the variety of materials on show beyond the usual precious metals and stones. This year, they include wood, paper, plastics and even Whitby jet – Jacqueline Cullen is the world’s leading exponent of this material. And Heather Woof has a totally new take on the refractory metal titanium that is causing a sensation among jewellery collectors. Over the years the exhibition has become a must-see for lovers of designer jewellery and all items are for sale.

Take a View – Landscape Photographer of the Year 2012

Lyttelton Exhibition Space, 12 November – 12 January

See the winning pictures from the Landscape Photographer of the Year Awards 2012 for the first time. Over 100 stunning photographs, celebrating some of the very best landscapes in the UK, will be on display from this popular annual competition, now in its sixth year. A full colour book will also be available from the NT Bookshop. This year’s Awards are held in association with Network Rail, with the exhibition sponsored by Epson UK.

Seeing landscape – Photographer and awards founder, Charlie Waite, will be giving talks on his own personal approach to photography plus guided tours of the exhibition. Dates to be announced, please check website for details.

Echoes of a Vanished World: A Lifetime in Pictures, by Robin Hanbury-Tenison

Olivier Exhibition Space, 14 January – 10 March

Robin Hanbury-Tenison, the “greatest explorer of the last twenty years” (Sunday Times) is also one of the founders of Survival International. As such, he has been a tireless champion of the rights of indigenous peoples and, in the early years of his travels, an obsessive photographer of their homelands as they were eroded by the modern world.

 

Release issued by: National Theatre press office

LINKS

National Theatre website

Book tickets to One Man, Two Guvnors at the Theatre Royal Haymarket

Book tickets to War Horse at the New London Theatre

 

Broken Glass Reviews Round-up starring Athony Sher and Tara Fitzgerald

A round-up of reviews for Broken Glass at the Vaudeville Theatre starring Antony Sher and Tara Fitzgerald. Iqbal Khan’s extraordinary, critically-acclaimed production of Arthur Miller’s drama transfers to the West End for a strictly limited season.

Book tickets to see Broken Glass at the Vaudeville Theatre in London

 

Broken Glass tickets at the Vaudeville Theatre starring Antony Sher and Tara Fitzgerald

Iqbal Khan’s extraordinary, critically-acclaimed production of Arthur Miller’s drama transfers to the West End for a strictly limited season starring Antony Sher and Tara Fitzgerald.

Antony Sher And Tara Fitzgerald Lead Cast In Arthur Miller’s Broken Glass Running At The Tricycle Theatre From 10 August 2011 Before A West End Transfer To The Vaudeville Theatre

Antony Sher, reprising his role as Phillip Gellburg, and Tara Fitzgerald as Sylvia Gellburg will star in the Tricycle’s critically acclaimed production of Arthur Miller’s Olivier Award winning Broken Glass. Following a sell out run at the Tricycle Theatre in 2010, Broken Glass, directed by Iqbal Khan, will return for a limited season at the Tricycle from 10 August until 10 September, before transferring to the Vaudeville Theatre. Broken Glass will run in the West End from 14 September until 10 December, with press night on 16 September. The production is being produced in the West End by PW Productions and Tricycle London Productions. Full casting will be announced shortly.

Broken Glass received its British Premiere in 1994 at the National Theatre before transferring to the West End and winning an Olivier Award for Best Play. It is the second Arthur Miller play the Tricycle have transferred, following The Price, which ran at the Apollo Theatre in 2003. It joins another Tricycle transfer, The 39 Steps, currently running at the Criterion Theatre.

Tara Fitzgerald was last in the West End in The Misanthrope at the Comedy Theatre. Prior to this her stage credits include And Then There Were None at the Gielgud Theatre, A Doll’s House at the Donmar Warehouse and on tour, Hamlet at the Almeida Theatre and Our Song at the Apollo Theatre and a national tour. Her television credits include the regular part of Dr Eve Lockhart in Waking The Dead, for which she has been given a spin off series: The Body Farm, which began filming in Spring 2011, The Virgin Queen, Frenchman’s Creek and The Camomile Lawn. Fitzgerald’s film credits include Dark Blue World, Brassed Off, A Man Of No Importance, Sirens and Hear My Song.

Before the previous run of Broken Glass at the Tricycle Theatre, Antony Sher was on stage in An Enemy of the People at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. Sher’s other theatre credits include The Tempest, Othello and Richard III – for which he won the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Actor, all for the RSC, Kean at the Apollo Theatre and a national tour, Primo, which he also wrote, for the National Theatre and Music Box Theater, New York, and for which he won the Outer Critics’ Circle and Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Solo Performance, I.D. – which he also wrote for the Almeida Theatre, Stanley for the National Theatre and Circle in the Square Theater, New York – for which he won the Olivier and Tony Awards for Best Actor and finally Torch Song Trilogy at the Albery Theatre for which he won the Olivier Award for Best Actor. On television he is currently in BBC2’s hit series The Shadow Line. Other screen credits include God on Trial, Primo, The Company, Home, The Jury, Macbeth, Churchill: The Hollywood Years, Shakespeare in Love, Mrs Brown, Alive and Kicking, The Wind in the Willows and The Young Poisoner’s Handbook.

Arthur Miller wrote Broken Glass in 1994 during a writing career which spanned six decades. His screenplays include his adaptation of The Crucible and The Misfits. Other principal works include Death of a Salesman, A View from the Bridge, All My Sons, After the Fall, The Crucible and The Price.

Release issued by: Emma Holland PR

LINKS

Tricycle Theatre website

 

Royal Mail launches RSC stamps

The Royal Mail has launched a new set of stamps to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Launched today, 12 April 2011, the Stamps feature six of the RSC’s most acclaimed productions, alongside a Miniature Sheet featuring four stamps showing the theatres where the RSC has performed in Stratford-upon-Avon through the years.

The set features former Dr Who David Tennant as Hamlet, Antony Sher as Prospero in The Tempest, Chuk Iwuji as Henry VI, Paul Schofield as King Lear, Sara Kestelman as the fairy queen Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Ian McKellen and Francesca Annis as Romeo and Juliet.

LINKS

Royal Mail – RSC stamp collection

GALLERY

Royal Mail pays tribute to the RSC with new stamp collection

THUMBNAILS

OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Actor Winners

OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Actor Winners

Best Actor

2012 Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller for Frankenstein
2011 Roger Allam for Henry IV Parts 1 & 2
2010 Mark Rylance for Jerusalem
2009 Derek Jacobi for Twelfth Night
2008 Chiwetel Ejiofor in Othello
2007 Rufus Sewell for Rock ‘N’ Roll
2006 Brian Dennehy for Death Of A Salesman
2005 Richard Griffiths for The History Boys
2004 Matthew Kelly for Of Mice And Men
2003 Simon Russell Beale for Uncle Vanya
2002 Roger Allam for Privates On Parade
2001 Conleth Hill for Stones In His Pockets
2000 Henry Goodman for The Merchant Of Venice
1999 Kevin Spacey for The Iceman Cometh
1998 Ian Holm for King Lear
1997 Antony Sher for Stanley
1996 Alex Jennings for Peer Gynt
1995 David Bamber for My Night With Reg
1994 Mark Rylance for Much Ado About Nothing
1993 Robert Stephens for Henry IV (Parts 1 and 2)
1992 Nigel Hawthorne for The Madness Of George III
1991 Ian McKellen for Richard III
1989/90 Oliver Ford Davies for Racing Demon
1987 Michael Gambon for A View From The Bridge
1986 Albert Finney for Orphans
1985 Antony Sher for Richard III and Torch Song Trilogy

Actor of the Year in a New Play

1988 David Haig for Our Country’s Good
1984 Brian Cox for Rat In The Skull
1983 Jack Shepherd for Glengarry Glen Ross
1982 Ian McDiarmid for lnsignificance
1981 Trevor Eve for Children Of A Lesser God
1980 Roger Rees for Nicholas Nickleby
1979 Ian McKellen for Bent
1978 Tom Conti for Whose Life Is It Anyway?
1977 Michael Bryant for State Of Revolution
1976 Paul Copley for King And Country

Actor of the Year in a Revival

1988 Brian Cox for Titus Andronicus
1984 Ian McKellen for Wild Honey
1983 Derek Jacobi for Cyrano De Bergerac
1982 Stephen Moore for A Doll’s House
1981 Daniel Massey for Man And Superman
1980 Jonathan Pryce for Hamlet
1979 Warren Mitchell for Death Of A Salesman
1978 Alan Howard for Coriolanus
1977 Ian McKellen for Pillars Of The Community
1976 Alan Howard for Henry IV (Parts 1 and 2) and Henry V

Best Actor in a Musical

2012 Bertie Carvel for Matilda The Musical
2011 David Thaxton for Passion
2010 Aneurin Barnard for Spring Awakening
2009 Douglas Hodge for La Cage aux Folles
2008 Michael Ball for Hairspray
2007 Daniel Evans for Sunday In The Park With George
2006 James Lomas, George Maguire and Liam Mower for Billy Elliot – The Musical
2005 Nathan Lane for The Producers
2004 David Bedella for Jerry Springer – The Opera
2003 Alex Jennings for My Fair Lady
2002 Philip Quast for South Pacific
2001 Daniel Evans for Merrily We Roll Along
2000 Simon Russell Beale for Candide
1999 The cast of Kat and The Kings
1998 Philip Quast for The Fix
1997 Robert Lindsay for Oliver!
1996 Adrian Lester for Company
1995 John Gordon Sinclair for She Loves Me
1994 Alun Armstrong for Sweeney Todd
1993 Henry Goodman for Assassins
1992 Alan Bennett for Talking Heads
1991 Philip Quast for Sunday In The Park With George
1989/90 Jonathan Pryce for Miss Saigon
1988 Con O’Neill for Blood Brothers
1987 John Bardon and Emil Wolk for Kiss Me Kate
1986 Michael Crawford for The Phantom Of The Opera
1985 Robert Lindsay for Me And My Girl
1984 Paul Clarkson for The Hired Man
1983 Denis Lawson for Mr. Cinders
1982 Roy Hudd for Underneath The Arches
1981 Michael Crawford for Barnum
1980 Denis Quilley for Sweeney Todd
1979 Anton Rodgers for Songbook

West End Star Watch: Update

Our regular round-up of theatre names hitting town or making the news. This issue includes Alison Steadman, Jenny Galloway, Catherine Zeta-Jones, David Haid, Robert Lindsay and Anthony Sher.

ALISON STEADMAN

Director of the moment Thea Sharrock, who enjoyed rave notices last week for her new production of Terrence Rattigan’s After the Dance at the National Theatre, will turn to Noel Coward later this year.

A new production of Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit will materialise at the Theatre Royal Bath and then transfer to the Apollo Theatre from 2 March 2011 starring award-winning actress Alison Steadman (Gavin and Stacey) as Madame Arcati.

No stranger to Blithe Spirit, Sharrock directed a 2004 production of the play at the Savoy Theatre starring Penelope Keith. The Noel Coward classic has had numerous UK revivals in the last few years. The director told Baz in the Daily Mail that, “You cannot really mess with those old boys  -  the structure is so particular”. Indeed.

The only question is, will Rupert Everett reprise his recent Broadway performance as Charles Condomine for the production?

JENNY GALLOWAY

Amongst many standout performances in Thea Sharrock’s production of After the Dance is that of Jenny Galloway as Miss Potter, an actress who is s one of the most accomplished stars you’ve (probably) never heard of. She has recently been cast in Cameron Mackintosh’s enormous 25th anniversary concert version of Les Miserables at the O2 Arena on 3 October playing Madame Thénardier, a role she played in the London and New York productions.

Galloway’s career spans musicals and plays including two Olivier Award winning performances – as Rosie in Mamma Mia! (2000) and Luce in The Boys from Syracuse (1992). She also originated the role of Mrs Brill in Mackintosh’s production of Mary Poppins – in London and Broadway – and recently appeared in the Donmar in the West End’s production of Madame De Sade with Judi Dench.

DAVID HAIG

The great migration of classic TV shows to stage (see Porridge, Inspector Morse, Dad’s Army etc) shows no sign of abating. Jenny Galloway’s fellow Mary Poppins cast mate David Haig, who originated the role of Mr Banks in the show, will be back in London this Autumn in a stage production of TV classic Yes, Prime Minister.

Haig plays Prime Minister Jim Hacker in the Chichester production that will run at the Gielgud Theatre from 17 September, penned by the show’s original TV writers Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. The comedy will also star Henry Goodman as Sir Humphrey Appleby.

ANTHONY SHER

A big name he may be, but Anthony Sher is not averse to playing the odd small venue: he will debut in Arthur Miller’s Broken Glass at the Tricycle Theatre from 30 September, directed by Iqbal Khan. Let’s hope it also transfers to the West End to follow the current Arthur Miller success in town – All My Sons at the Apollo Theatre starring David Suchet and Zoe Wanamaker.

CATHERINE ZETA-JONES

Anthony Sher’s cousin, Ronald Harwood, received a knighthood this week in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his enormous contribution to stage and screen writing, including classic theatrical play The Dresser. Congrats also go to Catherine Zeta-Jones who has been appointed a CBE. Currently wowing them on Broadway in A Little Night Music, here’s hoping this week proves a double-success for Mrs Michael Douglas and she wins a Tony award tonight for her performance in the show.

ROBERT LINDSAY

The Novello Theatre will see out Tap Dogs in September and follow with Onassis on 30 September starring Robert Lindsay. He will resurrect his performance as Aristotle Onassis in Martin Sherman’s play Onassis following a run in Derby. Based on the last years of the controversial Greek tycoon, the play was originally produced as Aristo at Chichester to mixed reviews but with glowing praise for Lindsay’s performance. Sherman and director Nancy Meckler have subsequently rewritten the piece.

The cast will also include Tom Austen, Liz Crowther, Ben Grove, Robert Hastie, John Hodgkinson, Sue Kelvin, Graeme Taylor and Gawn Grainger.

London Theatre – 2009 Preview

If theatre mirrors life then you would expect 2009 to be a bad year for the performing arts in London: economic downturns and credit crunches sound like gloomy news for our discretionary entertainment spending. But West End theatre box office figures have kept on going up in recent years, and the huge number of new productions sailing into town during 2009 could mean that Theatreland manages to buck the trend.

THE GREAT REVIVAL

The RSC, National Theatre, Donmar and Old Vic dominated straight drama in the West End in 2008, and they haven’t finished yet. Big hitters coming to town include Judi Dench and Rosamund Pike in the Donmar in the West End’s Madame de Sade at the Wyndhams; Jude Law offering us his, hopefully fighting fit, Hamlet; Gillian Anderson in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Rachel Weisz in A Streetcar Named Desire at the Donmar Warehouse; Helen Mirren making her return to the London stage in Phaedra at the National Theatre; and a number of crowd-pleasing revivals at the Old Vic, no more so than Dancing at Lughnasa, Brian Friel’s hugely successful play starring Andrea Corr, and Sam Mendes directing Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard and Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale, both featuring Ethan Hawke, Simon Russell Beale and Sinead Cusack.

STAR POWER

Other stars shimmying into town include Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot at the Haymarket, Ken Stott and Hayley Atwell in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge at the Duke of York’s, heavy-hitter Pete Postlethwaite as King Lear at the Young Vic, and Antony Sher giving us his Prospero in the RSC’s The Tempest. The Gavin and Stacey phenomenon continues to roll on, as we see Joe Orton’s delicious romp Entertaining Mr Sloane at the Trafalgar Studios starring Gavin himself, Matthew Horne, alongside Imelda Staunton; whilst Gavin’s onscreen Mum Alison Steadman plays a barking Leeds housewife in Alan Bennett’s Enjoy at the Gielgud Theatre.

NEW PLAYS

The sharp eyed amongst you will notice that all of these plays are revivals rather than new work, keeping audiences firmly in their comfort zones. That said, new plays may be thin on the ground but not absent all together, with the National offering up Richard Bean’s England People Very Nice, following two lovers across four centuries, and Samuel Adamson’s Mrs Affleck set in the 1950s. Jez Butterworth has two new plays in pre-production, with comedy Parlour Song at the Almeida and Jerusalem at the Royal Court. Also at the Royal Court, Mark Ravenhill will bring his new play Over There. Plus Hollywood man of the moment James McAvoy is to star in Richard Greenberg’s acclaimed play Three Days of Rain at the Apollo, and at The Old Vic Richard Dreyfuss headlines the world premiere of American playwright Joe Sutton’s new play Complicit, directed by Kevin Spacey.

“BASED ON A FILM”

In musical theatre, 2009 promises to be a year of great big fabulous and familiar shows, surely enough to see us through the dark times? And it’s no coincidence that many of them are based on hugely successful films.

Oliver! will be well and truly steaming ahead through 2009 at the Drury Lane Theatre Royal with Rowan Atkinson and Jodie Prenger; La Cage Aux Folles will continue camping it up at the Playhouse but with Graham Norton taking over from Douglas Hodge; and at the Adelphi Theatre Lee Mead will bow out of Joseph to be replaced by Gareth Gates.

Jason Donovan will be donning the wigs and lip gloss to take us on an Australian power-mince in Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the Palace Theatre. And Sister Act at the London Palladium will be doing its best to recreate the fun of the film, helped along by Whoopi Goldberg as co-producer. And not quite a musical but as good as, Calendar Girls the stage play will up the naked flesh quotient in the West End, starring Patricia Hodge and Lynda Bellingham at the Noel Coward Theatre.

Also in musicals-land the power of reality TV continues to wield its power, with Gareth Gates going into Joseph at the Adelphi Theatre, the X-factor’s Niki Evans continuing in Blood Brothers at the Phoenix, Jodie Prenger in Oliver at the Drury Lane, and Ray Quinn and Danny Bayne in Grease – joined for a limited time by the legendary Jimmy Osmond.

KIDS RULE

Kids should also see a good year in 2009 with an enormous live theatrical production of Walking with Dinosaurs coming to a stadium near you, and War Horse transfers from its successful run at the National Theatre to the New London Theatre.

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