Ian Rickson’s Royal Court Theatre production of Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem will return to London’s West End for a strictly limited 14 week engagement hot on the heels of a triumphant Broadway run. Mark Rylance will reprise his Olivier and Tony award-wining performance as Johnny “Rooster” Byron, directed by Ian Rickson. Previewing at the Apollo Theatre from 8 October 2011, with press night on 17 October, Jerusalem is booking until 14 January 2012. Designs are by Ultz, with lighting by Mimi Jordan Sherin, sound by Ian Dickinson for Autograph and music by Stephen Warbeck. Jerusalem is produced in the West End by Royal Court Theatre Productions and by Sonia Friedman Productions.

Jerusalem is a comic, contemporary vision of life in our green and pleasant land. On St George’s Day, the morning of the local county fair, Johnny Byron is a wanted man. The Council officials want to serve him an eviction notice, his son wants his dad to take him to the fair and Troy Whitworth wants to give him a serious kicking.

Jez Butterworth’s award-winning play returns to the West End following record-breaking sold-out runs at the Royal Court and the Apollo Theatres in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Jerusalem is currently enjoying a critically acclaimed extended run at the Music Box Theatre on Broadway where it plays until 21 August 2011. Jerusalem has now won over ten theatre awards internationally, culminating in the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Play going to Mark Rylance earlier this year.

The 2011 West End cast includes Mark Rylance (Johnny “Rooster” Byron) and Mackenzie Crook (Ginger) as well as Max Baker (Wesley), Alan David (The Professor), Aimeé-Ffion Edwards (Phaedra), Johnny Flynn (Lee), Geraldine Hughes (Dawn), Danny Kirrane (Davey), Charlotte Mills (Tanya), Sarah Moyle (Ms Fawcett) and Harvey Robinson (Mr Parsons).

Jerusalem will offer 20 best price seats at £10 each, which will go on sale from the Box Office, in person only, from 10am on the day of each performance.

Multi award-winning actor Mark Rylance was last in the West End playing Valere in La Bête at the Comedy Theatre, a role he reprised on Broadway. Before the West End run of Jerusalem at the Apollo Theatre, he was recently on stage playing Hamm in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame at the Duchess Theatre and Robert in Boeing-Boeing at the Comedy Theatre and on Broadway where he won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play. His other theatre work includes many productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and the Glasgow Citizens as well as True West for the Donmar Warehouse, Bloody Poetry for the Royal Court and The Maids for Shared Experience and Benedick in Much Ado about Nothing directed by Matthew Warchus, for which he won the Olivier Award for Best Actor. As Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre his work as an actor included the title roles in Henry V and Hamlet as well as Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra and Olivia in Twelfth Night. His film and television work includes The Other Boleyn Girl, Prospero’s Books, Angels and Insects, Leonardo and David Kelly in C4’s The Government Inspector for which he won the BAFTA Best Actor Award.

Jez Butterworth’s first play Mojo opened at the Royal Court in 1995 and subsequently won five drama awards including the Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Awards for Most Promising Playwright and the Olivier Award for Best Comedy. He returned to the Royal Court in 2002 with The Night Heron and The Winterling in 2006. His films Mojo, starring Harold Pinter, and Birthday Girl, starring Nicole Kidman, were both shown at the Venice Film Festival prior to general release. In 2007 he received the E.M. Forster Award from The American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2009 his play Parlour Song received its British premiere at the Almeida Theatre, directed by Ian Rickson. 2010 saw the international release of his feature film Fair Game starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts.

Ian Rickson’s most recent West End credits include Harold Pinter’s Betrayal which completes its run at the Comedy Theatre on 20 August and Lillian Hellman’s The Children’s Hour. He was Artistic Director of the Royal Court from 1998-2006 where his many productions included Krapp’s Last Tape which he also directed for BBC4, Fallout which he also directed as a film for Channel 4 and The Weir and Mojo both of which transferred to the West End and Broadway. He has directed Jez Butterworth’s The Winterling, The Night Heron, Mojo and Parlour Song as well as Jerusalem. For the National Theatre he has directed The Hothouse and The Day I Stood Still.

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Book tickets to Jerusalem at the Apollo Theatre starring Mark Rylance

Life must feel pretty good for Mark Rylance.  Over a long and distinguished career he has moved with some grace and lots of eccentric style from accomplished actor, writer, director and artistic director to veritable national treasure.

And his performance as Johnny “Rooster” Byron in Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem has proved nothing short of a theatrical revelation, with audiences and critics queuing up to praise him on both sides of the Atlantic, and awards ceremonies falling over themselves to hand over their honours (Olivier, Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle awards – and now Tony Awards – included).

And following his Broadway run in Jerusalem, Rylance is bringing the play back to London for one last time.

Most recently Rylance scored a hit with David Hirson’s comedy La Bete in the West End and on Broadway, starring alongside Frasier’s David Hyde Pierce and Joanna Lumley.

Other acting success for Rylance includes Samuel Beckett’s Endgame at the Duchess Theatre and his Tony award-winning role in Boeing-Boeing in the West End and on Broadway. He was Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre for ten years and his work as an actor included the title roles in Henry V and Hamlet as well as Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra and Olivia in Twelfth Night.  Other work includes a number of RSC and the National Theatre productions as well as roles at the Donmar Warehouse and the Royal Court.  In the West End he played Benedict in Much Ado about Nothing directed by Matthew Warchus, for which he won the Olivier Award for Best Actor.  Film and TV work includes The Other Boleyn Girl, Prospero’s Books and The Government Inspector for which he won the BAFTA Best Actor Award for his role as David Kelly.

Ian Rickson, director of Jerusalem, said of Rylance that he is, “steeped in symbolism, imagination and ritual. There are very few actors who are able to be male and also have a poetic dimension.”

Rylance will star in Jerusalem at the Apollo Theatre in London, alongside Mackenzie Crook, from 8 October 2011 to 14 January 2012.

Book tickets to Jerusalem at the Apollo Theatre starring Mark Rylance

Richard McCabe and Simon Williams in Yes, Prime Minister

The successful Chichester production of Yes, Prime Minister returns to the West End this summer until 17 September 2011.

Based on the hit 1980′s BBC sitcom by Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay, the writers have adapted their comedy for the stage featuring the political manoeuvrings of the PM and his wily Cabinet Secretary, covering issues from global warming and prostitution to the financial meltdown.

Yes, Prime Minister stars Richard McCabe as Prime Minister Jim Hacker and Simon Williams as Cabinet Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby.

See a round-up of reviews for Yes, Prime Minister, below.

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Book tickets to Yes, Prime Minister at the Apollo Theatre

Offer valid Monday to Thursday, 3 – 26 May

Alison Steadman stars in Blithe Spirit

Featuring an all-star cast including Alison Steadman (Gavin & Stacey) as Madame Arcati, Ruthie Henshall (Crazy for You) as Elvira, Hermione Norris (Spooks) as Ruth and Robert Bathurst (Cold Feet) as Charles Condomine.

Enjoy a special offer on the sparkling new West End revival of Noel Coward’s classic comedy Blithe Spirit, at the Apollo Theatre in London.

In the play, the novelist Charles Condomine (Bathurst) and his second wife Ruth (Norris) are haunted when an eccentric medium (Steadman) manages to conjure up the ghost of Charles’s neurotic and beautiful first wife, Elvira (Henshall), at a séance.

Noel Coward’s witty comedy is directed by Thea Sharrock (Cause Celebre, After The Dance).

BOOK NOW: Save £16.50 on tickets to see Blithe Spirit at the Apollo Theatre in London

Offer valid Monday to Thursday, 3 – 26 May

Richard McCabe and Simon Williams in Yes, Prime Minister

Valid all performances except Saturday evenings until the 30th July. Must be booked by 31 May 2011

The hugely successful Chichester production of Yes, Prime Minister is making a welcome return to the West End this summer, from 6 July to 17 September 2011.

Based on the hit 1980′s BBC sitcom by Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay, the writers have adapted their comedy for the stage featuring the political manoeuvrings of the PM and his wily Cabinet Secretary, covering issues from global warming and prostitution to the financial meltdown.

Yes, Prime Minister will run at the Apollo Theatre in the West End from 6 July, starring Richard McCabe as Prime Minister Jim Hacker and Simon Williams as Cabinet Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby.

The show recently won the 2011 Whatsonstage Award for Best New Comedy for its run at the Gielgud Theatre in 2010.

Save £10 on tickets to YES, PRIME MINISTER at the Apollo Theatre

Valid all performances except Saturday evenings until the 30th July. Must be booked by 31 May 2011

Richard McCabe and Simon Williams in Yes, Prime Minister

Based on the hit 1980′s BBC sitcom by Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay, the writers have adapted their comedy for the stage featuring the political manoeuvrings of the PM and his wily Cabinet Secretary, covering issues from global warming and prostitution to the financial meltdown

Yes, Prime Minister will run at the Apollo Theatre in the West End from 6 July, starring Richard McCabe as Prime Minister Jim Hacker and Simon Williams as Cabinet Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby.

The show recently won the 2011 Whatsonstage Award for Best New Comedy for its run at the Gielgud Theatre in 2010, and will follow Thea Sharrock’s new production of Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit starring Alison Steadman into the Apollo Theatre.

Book tickets to Yes, Prime Minister at the Apollo Theatre in London