Photos: Opening of the Harold Pinter Theatre

Ambassador Theatre Group celebrates the renaming of the Comedy Theatre to the Harold Pinter Theatre

Antonia Fraser, the widow of legendary playwright Harold Pinter, yesterday attended the opening of the West End theatre named in his honour.

She officially opened the Harold Pinter Theatre, joined by Ambassador Theatre Group’s Joint Chief Executive, Rosemary Squire, novelist and playwright, Ariel Dorfman, whose play Death and the Maiden is currently playing at the venue, and the star of Death and the Maiden, Thandie Newton.

The Panton Street venue, which was formerly known as the Comedy Theatre, was built by J. H. Addison and originally opened in 1881 as the Royal Comedy Theatre, designed by Thomas Verity.

The theatre has become synonymous with Pinter’s plays, having hosted seven Pinter productions over the last 21years including The Homecoming, No Man’s Land, Moonlight, The Hothouse, The Caretaker, The Lover The Collection and recently Betrayal starring Kristin Scott Thomas.

Death and the Maiden is running at the Harold Pinter Theatre until 21 January 2012.

LINKS

Book tickets to Death and the Maiden at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London

Death and the Maiden starring Thandie Newton – Round-up of Reviews

A round-up of reviews for Death and the Maiden at the Harold Pinter Theatre starring British film actress Thandie Newton (Crash), in a strictly limited run of Ariel Dorfman’s explosive drama, directed by Jeremy Herrin.

Book tickets to Death and the Maiden at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London

 

Comedy Theatre to be renamed in honour of Harold Pinter

Major theatre owner Ambassador Theatre Group has announced that it will rename one of its London playhouses in honour of  playwright, screen writer and director Harold Pinter, who died in 2008.

The Comedy Theatre on Panton Street, which opened in 1881 as the Royal Comedy Theatre, will be called The Harold Pinter Theatre from 13 October 2011. Its first production will be a revival of Death and the Maiden starring Thandie Newton.

The renaming of a London theatre after a theatre professional follows theatre owner Cameron Mackintosh’s decision in the 90′s and 2000′s to rename the Albery, Strand and the Globe theatres after Noel Coward, Ivor Novello and John Gielgud respectively.

The Comedy Theatre, which was designed by Thomas Verity and built by J. H. Addison, has a long association with Pinter and has been home to seven Pinter productions in the last 21 years including The Homecoming, No Man’s Land, Moonlight, The Hothouse, The Caretaker with Michael Gambon, The Lover The Collection starring Gina McKee, and most recently Betrayal starring Kristin Scott Thomas. Pinter also directed at the venue, including Otherwise Engaged by Simon Gray, Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose and The Old Masters by Simon Gray.

The first show to open at the newly named Harold Pinter Theatre, on 13 October, will be Death and The Maiden by Ariel Dorfman starring Thandie Newton.

Ambassador Theatre Groups ’s Joint Chief Executive and Creative Director Howard Panter said that, “the re-naming of one of our most successful West End theatres is a fitting tribute to a man who made such a mark on British theatre who, over his 50 year career, became recognised as one of the most influential modern British dramatists.”

Harold Pinter wrote 32 plays, 22 screenplays and directed 36 theatre productions throughout his long career. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005.

LINKS

Book tickets to Death and the Maiden at the Comedy Theatre, soon to be called the Harold Pinter Theatre

London’s Comedy Theatre To Be Renamed The Harold Pinter Theatre

The Ambassador Theatre Group Ltd (ATG) today announced plans to re-name London’s Comedy Theatre, The Harold Pinter Theatre , after the distinguished playwright, screen writer, director, political activist and actor.

The Comedy Theatre, owned by ATG since 2000, was built by J. H. Addison and originally opened in 1881 as the Royal Comedy Theatre. The Theatre was designed by the well known theatre architect Thomas Verity.

The range of work at the Comedy Theatre has been far reaching, from musical comedies to revival and experimental theatre and includes hugely successful shows such as Savages starring Paul Scofield in 1973 and The Rocky Horror Show making its West End debut in 1979. Alan Bennett has appeared with Patricia Routledge in his Talking Heads and Stockard Channing appeared in Six Degrees of Separation.

But no history of the Comedy Theatre would be complete without reference to Harold Pinter. The Comedy Theatre has been the West End home to no less than 7 Pinter productions over the last 21years including The Homecoming, No Man’s Land, Moonlight, The Hothouse, The Caretaker with Michael Gambon (one of the theatre’s biggest box office successes), The Lover The Collection starring Gina McKee (directed by Jamie Lloyd and produced by Howard Panter for ATG) and most recently, a sell-out run of Ian Rickson’s production of Pinter’s Betrayal starring Kristin Scott Thomas and produced by Sonia Friedman.

At the Comedy Theatre, Pinter also directed Otherwise Engaged by Simon Gray, Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose, The Old Masters by Simon Gray and another hugely successful run of The Caretaker.

The first show to open at the newly named Harold Pinter Theatre on 13 October, will be Death and The Maiden by Ariel Dorfman. Dorfman’s explosive moral thriller stars Thandie Newton and is directed by Jeremy Herrin.

Howard Panter, ATG’s Joint Chief Executive and Creative Director, said: “The work of Pinter has become an integral part of the history of the Comedy Theatre. The re-naming of one of our most successful West End theatres is a fitting tribute to a man who made such a mark on British theatre who, over his 50 year career, became recognised as one of the most influential modern British dramatists.”

Born in 1930 in East London Harold Pinter wrote 32 plays, 22 screenplays and directed 36 theatre productions. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005, and was awarded the Companion of Honour in 2002. His many awards include the Laurence Olivier Award and the Moliere D’Honneur for Lifetime Achievement, the European Theatre Award and the Legion d’Honneur. In October 2006, Pinter performed Samuel Beckett’s monologue Krapp’s Last Tape at the Royal Court Theatre, directed by Ian Rickson.

Harold Pinter was married to Antonia Fraser, with whom he lived from 1975 until his death in 2008. She said, “Harold would have been so pleased by this honour and I am very moved at the news.”

Ariel Dorfman, Novelist and Playwright, said: “That it should precisely be Death and the Maiden which begins its run in the building just after it has been christened with the name of my dear friend Harold Pinter, fills me with joy and also seems extraordinarily appropriate. That play is dedicated, after all, to Pinter. He was its godfather and guide when it first opened twenty years ago and my mentor for most of my writing life. How wondrous that the very play that owed its first life to Pinter, will now be reborn inside a theatre that bears its name!”

Co-founded by Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire in 1992, the Ambassador Theatre Group Ltd (ATG) is the largest owner/operator of theatres in the UK with 39 venues, an internationally recognised theatre producer and a leader in theatre ticketing services.

Current and recent ATG co-productions include Ghost the Musical, South Pacific, Legally Blonde the Musical, Monty Python’s Spamalot, The Misanthrope, West Side Story, Elling, Guys and Dolls, Sweeney Todd, Company, Exit the King and The Rocky Horror Show.

Release issued by: Ambassador Theatre Group

LINKS

Book tickets to Death and the Maiden at the Comedy Theatre, soon to be called the Harold Pinter Theatre

THANDIE NEWTON in Death and the Maiden

Hollywood star Thandie Newton will tread the boards in London this Autumn as she plays Paulina Salas in Ariel Dorfman’s Olivier award-winning thriller Death and the Maiden at the Comedy Theatre from Thursday 13th October 2011.

In the drama Thandie plays a former political prisoner who suffered at the hands of a captor whose face she never saw, but whose voice and mannerisms she recalls with terrifying clarity.

Years later, she acts as judge and jury to a man she believes to have been her oppressor. She struggles to find a form of reconciliation for the experience that she and others, have endured.

Thandie Newton was awarded a BAFTA for her role in Crash, Paul Haggis’ Oscar-winning film about racial and social tensions in Los Angeles. She also starred in the title role in Beloved opposite Oprah Winfrey and in Mission Impossible II with Tom Cruise. She appeared in The Pursuit of Happyness with Will Smith and played Simon Pegg’s ex-girlfriend in Run Fat Boy Run. She played Condoleezza Rice in Oliver Stone’s W and the US President’s daughter in 2012. She was most recently seen in Huge and is currently filming Good Deeds, written, directed by and starring Tyler Perry.

Death and the Maiden also stars Tom Goodman-Hill as Gerado and Anthony Calf as Doctor Roberto Miranda. The show is directed by Jeremy Herrin with design by Peter McKintosh.

LINKS

Book tickets to Death and the Maiden at the Comedy Theatre in London

Full Casting Announced: Anthony Calf And Tom Goodman-Hill Will Play Alongside Thandie Newton In Death And The Maiden At The Comedy Theatre

The role of Gerado, the husband of Paulina Salas (Thandie Newton), will be played by Tom Goodman-Hill, and Doctor Roberto Miranda will be played by Anthony Calf in Ariel Dorfman’s Olivier award-winning thriller Death and the Maiden. The play will open at the Comedy Theatre from Thursday 13th October 2011. Jeremy Herrin, Deputy Artistic Director of the Royal Court, will direct and the production will be designed by Peter McKintosh.

Olivier Award nominee Tom Goodman-Hill has performed in a number of West End productions including Enron, Monty Python’s Spamalot (Olivier Award nominee for Best Supporting Performer in a Musical) and An Inspector Calls. Tom has also appeared in Earthquakes in London and Tartuffe (National Theatre), as well as Bartholomew Fair, Talk of the City and The Two Gentlemen of Verona for the RSC.

Anthony Calf has appeared in numerous Theatre productions for the Donmar Warehouse, National Theatre and The Royal Court. Recent credits include: Les Parents Terribles (Donmar Trafalgar Season), The Deep Blue Sea (Chichester Festival Theatre), Rock ‘n’ Roll (Royal Court Theatre), The White Guard and The Power of Yes (National Theatre). Anthony’s recent television credits include the 2010 remake of Upstairs, Downstairs and Holby City (BBC).

This will be the first West End production of Dorfman’s 1990 play since the world premiere at the Royal Court in 1991 which transferred to the Duke of York’s Theatre in 1992 where it played for 12 months. Subsequently, the play was produced on Broadway and adapted into a film.

The play is an intense and thrilling account of confession and revenge set against the backdrop of a new democracy, emerging from a long period of dictatorship.

Years have passed since political prisoner, Paulina, suffered at the hands of her captor: A man whose face she never saw, but whose voice and mannerisms can still recall with terrifying clarity.

One evening, by chance, a stranger arrives at the secluded beach house she shares with her husband Gerardo, a human rights lawyer. A stranger Paulina is convinced was her tormentor and must now be held to account…

Thandie Newton was awarded a BAFTA for her role in Crash, Paul Haggis’ Oscar-winning film about racial and social tensions in Los Angeles. She also starred in the title role in Beloved opposite Oprah Winfrey and in Mission Impossible II with Tom Cruise. She appeared in The Pursuit of Happyness with Will Smith and played Simon Pegg’s ex-girlfriend in Run Fat Boy Run. She played Condoleezza Rice in Oliver Stone’s W and the US President’s daughter in 2012. She was most recently seen in Huge and is currently filming Good Deeds, written and directed by Tyler Perry, whom also stars.

Jeremy Herrin is the Deputy Artistic Director at the Royal Court where he has directed Polly Stenham’s plays That Face and Tusk Tusk, David Hare’s The Vertical Hour, Michael Wynne’s The Priory, Richard Bean’s The Heretic and other new writing. This year he made his Shakespearean debut directing the acclaimed production of Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre with Eve Best and Charles Edwards, and will direct South Downs at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester in September.

Release issued by: The Corner Shop PR

LINKS

Book tickets to Death and the Maiden at the Comedy Theatre

Death and the Maiden tickets at the Comedy Theatre starring Thandie Newton

British film star Thandie Newton (Crash) stars in a strictly limited run of Ariel Dorfman’s explosive drama Death and the Maiden, directed by Jeremy Herrin.

Thandie Newton to star in Death And The Maiden at the Comedy Theatre

Hollywood actress Thandie Newton is to appear in the West End this autumn in Ariel Dorfman’s play Death And The Maiden at the Comedy Theatre.

Deputy Artistic Director of the Royal Court Jeremy Herrin will direct the play, which starts its run on 13 October 2011.

Thandie Newton will play former political prisoner Paulina Salas, who suffered at the hands of a captor whose face she never saw, but whose voice and mannerisms she recalls with terrifying clarity.

The role was originated by Juliet Stevenson in 1990 when the play premiered at the Royal Court before transferring into the West End. A 1994 movie was shot by Roman Polanski.

Thandie Newton won a BAFTA for Paul Haggis’ Oscar-winning movie Crash. Other films include 2012, Beloved, Mission Impossible II, The Pursuit of Happyness, Run Fat Boy Run, Oliver Stone’s W, Huge and forthcoming movie Good Deeds.

Newton, who is an ambassador for the Rambert Dance Company, has been looking for a West End project for some time.

Tickets for Death and the Maiden go on sale on Monday.

LINKS

Book tickets to Death and the Maiden at the Comedy Theatre in London 

Death And The Maiden By Ariel Dorfman With Thandie Newton At The Comedy Theatre From October 13, 2011

DIRECTED BY JEREMY HERRIN

Thandie Newton will play Paulina Salas in Ariel Dorfman’s Olivier award-winning thriller Death and the Maiden at the Comedy Theatre from Thursday 13th October 2011. Jeremy Herrin, Deputy Artistic Director of the Royal Court, will direct and the production will be designed by Peter McKintosh.

This will be the first London production of Dorfman’s 1990 play since the world premiere at the Royal Court in 1991 which transferred to the West End in 1992 where it played for 12 months. Subsequently, the play was produced on Broadway and adapted into a film.

The play is an intense and thrilling account of confession and revenge set against the backdrop of a new democracy, emerging from a long period of dictatorship.

Thandie Newton will play a former political prisoner who suffered at the hands of a captor whose face she never saw, but whose voice and mannerisms she recalls with terrifying clarity. Years later, and as if by fate, she acts as judge and jury to a man she believes to have been her oppressor. She struggles to find a form of reconciliation for the experience that she and others, have endured.

Casting of the two male roles will be announced soon.

Thandie Newton was awarded a BAFTA for her role in Crash, Paul Haggis’ Oscar-winning film about racial and social tensions in Los Angeles. She also starred in the title role in Beloved opposite Oprah Winfrey and in Mission Impossible II with Tom Cruise. She appeared in The Pursuit of Happyness with Will Smith and played Simon Pegg’s ex-girlfriend in Run Fat Boy Run. She played Condoleezza Rice in Oliver Stone’s W and the US President’s daughter in 2012. She was most recently seen in Huge and is currently filming Good Deeds, written and directed by Tyler Perry, whom also stars.

Jeremy Herrin is the Deputy Artistic Director at the Royal Court where he has directed Polly Stenham’s plays That Face and Tusk Tusk, David Hare’s The Vertical Hour, Michael Wayne’s The Priory, Richard Beane’s The Heretic and other new writing. This year he made his Shakespearean debut directing the acclaimed production of Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre with Eve Best and Charles Edwards, and will direct South Downs at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester in September.

Tickets are on sale from Monday 25 July 2011 at 9am.

www.deathandthemaidentheplay.com

Box Office: 0844 871 7622

Release issued by: The Corner Shop PR

OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Actress Winners

OLIVIER AWARDS – BEST ACTRESS WINNERS

Best Actress

2011 Nancy Carroll for After the Dance
2010 Rachel Weisz for A Streetcar Named Desire
2009 Margaret Tyzack for The Chalk Garden
2008 Kristin Scott Thomas for Chekhov’s The Seagull
2007 Tamsin Greig for Much Ado About Nothing
2006 Eve Best for Hedda Gabler
2005 Clare Higgins for Hecuba
2004 Eileen Atkins for Honour
2003 Clare Higgins for Vincent In Brixton
2002 Lindsay Duncan for Private Lives
2001 Julie Walters for All My Sons
2000 Janie Dee for Comic Potential
1999 Eileen Atkins for The Unexpected Man
1998 Zoë Wanamaker for Electra
1997 Janet McTeer for A Doll’s House
1996 Judi Dench for Absolute Hell
1995 Clare Higgins for Sweet Bird Of Youth
1994 Fiona Shaw for Machinal
1993 Alison Steadman for The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice
1992 Juliet Stevenson for Death And The Maiden
1991 Kathryn Hunter for The Visit
1989/90 Fiona Shaw for Electra, As You Like It and The Good Person Of Sichuan
1987 Judi Dench for Antony and Cleopatra
1986 Lindsay Duncan for Les Liaisons Dangereuses
1985 Yvonne Bryceland for The Road To Mecca

Actress of the Year in a New Play

1988 Pauline Collins for Shirley Valentine
1984 Thuli Dumakude for Poppie Nongena
1983 Judi Dench for Pack Of Lies
1982 Rosemary Leach for 84 Charing Cross Road
1981 Elizabeth Quinn for Children Of A Lesser God
1980 Frances de la Tour for Duet For One
1979 Jane Lapotaire for Piaf
1978 Joan Plowright for Filumena
1977 Alison Fiske for Dusa, Fish, Stas and Vi
1976 Peggy Ashcroft for Old World

Actress of the Year in a Revival

1988 Harriet Walter for Twelfth Night and The Three Sisters
1984 Vanessa Redgrave for The Aspern Papers
1983 Frances de la Tour for A Moon For The Misbegotten
1982 Cheryl Campbell for A Doll’s House
1981 Margaret Tyzack for Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?
1980 Judi Dench for Juno And The Paycock
1979 Zoë Wanamaker for Once In A Lifetime
1978 Dorothy Tutin for The Double Dealer
1977 Judi Dench for Macbeth
1976 Dorothy Tutin for A Month In The Country

Best Actress in a Musical

2011 Sheridan Smith for Legally Blonde – The Musical
2010 Samantha Spiro for Hello Dolly!
2009 Elena Roger for Piaf
2008 Leanne Jones for Hairspray
2007 Jenna Russell for Sunday In The Park With George
2006 Jane Krakowski for Guys And Dolls
2005 Laura Michelle Kelly for Mary Poppins
2004 Maria Friedman for Ragtime at the Piccadilly
2003 Joanna Riding for My Fair Lady
2002 Martine McCutcheon for My Fair Lady
2001 Samantha Spiro for Merrily We Roll Along
2000 Barbara Dickson for Spend Spend Spend
1999 Sophie Thompson for Into The Woods
1998 Ute Lemper for Chicago
1997 Maria Friedman for Passion
1996 Judi Dench for A Little Night Music
1995 Ruthie Henshall for She Loves Me
1994 Julia McKenzie for Sweeney Todd
1993 Joanna Riding for Carousel
1992 Wilhelmenia Fernandez for Carmen Jones
1991 Imelda Staunton for Into The Woods
1989/90 Lea Salonga for Miss Saigon
1988 Patricia Routledge for Candide
1987 Nichola McAuliffe for Kiss Me Kate
1986 Lesley Mackie for Judy
1985 Patti LuPone for Les Misérables and The Cradle Will Rock
1984 Natalia Makarova for On Your Toes
1983 Barbara Dickson for Blood Brothers
1982 Julia McKenzie for Guys And Dolls
1981 Carlin Glynn for The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas
1980 Gemma Craven for They’re Playing Our Song
1979 Virginia McKenna for The King And I

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