NATIONAL THEATRE September 2011 – January 2012

• Dominic Cooke directs Shakespeare’s THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, with Lenny Henry making his NT debut in the Olivier Theatre
• Sinéad Cusack and Ciarán Hinds lead the cast of JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK by Sean O’Casey, directed by Howard Davies, in the Lyttelton
• Nicholas Hytner directs Alex Jennings and Simon Russell Beale in COLLABORATORS, a new play by John Hodge in the Cottesloe
• Visitors to the National include 1927’s THE ANIMALS AND CHILDREN TOOK TO THE STREETS; Daniel Kitson; and Mark Thomas
• Bristol Old Vic’s production of SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS comes to the West End
• The third season of NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE includes One Man, Two Guvnors (prior to a UK tour and West End run), The Kitchen, Collaborators and The Comedy of Errors

COLLABORATORS
Cottesloe Theatre
Previews from 25 October, press night 1 November, continuing in repertoire
National Theatre Live broadcast on 1 December 2011

Nicholas Hytner directs COLLABORATORS, a new play by John Hodge, opening in the Cottesloe Theatre on Tuesday 1 November. NT Associates Alex Jennings and Simon Russell Beale lead the cast, alongside Mark Addy, Sarah Annis, Marcus Cunningham, Jacqueline Defferary, Patrick Godfrey, Michael Jenn, Jess Murphy, William Postlethwaite, Pierce Reid, Nick Sampson, Maggie Service and Perri Snowdon. The production will be designed by Bob Crowley, with lighting by Jon Clark, music by George Fenton and sound by Paul Arditti; with thanks to Simon Sebag Montefiore.

Moscow, 1938. A dangerous to place to have a sense of humour; even more so a sense of freedom. Mikhail Bulgakov, living among dissidents, stalked by secret police, has both. And then he’s offered a poisoned chalice: a commission to write a play about Stalin to celebrate his sixtieth birthday.
Inspired by historical fact, COLLABORATORS embarks on a surreal journey into the fevered imagination of the writer as he loses himself in a macabre and disturbingly funny relationship with the omnipotent subject of his drama.

John Hodge’s blistering new play depicts a lethal game of cat and mouse through which the appalling compromises and humiliations inflicted on any artist by those with power are held up to scrutiny. Alex Jennings plays Bulgakov and Simon Russell Beale, Stalin.

John Hodge’s screenplays include Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, A Life Less Ordinary, The Beach, The Final Curtain and The Dark is Rising.

Alex Jennings’s many appearances at the National include The Habit of Art, Present Laughter, The Alchemist, Stuff Happens, His Girl Friday, The Relapse and The Winter’s Tale (for which two roles he won the 2001 Evening Standard Award for Best Actor), Albert Speer, and My Fair Lady at Drury Lane (Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical).

Simon Russell Beale’s extensive theatre work includes London Assurance, Major Barbara, Much Ado About Nothing, The Alchemist, The Life of Galileo, Hamlet (Evening Standard & Critics’ Circle Awards) and Humble Boy for the National; The Winter’s Tale and The Cherry Orchard (New York and Old Vic); and Bluebird (New York).

Since he became Director of the National in April 2003, Nicholas Hytner has directed Henry V, His Dark Materials, The History Boys, Stuff Happens, Henry IV, Southwark Fair, The Alchemist, The Man of Mode, The Rose Tattoo (with Stephen Pimlott), Rafta, Rafta… , Much Ado About Nothing, Major Barbara, England People Very Nice, Phèdre, The Habit of Art, London Assurance, Hamlet and One Man, Two Guvnors.

COLLABORATORS will be broadcast to cinemas worldwide as part of National Theatre Live on 1 December.

The National Theatre’s Cottesloe Partner is Neptune Investment Management.

JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK
Lyttelton Theatre
A co-production with the Abbey Theatre, Ireland
Previews from 11 November, press night 16 November, continuing in repertoire

Howard Davies directs JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK by Sean O’Casey in a co-production with the Abbey Theatre, Ireland, opening at the National’s Lyttelton Theatre on 16 November. The cast is led by Sinéad Cusack as Juno and Ciarán Hinds as Jack Boyle, with: Cornelius Clarke, Risteárd Cooper, Clare Dunne, Kieran Gough, Luke Hayden, Dermot Kerrigan, Nick Lee, Gillian McCarthy, Bernadette McKenna, Brian Martin, Janet Moran, Kevin Murphy, Ronan Raftery, Sophie Robinson, Eoin Slattery and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor. Bob Crowley will design the set and costumes, with lighting by James Farncombe, music by Anna Rice and sound by Ben Delaney. This is the National Theatre’s first co-production with Ireland’s national theatre, the Abbey, and the production will open the Dublin Theatre Festival in September before coming to the Lyttelton.

One of the great plays of the twentieth century, Sean O’Casey’s JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK offers a devastating portrait of wasted potential in a Dublin torn apart by the chaos of the Irish War of Independence, 1922.

Jack Boyle is out of work and determined to stay that way. He postures and drinks with his sidekick Joxer while the long-suffering Juno balances threats with cajolement to preserve the semblance of family in a squalid tenement flat. Their son Johnny, crippled fighting for the IRA, cowers indoors, terrified of reprisal; his sister Mary has joined the labour movement and is on strike. Sudden news of an inheritance provokes dreams of escape but, even before their rowdy celebrations are done, reality asserts itself as a neighbour’s corpse is carried down the stairs, another victim of the bitter civil war. Mary falls for an educated man as the loans stack up. Tragedy ensues.

Sinéad Cusack’s last appearance at the National Theatre was in Sebastian Barry’s Our Lady of Sligo, for which she won the Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Best Actress Awards. Her extensive theatre work also includes The Cherry Orchard and The Winter’s Tale (New York and Old Vic), Rock ‘n’ Roll (Royal Court), and Three Sisters (Gate Dublin / Royal Court).

Ciarán Hinds’s work in theatre includes, for the National, Burnt by the Sun, Closer (also on Broadway), Machinal, and The Seafarer on Broadway. His recent TV credits include Rome. Film includes: Persuasion, There Will Be Blood, Munich, The Phantom of the Opera, Lara Croft: The Cradle of Life, Calendar Girls and Circle of Friends.

Howard Davies is an Associate Director at the NT, where his recent productions include The Cherry Orchard, The White Guard (Evening Standard Award for Best Director), Burnt by the Sun, Never So Good and Philistines.

JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK is supported by American Express and Culture Ireland.

The production runs at the Abbey Theatre, Ireland from 21 September – 5 November (press night: 29 September) www.abbeytheatre.ie

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS
Olivier Theatre
Previews from 22 November, press night 29 November, continuing in repertoire

Dominic Cooke, Artistic Director of the Royal Court, makes his NT debut directing Shakespeare’s THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, opening in the Olivier Theatre on 29 November. Lenny Henry, in his first appearance at the National, plays Antipholus of Syracuse; the cast also includes Claudie Blakley (Adriana), Clare Cathcart, Chris Jarman (Antipholus of Ephesus), Lucian Msamati (Dromio of Syracuse), Joseph Mydell (Aegeon), Pamela Nomvete, Daniel Poyser (Dromio of Ephesus), Amit Shah and Michelle Terry (Luciana). It will be designed by Bunny Christie, with lighting by Paule Constable, music by Gary Yershon, movement by Ann Yee, sound by Christopher Shutt and fight direction by Kate Waters.

Two sets of twins separated at birth collide in the same city without meeting for one crazy day, as multiple mistaken identities lead to confusion on a grand scale. And for no one more so than Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant Dromio who, in search of their brothers, arrive in a land entirely foreign to their distant home. A buzzing metropolis, to the outsiders it appears a place of wonderment and terror, where baffling gifts and unexplained hostilities abound.

Consistently recognised by strangers, the visitors question their very selves as the turmoil escalates. Meanwhile, Aegeon, father to the Antipholus twins, has been captured searching for his sons and, as an illegal immigrant, is sentenced to death at sunset.

Shakespeare’s furiously paced comedy will be staged in a contemporary world into which walk three prohibited foreigners who see everything for the first time.

Lenny Henry made his Shakespearean debut in the title role in Othello for Northern Broadsides/West Yorkshire Playhouse, which transferred to the West End and for which he won the 2009 Evening Standard Outstanding Newcomer Award. He has toured worldwide with his stand-up comedy shows, and has appeared in and presented innumerable television dramas, comedies and documentaries, including Three of a Kind, The Lenny Henry Show, Alive and Kicking, Chef!, Hope & Glory and Lenny Henry in Pieces. His many awards include the Lifetime Achievement – Performance Award at the 2003 British Comedy Awards, and a Golden Rose at the Montreux Television Festival.

Dominic Cooke is Artistic Director of the Royal Court, where his productions have included Chicken Soup with Barley, Clybourne Park (also West End), Aunt Dan and Lemon, The Fever, Wig Out!, Now Or Later, Rhinoceros and The Pain and the Itch. He was Associate Director of the RSC from 2002-06, where his work included Arabian Nights, Pericles, The Winter’s Tale, The Crucible (Olivier Awards for Best Director and Best Revival), As You Like It and Cymbeline.

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS will be broadcast to cinemas worldwide as part of National Theatre Live on 1 March 2012.

The production is sponsored by KPMG.

THE ANIMALS AND CHILDREN TOOK TO THE STREETS
Cottesloe Theatre
7 December – 3 January, 15 performances

Seamlessly synchronizing live music, performance and storytelling with stunning film and animation, THE ANIMALS AND CHILDREN TOOK TO THE STREETS is the wickedly twisted second show from multiple award-winning company 1927, visiting the Cottesloe Theatre for 15 performances between 7 December and 3 January.

Trust no-one. Suspect even your own shadow. Welcome to the Bayou, a part of the city feared and loathed, wherein lies the infamous Bayou Mansions: a stinking sprawling tenement block, where curtain-twitchers and peeping-toms live side by side, and the wolf… is always at the door. When Agnes Eaves and her daughter arrive late one night, does it signal hope in this hopeless place, or has the real horror only just begun?

1927 invite you on a theatrical journey of startling originality, like a giant graphic novel burst into life.

The Animals and Children Took to the Streets is created by 1927 and directed and written by Suzanne Andrade, with film, animation and design by Paul Barritt. It is produced by Joanna Crowley, with music by Lillian Henley and costume by Sarah Munro and Esme Appleton. It was co-commissioned by BAC, Malthouse Theatre Melbourne & The Showroom (University of Chichester).

The National Theatre’s Cottesloe partner is Neptune Management.

IT’S ALWAYS RIGHT NOW, UNTIL IT’S LATER
Lyttelton Theatre
A new show by Daniel Kitson about Everything and Nothing
7 – 21 October, 19 – 22 December (day seats & returns only). All tickets £12.

Extra December dates have been added for Daniel Kitson’s show about every single one of us, the past in our pockets, the future in our hearts and us, ourselves, very much stuck, trapped forever, in the tiny eternal moment between the two. Written and performed by Daniel Kitson, designed by Susannah Henry and Daniel Kitson; the technical director is Jon Meggat.

MARK THOMAS: EXTREME RAMBLING
Lyttelton Theatre
Friday 23 December, 7.30pm, followed by a booksigning. All tickets £12.

During 2010, Mark Thomas decided to go rambling in the Middle East and walked the entire length of the Israeli Separation Barrier, crossing between the Israeli and the Palestinian side. Extreme Rambling is the story of 300,000 settlers, a 750km wall, six arrests, one stoning, too much hummus and one simple question… can you ever get away from it all with a good walk?

SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS
Vaudeville Theatre, West End
15 December 2011 – 14 January 2012, suitable for 6 years+

The critically acclaimed Bristol Old Vic production of SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS, a new musical play with book by Helen Edmundson and songs by Neil Hannon, comes to the West End’s Vaudeville Theatre this Christmas for a strictly limited 5-week run from 15 December – 14 January (press night: 19 December), presented by the National Theatre and The Children’s Touring Partnership.

Based on the much-loved book by Arthur Ransome, this delightful and imaginative production is directed by Tom Morris, Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic and co-director of the National Theatre’s Tony Award-winning smash hit War Horse. SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS has music and lyrics by Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy and is written by Helen Edmundson, who adapted the National’s Coram Boy.

All aboard The Swallow! Follow Captain John and his able crew as they set sail to Wildcat Island on an exotic adventure to encounter savages, capture dastardly pirates and defeat mortal enemies.

An action-packed musical adventure for the whole family (ages 6+), SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS is a story of an idyllic era, of endless summer evenings and the beauty of youthful imagination.

SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS opened at Bristol Old Vic in December 2010 for a sell-out run and was a critical and popular hit; it was originally developed at the National Theatre Studio. Following its run at the Vaudeville Theatre, the production will embark on a UK tour (for more information please visit www.swallowsamazons.co.uk).

The director of movement is Toby Sedgwick, who won an Olivier Award for War Horse; with set design by Robert Innes Hopkins, costume design by Robert Innes Hopkins & Liesel Corp, musical direction and arrangements by Sam Kenyon, lighting design by James Farncombe, sound by Jason Barnes and additional musical arrangements by Andrew Skeet.

Published in 1930, Swallows and Amazons was the first in a series of twelve books by Arthur Ransome (1884-1967). Set in 1929 in the Lake District, it tells of the school holiday exploits of the Walker and Blackett children and their sailing dinghies – the Swallow and the Amazon.

Helen Edmundson’s many adaptations include Coram Boy, which played two sell-out seasons at the National Theatre, and Anna Karenina, Mill on the Floss, War and Peace and Gone to Earth for Shared Experience. Other work includes The Clearing (Bush Theatre), Mother Teresa is Dead (Royal Court), and a version of Calderon’s Life is a Dream (Donmar). Her new play, The Heresy of Love, opens for the RSC at the Swan in February 2012.

Neil Hannon is a singer, lyricist and composer. Although he is best known for writing, recording and performing as The Divine Comedy, he has also written extensively for TV and film, including the music to Father Ted and The IT Crowd. He has collaborated with everyone from Michael Nyman to Tom Jones, and his cricket-themed project The Duckworth Lewis Method was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award. Swallows and Amazons is his first venture into the world of musical theatre.

Tom Morris was appointed Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic in September 2009. As Associate Director of the National Theatre (2004 – 2009), he developed and co-directed (with Marianne Elliott) War Horse which is currently running in the West End and on Broadway, where it received 6 Tony Awards; and co-directed Every Good Boy Deserves Favour. Previously he was Artistic Director at Battersea Arts Centre from 1995 to 2004. He sits on the board of Complicite and is Chair of the JMK Trust.

Established in 2010 and led by independent producer Fiery Angel and Chichester Festival Theatre, the Children’s Touring Partnership receives generous support from Arts Council England. Their inaugural production, Goodnight Mister Tom, premiered at Chichester in January 2011 and subsequently toured the UK for fourteen weeks. The Children’s Touring Partnership will be presenting the tour of Bristol Old Vic’s stage adaptation of Swallows and Amazons throughout spring 2012.

NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE

ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS opens a new season of NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE, sponsored by Aviva, when it is broadcast live to over 100 UK cinemas and 300 more abroad on 15 September (varying dates internationally). Since National Theatre Live’s first season, which began in June 2009 with Phèdre starring Helen Mirren, over half a million people have now experienced the National’s work on movie screens around the world.

One Man, Two Guvnors will be followed by THE KITCHEN by Arnold Wesker on 6 October and John Hodge’s COLLABORATORS on 1 December; future screenings will include THE COMEDY OF ERRORS on 1 March 2012 with additional titles to be announced. For further information and booking details for all cinemas, please visit www.ntlive.com

ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS
UK tour and West End

Following its run at the National, Nicholas Hytner’s hit production of ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS will tour the UK, visiting: Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury (27 September – 1 October); Theatre Royal, Plymouth (4 – 8 October); The Lowry, Salford (11 – 15 October); New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham (18 – 22 October); and King’s Theatre, Edinburgh (25 – 29 October). Richard Bean’s adaptation, with songs by Grant Olding, then transfers to the West End’s Adelphi Theatre from 8 November 2011 – 25 February 2012. James Corden continues in his original role of Francis Henshall, along with his two ‘guvnors’ Oliver Chris and Jemima Rooper, and the rest of the original cast.

MIKE LEIGH’S new play visits Bath and Cambridge
Mike Leigh’s new play will visit Theatre Royal, Bath (25 – 29 October) and Cambridge Arts Theatre (1 – 5 November), during its Cottesloe run.

PRODUCTION AND CASTING UPDATES

A new play by Mike Leigh
The full cast for Mike Leigh’s new play, opening in the Cottesloe on 21 September, is: Marion Bailey, Ruby Bentall, Dorothy Duffy, David Horovitch, Sam Kelly, Lesley Manville and Wendy Nottingham.

THE VEIL
Conor McPherson directs his own new play The Veil, opening in the Lyttelton on 4 October. The full cast is: Bríd Brennan, Caoilfhionn Dunne, Abigail Guiver, Claudia Hall, Ursula Jones, Peter McDonald, Felicity McHardy-Costaine Brown, Mary Mallen, Ursula Mohan, Alan Mooney, Jim Norton, Alice Parsloe, Adrian Schiller, Emily Taaffe, Geoffrey Towers and Fenella Woolgar.

13
The cast for Mike Bartlett’s new play 13, opening in the Olivier on 25 October as part of the Travelex £12 Tickets season, directed by Thea Sharrock, is: Matthew Barker, Nick Blakeley, Katie Brayben, Natasha Broomfield, Kirsty Bushell, Martin Chamberlain, Grace Cooper Milton, Davood Ghadami, Trystan Gravelle, Jadie-Rose Hobson, Adam James, Geraldine James, Sioned Jones, Barbara Kirby, Esther McAuley, Genevieve O’Reilly, Lara Rossi, Helen Ryan, Nick Sidi, Zara Tempest-Walters, Danny Webb, John Webber and Shane Zaza.

KING JAMES BIBLE
Nikki Amuka-Bird, David Calder, Nancy Carroll, Lindsay Duncan, Alan Howard, Alex Jennings, Paterson Joseph, Maureen Lipman, Paul Ready, Patricia Routledge, Simon Russell Beale and John Shrapnel will be among the ensemble of leading NT actors reading extracts (edited by Edward Kemp) from the KING JAMES BIBLE as part of its 400th anniversary celebrations. The twelve extracts will be directed by Nicholas Hytner, James Dacre and Polly Findlay in the Lyttelton Theatre from 8 October – 6 November.

Dates and times of the readings vary and can be found in the rep leaflet or NT website, alongside casting details.

Release issued by: National Theatre

LINKS

National Theatre website

Chicken Soup With Barley And The Village Bike Extends At Royal Court Theatre

Dominic Cooke’s revival of Arnold Wesker’s play Chicken Soup with Barley will extend for an extra week until Saturday 16 July at the Royal Court Theatre in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs.

Penelope Skinner’s The Village Bike, which begin previews on 24 June (press night 1 July) has also been an extended for an extra week until Saturday 30 July in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs.

Chicken Soup with Barley opened to four and five stars across the board last week, matching the record-breaking Clybourne Park’s biggest sales day last year.

The cast includes Samantha Spiro as Sarah Kahn with Jenna Augen, Steve Furst, Rebecca Gethings, Joel Gillman, Ilan Goodman, Harry Peacock, Tom Rosenthal, Danny Webb and Alexis Zegerman. It is directed by Dominic Cooke, designed by Ultz, with lighting by Charles Balfour, sound by Gareth Fry and music by Gary Yershon.

The kettle boils in 1936 as the fascists are marching. Tea is brewed in 1946, with disillusion in the air at the end of the war. Twenty years on, in 1956, as rumours spread of Hungarian revolution, the cup is empty.

Sarah Kahn, an East End Jewish mother, is a feisty political fighter and a staunch communist. Battling against the State and her shirking husband she desperately tries to keep her family together.

A moving and important state-of-the-nation play capturing the collapse of an ideology alongside the disintegration of a family.

The Village Bike is the Royal Court debut from Penelope Skinner. The cast includes Nicholas Burns, Phil Cornwell, Romola Garai, Alexandra Gilbreath, Dominic Rowan and Sasha Waddell. It is directed by Joe Hill-Gibbins, designed by Helen Goddard with lighting by James Farncombe, sound by David McSeveney and video by Christophe Toumazou

‘Isn’t she gorgeous? Hardly been ridden. She’s been in the garage just gathering dust’

Becky’s pregnant and frustrated. But her husband is more interested in the baby manual than her new underwear so she turns to the porn stash under the bed. As the summer heats up, a brief encounter sends her speeding downhill towards reckless abandon.

A provocative and darkly comic look at fantasy and romance.

Age 18+. Contains scenes of a sexual nature.

The Village Bike is part of the Royal Court’s Jerwood New Playwrights programme, supported by the Jerwood Charitable Foundation

Tickets available online at www.royalcourttheatre.com or from the Box Office on 020 7565 5000.

Release issued by: Royal Court press office

LINKS

Royal Court Theatre website

Cast Announced For Chicken Soup With Barley At Royal Court Theatre

The cast has been announced for Dominic Cooke’s revival of Arnold Wesker’s seminal play Chicken Soup with Barley, which returns to the Royal Court Theatre in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs from 2 June (press night 7 June).

Samantha Spiro, as previously announced will play the pivotal role of the matriarch Sarah Kahn and will be joined by Jenna Augen, Steve Furst, Joel Gillman, Ilan Goodman, Harry Peacock, Tom Rosenthal, Danny Webb and Alexis Zegerman.

Chicken Soup with Barley, the first in a trilogy that includes Roots and I’m Talking about Jerusalem was first performed at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry in 1958 and transferred to the Royal Court in the same year. The full trilogy was performed at the Royal Court in 1960.

The kettle boils in 1936 as the fascists are marching. Tea is brewed in 1946, with disillusion in the air at the end of the war. Twenty years on, in 1956, as rumours spread of Hungarian revolution, the cup is empty.

Sarah Kahn, an East End Jewish mother, is a feisty political fighter and a staunch communist. Battling against the State and her shirking husband she desperately tries to keep her family together.

A moving and important state-of-the-nation play capturing the collapse of an ideology alongside the disintegration of a family.

Jenna Augen will make her stage debut after graduating from Rada to play Ada Kahn. Steve Furst will play Hymie Kossof. His credits include Wet Weather Cover at the King’s Head Theatre, on television, he is well-known for his comic roles in Little Britain, CBBC’s Dick and Dom and appeared in the BBC1 adaptation of Wuthering Heights. On film, his credits include St Trinian’s.

Joel Gillman plays Dave Simmonds, making his stage debut after graduating from the Drama Centre. His TV credits include Being Human, Casualty and Garrow’s Law. Ilan Goodman plays Prince Silver. His previous credits include Miss Nightingale at the Lowry, Danton’s Death at the National Theatre and Six Degrees of Separation at the Old Vic.

Harry Peacock plays Monty Blatt. His credits include As You Like It at the Sheffield Crucible, Henry IV Parts I and II, His Dark Materials and Cyrano de Bergerac at the National Theatre. Tom Rosenthal plays Ronnie Kahn. An award winning stand-up comedian, he is currently starring in Friday Night Dinner on Channel 4.

Samantha Spiro plays Sarah Kahn. She last appeared at the Royal Court in The Family Plays and most recently appeared in Hello Dolly! at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, for which she won an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. On television, she recently won a 2011 Comedy Award in the Best Female Comedy Breakthrough category for her part in the TV sitcom Grandma’s House on BBC 1. Her other credits include Much Ado About Nothing at Regent’s Park, Twelfth Night at the Donmar Warehouse, and Funny Girl at Chichester Festival Theatre and she played Barbara Windsor in Terry Johnson’s TV play Cor, Blimey!

Danny Webb plays Harry Kahn. He previously appeared at the Royal Court in Serious Money , Piano Forte and Trade. His other credits include Blasted at the Lyric Hammersmith, The Philanthropist at the Donmar Warehouse, The Green Man at the Bush Theatre, Richard III at Sheffield Crucible and Art in the West End. On screen, he appeared in the BBC drama Land Girls.

Alexis Zegerman plays Cissie. Her credits include Two Thousand Years at the National Theatre and on screen she played the lead role of Zoe in Mike Leigh’s film Happy Go Lucky for which she won the award for Best Supporting Actress at the British Independent Film Awards. She is also a writer and her first full length play for the stage was Lucky Seven at Hampstead Theatre in 2008.

Arnold Wesker’s plays at the Royal Court have included The Wesker Trilogy (Chicken Soup with Barley, Roots and I’m Talking About Jerusalem), The Kitchen, Chips with Everything, Their Very Own and Golden City and The Old Ones. More recently his plays have included Longitude at Greenwich Theatre, Denial at Bristol Old Vic and Break My Heart at Sherman Theatre, Cardiff. His recent books include Wesker on Theatre, Wesker’s Monologues, Wesker’s Love Plays, Wesker’s Political Plays, Wesker’s Social Plays (all published by Oberon books).

Artistic Director of the Royal Court Dominic Cooke directs. He is currently directing the award-winning production of Clybourne Park, which opened at the Royal Court in September 2010 to critical acclaim and which continues in the West End at the Wyndhams Theatre until 7 May.

Other credits at the Royal Court include Aunt Dan and Lemon, The Fever, Seven Jewish Children, Wig Out!, Now or Later, Rhinoceros and two plays in Mark Ravenhill’s epic play cycle Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat. His credits elsewhere include Arabian Nights and Noughts and Crosses, both for the RSC, as adapter and director. He won the Olivier award for Best Director and Best Revival for The Crucible.

The production will be designed by Ultz, whose previous designs at the Royal Court have included Off the Endz, Jerusalem and Wig Out! Lighting is by Charles Balfour, sound by Gareth Fry and composition by Gary Yershon.

Chicken Soup with Barley will be the first production in the year-long sponsorship of the Royal Court by Coutts & Co, which begins in May 2011.

This is the first time that the Coutts & Co has been the Principal Sponsor of the Royal Court, although the relationship has been ongoing since 2004, with the private bank sponsoring the Royal Court’s 50th anniversary year and most recently its first ever family Christmas show Get Santa!

Chicken Soup with Barley opens in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs from 2 June. Tickets are available online at www.royalcourttheatre.com or from the Box Office on 020 7565 5000.

Release issued by: Royal Court

LINKS

Royal Court website

Bruce Norris play Clybourne Park wins Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris, which was staged at the Royal Court theatre last year and is currently playing at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London, has won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The prestigious award for drama was announced alongside the other prizes at a press conference today, 18 April 2011. The prizes will be awarded at a luncheon in late May in the Low Library on the Columbia University campus.

The Prize comes after the play has won every major Best Play award in the UK, including an Olivier Award, Evening Standard Theatre Award and South Bank Sky Arts Award.

The Pulitzer awards committee said that Clybourne Park was “a powerful work whose memorable characters speak in witty and perceptive ways to America’s sometimes toxic struggle with race and class consciousness.”

It beat nominated plays A Free Man of Color by John Guare and Detroit by Lisa D’Amour. Last year’s prize went to Broadway rock musical Next to Normal, with music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey.

The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is awarded to a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life. The prize is $10,000.

Clybourne Park is running in London for a strictly limited season at the Wyndham’s Theatre, staring Sophie Thompson and Stephen Campbell Moore, and is directed by Dominic Cooke. Bruce Norris’s bitingly funny satire is about property and racial tensions in America. The first act is set in 1959, when a black family buys a house in a white Chicago suburb. Act two sees the actors take on different roles and the story reverse to the same house but in 2009. The modern-day neighbourhood is now predominantly black, and a white couple are trying to buy the same house.

LINKS

TICKETS: Book tickets to Clybourne Park at the Wyndham’s Theatre
NEWS: More News on Clybourne Park
AWARDS: Pulitzer Prize for Drama – past winners
AWARDS: The Pulitzer Prize website

Best Play winner Clybourne Park: Save £11 on tickets

Save £11 on tickets to CLYBOURNE PARK at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London

Valid Monday to Friday performances

Winner of just about every Best Play award going – including the Olivier Awards and Evening Standard Theatre Awards –  the Royal Court’s sell out, smash hit comedy is now on at the Wyndham’s Theatre in the West End – but only for a strictly limited season.

The critics hailed it as ‘Shockingly Entertaining’ and ‘Appallingly funny’ as this devastating satire explores the ever contentious themes of race and property ownership from two time periods – 1959 and 2009.

A terrific cast, including Sophie Thompson, Stephen Campbell Moore and Lorna Brown, star in Bruce Norris’s award-winning play directed by Dominic Cooke.

The Independent

The Telegraph

The Times

The Guardian

Save £11 on tickets to CLYBOURNE PARK at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London

Valid Monday to Friday performances

LINKS

Book tickets to Clybourne Park
Reviews on Clybourne Park
More news on Clybourne Park

Clybourne Park – Reviews Round-up

Round-up of reviews for Clybourne Park at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London

A terrific cast, including Sophie Thompson, star in Clybourne Park, Bruce Norris’s award-winning play directed by Dominic Cooke, that gets a well-deserved transfer from the Royal Court into the West End.

This bitingly funny play about property and racial tensions in America sees the first act set in 1959, when a black family buys a house in a white Chicago suburb. Act two sees the actors take on different roles and the story reverse to the same house but in 2009. The modern-day neighbourhood is now predominantly black, and a white couple are trying to buy the same house.

The cast is singled out for special praise, particularly Sophie Thompson, Stuart McQuarrie, Sarah Goldberg, Stephen Campbell Moore, Lucian Msamati and Lorna Brown.

The play is shockingly funny and the critics loved it as much the second time round as the first. The play has been winning every Best Play gong going, including the Evening Standard awards, and is tipped to do well at next month’s Olivier Awards.

See reviews below from the Telegraph, Guardian, Times, Evening Standard and Independent.

Book tickets to Clybourne Park at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London

Nicholas Hytner announces plans for 2011 and beyond at the National Theatre

Highlights of the forthcoming productions at the National Theatre, announced today by Nicholas Hytner, include Howard Davies’s production of The Cherry Orchard; Jonathan Kent’s staging of Ibsen’s Emperor and Galilean; Katie Mitchell’s production of A Woman Killed with Kindness; Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork’s London Road; Dominic Cooke’s NT debut with The Comedy of Errors; and Nicholas Hytner’s production of Richard Bean’s One Man,Two Guvnors. There will be a new musical by Tori Amos and Sam Adamson; new plays by John Hodge, Mike Leigh and Conor McPherson; revivals of classic 20th-century plays by Odets, Wesker and O’Casey; and Jonathan Miller’s staging of Bach’s St Matthew Passion.

Olivier Theatre

Tickets for the ninth Travelex season at the National Theatre will continue to offer exciting and ambitious work at the equivalent of cinema prices, with almost half the tickets for every performance at £12 and the rest at £20 and £30. The season opens on 17 May with Howard Davies’s production of THE CHERRY ORCHARD by Anton Chekhov, in a version by Andrew Upton; Zoë Wanamaker as Madame Ranevskaya and Conleth Hill as Lopakhin head the cast, which also includes Claudie Blakley, Mark Bonnar, Pip Carter, Gerald Kyd, James Laurenson, Tim McMullan, Emily Taaffe, Charity Wakefield and Sarah Woodward.

Ibsen’s EMPEROR AND GALILEAN, in a new version by Ben Power, will be directed by Jonathan Kent, opening on 15 June; Andrew Scott plays Julian and the cast also includes James McArdle, Jamie Ballard, John Heffernan, Ian McDiarmid (as Maximus), Genevieve O’Reilly and Prasanna Puwanarajah.

The Travelex £12 Season will continue in September with a production yet to be confirmed, directed by Thea Sharrock; and will conclude in October with a new production of Arnold Wesker’s 1957 play THE KITCHEN, directed by Bijan Sheibani.

Jonathan Miller’s staging of Bach’s ST MATTHEW PASSION, in collaboration with Southbank Sinfonia, will have nine performances in September as part of the four hundredth anniversary celebrations for the King James Bible. The National will also present readings from the Old and New Testaments, abridged by Edward Kemp, by a company of leading actors from the NT’s last 25 years; Nicholas Hytner will be the supervisory director and the readings will take place in the Olivier and Lyttelton Theatres.

Dominic Cooke, Artistic Director of The Royal Court, will make his National Theatre debut with Shakespeare’s THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, opening in the Olivier in November.

As already announced, earlier in the year Danny Boyle directs FRANKENSTEIN, a new play by Nick Dear, based on the novel by Mary Shelley. Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller alternate the roles of Victor Frankenstein and The Creature; the cast also includes Karl Johnson and Naomie Harris. The production, sponsored by Coutts & Co, has press nights on 22 and 23 February.

Lyttelton Theatre

The 2011 Lyttelton season opens on 1 February, as previously announced, with GREENLAND by Moira Buffini, Matt Charman, Penelope Skinner and Jack Thorne. NT associate directors Bijan Sheibani and Ben Power are the director and dramaturg respectively; the production is sponsored by Accenture.

Angus Jackson directs ROCKET TO THE MOON by Clifford Odets, opening on 30 March, with a cast led by Keeley Hawes, Joseph Millson, Jessica Raine and Nicholas Woodeson.

In May, Nicholas Hytner directs ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS by Richard Bean, based on The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni; James Corden heads the cast. The production will tour the UK in October following its Lyttelton run.

A WOMAN KILLED WITH KINDNESS by Thomas Heywood will be directed by Katie Mitchell, opening in July.

A new play written and directed by Conor McPherson will open in the Lyttelton in October. As yet untitled, the play is set in 19th-century Ireland.

Howard Davies will direct Sean O’Casey’s JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK, with Sinead Cusack as Juno and Ciaran Hinds as Captain Boyle. This will be a co-production with the Abbey Theatre, Ireland, where it premieres in September before opening at the Lyttelton in November.

Cottesloe Theatre

Ryan Craig’s new play, THE HOLY ROSENBERGS, opens on 16 March directed by Laurie Sansom, with a cast led by Henry Goodman and also including Philip Arditti, Stephen Boxer, Paul Freeman, Tilly Tremayne, Alex Waldmann and Susannah Wise.

Rufus Norris will direct LONDON ROAD, with book and lyrics by Alecky Blythe, and music and lyrics by Adam Cork, opening on 14 April; the cast includes Rosalie Craig, Kate Fleetwood, Nick Holder, Claire Moore, Michael Shaeffer and Paul Thornley. (Alecky Blythe’s award-winning play Do We Look Like Refugees?, seen at the Edinburgh Festival in 2010, will visit Riverside Studios in May, in a co-production by the NT Studio/Rustaveli Theatre, Georgia.)

In July, four new one-hour plays commissioned from emerging writers new to the National Theatre will be directed by Polly Findlay and Lyndsey Turner, presented in alternating double-bills.

Mike Leigh returns to the National with a new play, opening in September; the cast will include Ruby Bentall and Lesley Manville.

A new play by John Hodge will be directed by Nicholas Hytner, opening in October. The play centres on an imaginary encounter between Joseph Stalin and the playwright Mikhail Bulgakov; Alex Jennings will play Bulgakov and Simon Russell Beale will play Stalin.

Winter and beyond

Looking further ahead, a production of THE WAY OF THE WORLD by William Congreve will open in the Olivier in January 2012.

A new musical with music and lyrics by Tori Amos and book and additional lyrics by Samuel Adamson, suggested by a story by George MacDonald, will be directed by Marianne Elliott, opening in April 2012 in the Lyttelton Theatre.

Beyond the National: National Theatre Live, on tour, in the West End and on Broadway

Following its sell-out run at the Olivier, Nicholas Hytner’s production of HAMLET will tour from mid-February to Salford, Nottingham, Woking, Milton Keynes, Plymouth and Luxembourg.

Richard Bean’s ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS, with the original cast led by James Corden, will visit Plymouth, Salford, Birmingham and Edinburgh in October.

Mike Leigh’s new play will visit Bath and Cambridge in the autumn, during its Cottesloe run.

The second season of National Theatre Live (now on 360 screens across 20 countries, sponsored by Aviva) continues with the Donmar Warehouse’s production of KING LEAR, with Derek Jacobi directed in the title role by Michael Grandage, filmed at the Donmar’s home in Covent Garden on 3 February; Danny Boyle’s production of FRANKENSTEIN on 17 March; and Howard Davies’s production of THE CHERRY ORCHARD on 30 June. A third season of National Theatre Live will begin in the autumn.

WAR HORSE, based on a novel by Michael Morpurgo, adapted by Nick Stafford, continues its run at the New London Theatre where it is now booking until February 2012. The National’s production opens at Lincoln Center Theater, New York, with the original creative team working with a new American cast, from 15 March 2011.

Watch This Space Festival
The National’s free summer festival of outdoor entertainment will return with the giant grass furniture in Theatre Square in June 2011, featuring theatre, fire, circus, juggling, hula-hooping, dance and street performance.

Release issued by: National Theatre press office

LINKS

National Theatre venue information: Lyttleton Theatre |  Olivier Theatre
National Theatre website

New this week: The Children’s Hour

New shows coming to London this week include The Children’s Hour at the Comedy Theatre starring Keira Knightley and Elisabeth Moss; the Royal Court’s award-winning Clybourne Park to the Wyndham’s Theatre; and Will & Grace star Leslie Jordan in his Trip Down the Pink Carpet.

The Children’s Hour

Lillian Hellman’s classic, controversial play started previews at the Comedy Theatre on Saturday (22 January 2011), with an official opening night on 9 February.

The play is generating much interest but more because of the casting than the subject matter: when the play premiered in 1934 it was swiftly banned in London and Boston for its story of two school mistresses accused of being lesbian lovers by a school girl. Rather, this new production directed by Ian Rickson at the Comedy Theatre is in the papers for its starry casting. Hollywood actress Keira Knightley is back in the venue after her 2009  run in The Misanthrope, and is joined by Elisabeth Moss, aka Peggy from Mad Men, as well as Oscar winning actress Ellen Burstyn.

Ex-Royal Court artistic director Ian Rickson will direct The Children’s Hour, following his huge hit with Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem in 2009.

Book tickets to The Children’s Hour at the Comedy Theatre

Leslie Jordan – My Trip Down The Pink Carpet

Hilarious American actor Leslie Jordan brings his outrageous show to London. Best known for his role in Will & Grace, Jordan tells an entertaining collection of true life stories from small-town USA to the pink carpet of Hollywood.

Self-styled as “the gayest man I know”, Leslie Jordan reveals his childhood agonies, dangerous temptations, and revealing celebrity encounters — from Boy George to George Clooney — in his laugh-out-loud show about Hollywood, fame, addiction, gay culture, and learning to love oneself.

Special offer: Save £18.50 on tickets to Leslie Jordan – My Trip Down The Pink Carpet at the Apollo Theatre

Clybourne Park

The Royal Court brings its Evening Standard award-winning play Clybourne Park into the West End for a limited run.

Bruce Norris’ satirical comedy transfers to the Wyndham’s Theatre from 28 January staring Sophie Thompson and Stephen Campbell Moore, and is directed by Dominic Cooke.

Bruce Norris’s hilarious satire explores the fault line between the worlds of race and property, contrasting late 50′s Chicago to the present day.

Book tickets to Clybourne Park at the Wyndham’s Theatre

COMING SOON

IN ONE WEEK…

Frankenstein starts previews at the National starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller (from 5 February). Lee Mead waves goodbye to Wicked at the Apollo Victoria (5 February).

IN TWO WEEKS…

Shoes the Musical – the hugely successful Sadler’s Wells show – is West End bound at the Peacock Theatre from 8 February. The Children’s Hour gets its official opening night at the Comedy Theatre on 9 February. And The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee starts previews as the Donmar Warehouse from 11 February.

Campbell Moore joins Clybourne Park

Jason Watkins drops out of Clybourne Park; Stephen Campbell Moore to take over

The Royal Court’s West End transfer of hit play Clybourne Park will now star Stephen Campbell Moore, alongside original cast member Sophie Thompson, when it opens at the Wyndham’s Theatre on 8 February.

Jason Watkins was originally cast in the show playing the dual role of Karl and Steve, but has had to drop out of the production due to a family tragedy. The part was originated by Martin Freeman at the Royal Court last year.

Campbell Moore recently starred alongside David Suchet and Zoe Wanamaker in All My Sons at the Apollo Theatre and has also appeared in The History Boys. Film work includes the movie of The History Boys and A Good Woman with Scarlett Johanssen.

Recent winner of best play at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards, Bruce Norris’ play is directed by Dominic Cooke, and stars Stephen Campbell Moore and Sophie Thompson alongside Stuart McQuarrie, Lorna Brown, Sarah Goldberg, Michael Goldsmith, Lucian Msamati and Sam Spruell.

Book tickets to Clybourne Park at the Wyndham’s Theatre

The Stage 100 Awards – Winners 2011

Awards announced: 6 January 2011, London

London Theatre of the Year:

The Royal Court Theatre

Artistic director: Dominic Cooke

Executive director: Kate Horton

Regional Theatre of the Year:

Northampton Royal and Derngate

Artistic director: Laurie Sansom

Chief executive: Martin Sutherland

Fringe Theatre of the Year:

Finborough Theatre

Artistic director: Neil McPherson

Literary manager: Van Badham

Producer of the Year:

English Touring Theatre

Director: Rachel Tackley

School of the Year:

Sylvia Young Theatre School

Principal: Sylvia Young

Head teacher: Frances Chave

Artistic director: Steven Baker

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