The Pitmen Painters tickets at the Duchess Theatre

Breathtaking in its scope, Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall’s remarkable play about art and socialism was a huge hit for the National Theatre and on tour, and now Max Roberts’s sublime production comes to London for a limited season.

James Corden Leads Original Cast In West End Transfer Of National Theatre’s Five Star One Man, Two Guvnors

NICHOLAS HYTNER’S PRODUCTION OF RICHARD BEAN’S NEW ADAPTATION, WITH SONGS BY GRANT OLDING, OPENS AT ADELPHI THEATRE IN NOVEMBER

NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE BROADCAST TO CINEMAS WORLDWIDE ON 15 SEPTEMBER 2011

Nicholas Hytner’s five star production of One Man, Two Guvnors will transfer to the West End for a 16 week run following its sell-out run at the National Theatre, subsequent UK tour and National Theatre Live cinema broadcast. Nearly 200,000 tickets go on sale on Thursday 14 July for performances at the Adelphi Theatre from 8 November 2011 – 25 February 2012. Press night will be on 21 November at 7pm.

James Corden, whose performance as Francis Henshall has been relished by critics and audiences alike at the National Theatre, will continue in the role for the West End run, joined by his ‘two guvnors’ Oliver Chris and Jemima Rooper, along with original cast members David Benson, Tom Edden, Martyn Ellis, Trevor Laird, Claire Lams, Fred Ridgeway, Daniel Rigby and Suzie Toase; with Owain Arthur, Polly Conway, Derek Elroy, David Hunter, Paul Lancaster, Gareth Mason and Clare Thomson.

Richard Bean’s adaptation, based on by Carlo Goldoni ‘s The Servant of Two Masters, with songs by Grant Olding, opened at the Lyttelton at the National Theatre in May. The production will tour to Aylesbury, Plymouth, Salford, Birmingham and Edinburgh before opening in the West End. One Man, Two Guvnors is also part of the National Theatre Live season, with a live broadcast to cinemas all over the world on 15 September 2011. One Man, Two Guvnors Associate Director is Cal McCrystal, designs are by Mark Thompson, with lighting by Mark Henderson, music by Grant Olding, sound design by Paul Arditti, fight direction by Kate Waters and choreography by Adam Penford.

In Richard Bean’s English version of Goldoni’s classic Italian comedy, sex, food and money are high on the agenda. Fired from his skiffle band, Francis Henshall becomes minder to Roscoe Crabbe, a small time East End hood, now in Brighton to collect £6000 from his fiancee’s dad. But Roscoe is really his sister Rachel posing as her own dead brother, who’s been killed by her boyfriend Stanley Stubbers. Holed up at the Cricketers’ Arms, the permanently ravenous Francis spots the chance of an extra meal ticket and takes a second job with one Stanley Stubbers, who is hiding from the police and waiting to be re-united with Rachel. To prevent discovery, Francis must keep his two guvnors apart. Simple.

Richard Bean’s plays include England People Very Nice for the National The Heretic, Harvest (winner of the 2006 Critics’ Circle Award for Best New Play), Honeymoon Suite, Under the Whaleback and Toast for the Royal Court and The Big Fellah for Out of Joint at the Lyric Hammersmith and on tour. He adapted David Mamet’s House of Games and wrote a new version of The Hypochondriac for the Almeida Theatre.

James Corden last appeared at the National Theatre in Nicholas Hytner’s original production of The History Boys, which transferred to Broadway, toured internationally and was adapted for the screen. Since then, his extensive television work includes the multi award-wining Gavin and Stacey, Horne and Corden (both of which he co-wrote) and Fat Friends. On film his credits include 3 Musketeers, Gulliver’s Travels, How to Loose Friends and Alienate People and Starter for Ten. Corden has also appeared on television co-presenting The Brit Awards and A League of Their Own as well as James Corden’s World Cup Live.

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 and Hamlet.

For the West End run of One Man, Two Guvnors there will be 400 tickets available at £15 or £12 for each performance. There will be no booking fees for tickets purchased from the National Theatre Box Office and See Tickets.

Following its run at the National Theatre, Nicholas Hytner’s production of One Man, Two Guvnors will tour the UK with its original cast led by James Corden 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).

Release issued by: Premier PR

LINKS

Sign up to our news alerts to hear about booking for One Man, Two Guvnors at the Adelphi Theatre starring James Corden

The Pitmen Painters Arrive In The West End Direct From National Theatre And Broadway Triumphs

Presented by Bill Kenwright, following celebrated seasons at the National Theatre and on Broadway, Lee Hall’s The Pitmen Painters will at last enjoy a West End season, opening at the Duchess Theatre on Wednesday 5 October with press night on the Tuesday 11 October at 7pm.

The climax of an extraordinary journey, which started at Newcastle’s Live Theatre and continued on to the National, Broadway, and all round the UK, The Pitmen Painters is highly amusing, deeply moving and always entertaining as it examines the lives of a group of ordinary men who do extraordinary things.

In 1934, a group of Ashington miners hired a professor to teach an art appreciation evening class. Rapidly abandoning theory in favour of practice, the pitmen began to paint – prolifically. Within a few years avant-garde artists became their friends and their work was acquired by prestigious collectors; but every day they continued to work, as before, down the mine…

Full of humour, drama and revelation, Lee Hall’s The Pitmen Painters, which won the Evening Standard Award for Best New Play, has never been so relevant, as public cutbacks take their toll and the debate about the importance of the arts reaches a crescendo.

IN THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CLIMATE, WITH CUTBACKS HITTING THE ARTS, LEE HALL’S AWARD WINNING PLAY HAS NEVER BEEN SO RELEVANT

Lee Hall wrote the screenplay for Billy Elliot and adapted it for the West End in 2005, winning an Olivier Award for Best New Musical. Billy Elliot opened on Broadway in November 2008. His plays include Spoonface Steinberg (Ambassadors), Cooking with Elvis (Live Theatre, Assembly Rooms and West End), and an adaptation of Herman Heijerman’s The Good Hope for the National Theatre.

Inspired by a book by William Feaver, this is the original production directed by Max Roberts, with set and costume design by Gary McCann, lighting by Douglas Kuhrt and sound by Martin Hodgson, and featuring many of the actors who starred at the National Theatre and on Broadway.

Release issued by Target Live

LINKS

Book tickets through the National Theatre website

 

Shafting the incumbent: When shows gazump

In the business world, it always feels slightly wrong when a company heralds the arrival of a fabulous new executive whilst their predecessor is still sat at their desks.

And it happens in the theatre world too. In casting, there’s rarely a chance for the hoofer sweating away night-after-night to announce their departure before the press release goes out about the bright young thing taking their place (Legally Blonde recently announcing that Carley Stenson is to replace Susan McFadden as Elle Woods caused much gasping, least of all from the rest of the cast, who read it first on Twitter!)

And there is nothing more brutal and shameless than a keen show busting to get into a West End venue. Even bastions of good taste such as the RSC aren’t shy of a little venue-stealing, announcing last month that Matilda would crash into the Cambridge Theatre in October despite Chicago’s long-running status at the venue, thereby prompting lots of speculation about the future of that show.

The National has also followed suit, leaking news last week that their James Cordon hit One Man, Two Guvnors will transfer to the Adelphi, current home of Love Never Dies, in November. The news sent “Love Must Die”-hards into spasms of delight and left Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group to then have to follow with a closing notice.

LND is especially interesting because Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group only part-owns the theatre: rumours have circulated for some time that the other owner of the Adelphi, the Nederlander Organization,  has been unhappy with the income they are generating from the show (a significant part of a venue’s revenue comes from sales of merchandise and catering, and so depends on getting people through the doors).

I suppose it has to be the way. If you left the incumbent to make the announcement it would never happen, at least not quickly enough for the upstart. But there must be a way to do it with dignity. I tell you, showbusiness… it’s ruthless!

Tony Award Winners: War Horse, Book of Mormon sweep Tony Awards; Mark Rylance named Best Actor

At a star-studded ceremony last night, Sunday 12 June 2011, at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, the American Theatre Wing’s 65th annual Tony Awards were announced. British play War Horse triumphed at the awards winning 5 gongs, including Best Play. British actor Mark Rylance won a Best Actor awards for his performance in the Royal Court’s Jerusalem.

The Book of Mormon, which has proved an unlikely smash-hit on Broadway, swept the awards with 9 wins out of its 14 nominations, including Best New Musical, and Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score for its authors Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, and Robert Lopez.

Neil Patrick Harris hosted a fun and unusually irreverent night, which opened with a tongue-in-cheek “did they really say that?” song-and-dance number, arguing that the range of Broadway shows on offer meant that the Great White Way was no longer “just for gays”.

The National Theatre’s production of War Horse, which is currently running at the New London Theatre in London and also at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in New York, won 5 awards including Best Play for author Nick Stafford, Best Direction of a Play for Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, Best Scenic Design of a Play for Rae Smith, Best Lighting Design of a Play for Paule Constable and Best Sound Design of a Play for Christopher Shutt. A special Tony Award was also given to the Handspring Puppet Company, who have produced the life-size horse puppets for the show.

Other big winners last night included two revivals, Anything Goes, which won 3 awards including Best Revival of a Musical and Larry Kramer’s 1985 hit The Normal Heart, which also won 3 awards including Best Revival of a Play.

Big name stars who brought home awards included our very own Mark Rylance, who beat Al Pacino for the Best Actor in a Play award for his bravado performance in Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem, his second Tony awards following his 2008 win for Boeing-Boeing, Ellen Barkin in The Normal Heart, and Frances McDormand winning Best Actress in a Play for Good People.

The most impassioned acceptance speech of the night came from AIDS activist Larry Kramer, whose play The Normal Heart scooped 3 awards and who said: “I could not have written it had not so many of us so needlessly died.. Learn from it, and carry on the fight. Let them know that we are a very special people, an exceptional people. And that our day will come.”

Brits who were nominated but missed out on awards this year included Jerusalem author Jez Butterworth, Joanna Lumley and costume designer Mark Thompson for La Bete, Kneehigh’s production of Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter and its leading lady Hannah Yelland, Vanessa Redgrave for Driving Miss Daisy, Adam Godley for Anything Goes, Brian Bedford for The Importance of Being Earnest and Tom Stoppard’s play Arcadia.

The awards were broadcast live by CBS in the States.

See the full list of 2011 Tony Award winners here.

LINKS

Tony Award winners 2011
Tony Award nominations 2011
Book tickets to Broadway shows

National Theatre: July – November 2011

THE KITCHEN by Arnold Wesker, directed by Bijan Sheibani; and 13, a new play by Mike Bartlett, directed by Thea Sharrock, continue the Travelex £12 Season in the Olivier

THE VEIL, a new play written and directed by Conor McPherson, opens in the Lyttelton

A new play written and directed by MIKE LEIGH opens in the Cottesloe

DOUBLE FEATURE, four short plays by writers new to the National, are presented in the NT’s Paintframe

Jonathan Miller stages Bach’s ST MATTHEW PASSION, in collaboration with Southbank Sinfonia, in the Olivier; and, in the Lyttelton, readings of the KING JAMES BIBLE celebrate its 400th anniversary

Nicholas Hytner’s production of ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS tours the UK following its Lyttelton run and is broadcast as part of NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE; Mike Leigh’s new play visits Bath and Cambridge

Daniel Kitson’s IT’S ALWAYS RIGHT NOW, UNTIL IT’S LATER visits the Lyttelton

LONDON ROAD extends; Rufus Norris is appointed NT Associate Director

Watch This Space returns for the summer; Platforms, Exhibitions and Discover

THE KITCHEN Travelex £12 Tickets, Olivier Theatre
Previews from 31 August, press night 7 September, continuing in repertoire

Bijan Sheibani directs THE KITCHEN by Arnold Wesker, opening in the Olivier Theatre on 7 September. Half the tickets for the production will be Travelex £12 Tickets, with the rest at £20 and £30. The cast includes: Neal Barry, Tom Brooke (as Peter), Ian Burfield, Rebecca Davies, Stavros Demetraki, Craige Els, Ruth Gibson, Colin Haigh, Rendah Heywood, Tendayi Jembere, Siobhán McSweeney, Gerard Monaco, Sarah Mowat, Bruce Myers, Vincenzo Nicoli, Luke Norris, Jessica Regan, Samuel Roukin, Tim Samuels, Sam Swann, Stephanie Thomas and Rosie Thomson. The production will be designed by Giles Cadle, with costumes by Moritz Junge, lighting by Mark Henderson, sound and music by Dan Jones and movement by Aline David.

1950s London. In the kitchen of an enormous West End restaurant, the orders are piling up: a post-war feast of soup, fish, cutlets, omelettes and fruit flans. Thrown together by their work, chefs, waitresses and porters from across Europe – English, Irish, German, Jewish – argue and flirt as they race to keep up. Peter, a high-spirited young cook, seems to thrive on the pressure. In between preparing dishes, he manages to strike up an affair with married waitress Monique, the whole time dreaming of a better life. But in the all-consuming clamour of the kitchen, nothing is far from the brink of collapse.

Arnold Wesker’s extraordinary play premiered at the Royal Court in 1959 and has since been performed in over 30 countries. THE KITCHEN puts the workplace centre stage in a blackly funny and furious examination of life lived at breakneck speed, when work threatens to define who we are.

Arnold Wesker’s plays include Chicken Soup with Barley (currently being revived at the Royal Court), Love Letters on Blue Paper, Caritas, Chips with Everything, Roots (all of which have been produced at the NT), I’m Talking About Jerusalem, Their Very Own and Golden City, The Old Ones, Longitude, Denial and Break My Heart.

Bijan Sheibani is an Associate Director at the NT, where his credits include Our Class and Greenland. He was formerly the Artistic Director of ATC for whom he directed co-productions of The Brothers Size and Eurydice with the Young Vic, and the Olivier Award-winning production of Gone Too Far! with the Royal Court.

Press night: Wednesday 7 September

A new play by MIKE LEIGH Cottesloe Theatre

Previews from 14 September, press night 21 September, continuing in repertoire and on tour

The National Theatre has commissioned Mike Leigh to create another play for the Cottesloe Theatre, where it will open on 21 September.

In his unique collaborative way, Leigh is working with a company of actors, together with his regular award-winning creative team, to explore characters, relationships, themes and ideas.

Mike Leigh is reunited on this project with Lesley Manville – his most frequent collaborator – and with regulars Marion Bailey, Sam Kelly and Wendy Nottingham. He worked with them variously on the films Who’s Who (1978), Grown-Ups (1980), Meantime (1984), The Short & Curlies (1987), High Hopes (1988), Secrets & Lies (1996), Topsy-Turvy (1999), All or Nothing (2002), Vera Drake (2004), Another Year (2010) and A Running Jump (2012).

The full cast is: Marion Bailey, Ruby Bentall, David Horovitch, Sam Kelly, Lesley Manville and Wendy Nottingham. The designer is Alison Chitty, with lighting by Paul Pyant, music by Gary Yershon and sound by John Leonard.

Mike Leigh’s many stage plays include Babies Grow Old (RSC 1974), Abigail’s Party (Hampstead Theatre 1977), Goose-Pimples (Hampstead Theatre 1981), It’s A Great Big Shame! (Theatre Royal Stratford East 1993), Two Thousand Years (National Theatre 2005) and Ecstasy (1979), which has recetly been revived under Leigh’s direction at Hampstead and in the West End.

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

Press night: Wednesday 21 September

THE VEIL Lyttelton Theatre

Previews from 27 September, press night 4 October, continuing in repertoire

THE VEIL, a new play written and directed by Conor McPherson, opens in the Lyttelton on 4 October. The cast includes Bríd Brennan, Caoilfhionn Dunne, Ursula Jones, Peter McDonald, Jim Norton, Adrian Schiller, Emily Taaffe and Fenella Woolgar. The production is designed by Rae Smith, with lighting by Neil Austin and sound by Paul Arditti.

Set around a haunted house hemmed in a by a restive, starving populace, Conor McPherson’s new play weaves Ireland’s troubled colonial history into a transfixing story about the search for love, the transcendental and the circularity of time.
May 1822, rural Ireland. The defrocked Reverend Berkeley arrives at the crumbling former glory of Mount Prospect House to accompany seventeen-year-old Hannah to England. She is to be married off to a Marquis in order to resolve the debts of her mother’s estate. However, compelled by the strange voices that haunt his beautiful young charge and a fascination with the psychic current that pervades the house, Berkeley proposes a séance, the consquences of which are catastrophic.

Conor McPherson’s plays include The Seafarer at the National Theatre and on Broadway, for which Jim Norton won Olivier and Tony Awards; Shining City, Dublin Carol and The Weir (Olivier Award for Best Play), all at the Royal Court; Port Authority (West End); and The Birds (Gate Theatre, Dublin). His screenplays include Eclipse, which he also directed.

Press night: Tuesday 4 October

13 Travelex £12 Tickets, Olivier Theatre

Previews from 18 October, press night 25 October, continuing in repertoire

A new play by Mike Bartlett, 13, will be the final Travelex £12 Tickets production of 2011, opening in the Olivier Theatre on 25 October, directed by Thea Sharrock. It will be designed by Tom Scutt, with lighting by Mark Henderson, music by Adrian Johnston and sound by Ian Dickinson.

Morning in London, Autumn 2011. Across the city, people wake up from an identical, terrifying dream. At the same moment, a young man named John returns home after years away to find economic gloom, ineffective protest, and a Prime Minister about to declare war. But John has a vision for the future and his ideas inspire an increasing number of followers. With conflict looming in the Middle East, their protest takes them to the centre of the city, to the heart of government, where coincidences, omens and visions collide with political reality.

Set in a dark and magical landscape of singing pensioners, fanatical atheists and imminent apocalypse, Mike Bartlett’s epic new play depicts a London both familiar and strange, a London staring into the void. In a year which has seen governments fall and hundreds of thousands take to the streets, 13 explores the meaning of personal responsibility, the hold that the past has over the future and the nature of belief itself.
Mike Bartlett’s plays include Earthquakes in London for the National Theatre and Headlong (which tours England this autumn – see page 9); Cock (Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre), Contractions and My Child at the Royal Court, Love Love Love for Paines Plough and Artefacts at the Bush. He is currently writer-in-residence at the NT Studio.

Thea Sharrock’s productions include After the Dance (Olivier Award for Best Revival), The Emperor Jones and Happy Now? for the National; Cause Célèbre (Old Vic); The Misanthrope, Equus, A Voyage Round My Father and Heroes in the West End; Cloud Nine and Mrs Klein at the Almeida; Plenty (Sheffield); and several productions for The Peter Hall Company including Blithe Spirit.

Press night: Tuesday 25 October

ST MATTHEW PASSION Olivier Theatre

Previews from 17 September, press night 19 September; nine performances, ending
2 October

Jonathan Miller’s staging of Bach’s ST MATTHEW PASSION, in an English translation compiled and edited by Paul Goodwin, will be performed in collaboration with Southbank Sinfonia in the Olivier Theatre from 17 September – 2 October, with a press performance on 19 September.

Bach’s PASSION is presented on one evening in two parts and retells the dramatic story of the events leading to Christ’s crucifixion. Part one includes the last supper and the betrayal and arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, while part two depicts His trial, crucifixion and burial.

Jonathan Miller strips away all traditional performance conventions of this sacred work: it is sung, in a new English translation by Paul Goodwin, by soloists and a choir – all casually dressed – who interact with the full orchestra. The result is a production conveying the full power and overwhelming drama of Bach’s final and most revered Passion.

Southbank Sinfonia, the versatile orchestra of young professional musicians, returns to the National following their highly successful collaboration on Every Good Boy Deserves Favour.
The soloists are Sally Bruce-Payne, Ruby Hughes, Benjamin Hulett, James Laing, Andrew Staples and Mark Stone; the chorus is drawn from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Directed by Jonathan Miller and conducted by Paul Goodwin, the production has sound design by Mike Walker.

See also under Exhibitions (page 12).
Press night: Monday 19 September

DOUBLE FEATURE National Theatre Paintframe

Previews from 18 July, press performances 3 & 4 August
Playing until 10 September

This summer the NT will take the opportunity for the first time ever to open up its backstage scenic studio for public performance. Four short plays by writers new to the National Theatre – Tom Basden, Sam Holcroft, DC Moore and Prasanna Puwanarajah – will be presented in the NT Paintframe. A single group of performers and theatre-makers will premiere the two double-bills, directed by Polly Findlay and Lyndsey Turner, designed by Soutra Gilmour, with lighting by James Farncombe, sound by Carolyn Downing, movement by Jack Murphy and fight direction by Bret Yount. The cast includes Tom Basden, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Oliver Birch, Kirsty Bushell, Trevor Cooper, Claire-Louise Cordwell, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Karina Fernandez, Phoebe Fox, Richard Goulding, Trystan Gravelle, Richard Hope, Nitin Kundra, Matthew Needham, Damian O’Hare and Stephanie Street.

EDGAR & ANNABEL by Sam Holcroft, directed by Lyndsey Turner
A young married couple prepare dinner in a smartly furnished kitchen. Annabel is composed, intelligent, in love. Edgar is professional, successful, assured. She’s chopping vegetables, he’s brought the wine. But something isn’t right. In a city not so different from our own capital, a group of freedom fighters attempt to stand up to an Orwellian establishment in increasingly perilous circumstances. Sam Holcroft’s ingenious new play paints a picture of a police state in crisis. The story that unfolds brings into question relationships, identities and the very nature of reality itself…

THE SWAN by DC Moore, directed by Polly Findlay
In a decaying pub in South London, preparations are being made for a wake. The beer is warm, the rain is falling, and tempers are running close to breaking point. Denise has lost a father – and Jim has missed his own son’s funeral. With only an hour before their guests arrive, a fractured family begin to settle their accounts. The ghosts of lives lived and opportunities missed are laid to rest as new and ancient betrayals are confronted and forgiven. DC Moore’s touching and very funny new play examines the ties that hold us together in a multi-cultural society.

NIGHTWATCHMAN by Prasanna Puwanarajah, directed by Polly Findlay
Abirami is English. And Sri Lankan. And a professional cricketer. Tomorrow she makes her debut for England against Sri Lanka, but tonight she faces a relentless bowling machine in a one-on-one session to prepare her for the innings of her life. As the night draws on, she challenges our preconceptions of politics, sport and national pride as harshly as she challenges her own. Prasanna Puwanarajah’s new play, coarse, funny and provocative, is a vivid exploration of the search for the meaning of home.

THERE IS A WAR by Tom Basden, directed by Lyndsey Turner
In another country, in another time, civil war rages. The Blues and the Greys have been fighting each other for as long as they can remember. Soldiers, priests and scavengers roam a landscape scorched by years of battle and decay. Anne, a young medical officer, finds herself abandoned and useless, unable to locate the hospital or even the war she was promised. A journey into the dark heart of a strange and surreal conflict, Tom Basden’s miniature epic explores the mad savagery of war with biting black comedy.

The double-bills are: EDGAR & ANNABEL / THE SWAN and NIGHTWATCHMAN / THERE IS A WAR; they are suitable for 15yrs+

The production is supported by the NT’s Young Patrons; media partner i, the new concise quality newspaper.

Press performances: EDGAR & ANNABEL / THE SWAN on Wednesday 3 August at 7pm; NIGHTWATCHMAN / THERE IS A WAR on Thursday 4 August at 7pm, with reviews embargoed for publication until Friday 5 August.

KING JAMES BIBLE Lyttelton Theatre

8 October – 6 November

The National Theatre will be taking part in the 400th anniversary celebrations for the KING JAMES BIBLE. An ensemble of leading NT actors, directed by Nicholas Hytner, James Dacre and Polly Findlay, will read twelve extracts (edited by Edward Kemp) from the Book that changed the world.

In the Beginning: From the Creation of the World to Joseph and his brothers in Egypt.
Let My People Go: Moses and his people escape slavery in Egypt in search of the Promised Land.
The Line of David: The boy David defeats a giant and unifies a kingdom. His son Solomon builds the temple in Jerusalem.
Psalms of David and Song of Solomon: The lyrics that have inspired some of the most evocative and sensual translations in English.
Where Shall Wisdom be Found?: As the world falls apart around them, Ecclesiastes the Preacher and Job seek for meaning in catastrophe.
The People that Walked in Darkness: As Israel faces disaster, Isaiah foretells the future.
The Gospel According to Mark: The earliest gospel – Mark’s – is the shortest and most direct telling of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
The Gospel According to Matthew: The most influential of the gospels in English, Matthew dramatises the coming of the kingdom of heaven.
The Gospel According to Luke: Luke dwells on the some of the most human moments in the life of Jesus.
The Tongues of Men and Angels: The Acts and Letters of Peter and Paul shape the foundation of the Church.
The Gospel According to John: The latest gospel – John’s – celebrates the mystery of the incarnation.
Revelation: Written in a time of persecution, the Revelation of John foresees the end of days.

Dates and times of the readings vary and can be found in the rep leaflet or NT website. Each extract will last approximately 80 minutes without an interval (accurate running times will be available in October). Tickets: £8 each for 1-3 readings; £6 each for 4 – 10 readings; £5 each for 11 – 12 readings.

IT’S ALWAYS RIGHT NOW, UNTIL IT’S LATER Lyttelton Theatre

A new show by Daniel Kitson about Everything and Nothing
7 – 21 October, 6 performances. All tickets £12.

Written and performed by Daniel Kitson, this is a 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.

Originally performed at 10am throughout the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe to sold-out audiences of drowsy but delighted devotees and restaged in the Lyttelton for the first time at the opposite end of the day, this is without doubt Kitson’s most ambitious, heartbreaking and human show to date. It is designed by Susannah Henry and Daniel Kitson; the technical director is Jon Meggat.

NT BEYOND THE SOUTH BANK

ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS – National Theatre Live and on tour
Following its run at the National, Nicholas Hytner’s hit production of ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS will tour the UK with its original cast led by James Corden, 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).

ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS will be broadcast live to over 100 UK cinemas and 300 more abroad on 15 September (varying dates internationally), opening a new season of NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE, sponsored by Aviva.

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.

EARTHQUAKES IN LONDON
Following its sell-out run at the Cottesloe last year, Mike Bartlett’s EARTHQUAKES IN LONDON will embark on a seven-date tour this autumn. The Headlong/National Theatre co-production, directed by Rupert Goold, will visit: Theatre Royal, Plymouth (22 – 24 September); Theatre Royal, Bath (27 September – 1 October); Malvern Theatres (4 – 8 October); Theatre Royal, Brighton (11 – 15 October); Richmond Theatre (25 – 29 October); Oxford Playhouse (1 – 5 November); and Cambridge Arts Theatre (12 -15 November).

PRODUCTION AND CASTING UPDATES

LONDON ROAD extends; Rufus Norris appointed NT Associate Director
Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork’s acclaimed music-theatre piece LONDON ROAD
will have an eight-week extension at the Cottesloe Theatre. Rufus Norris’s production, with the original cast, will now continue until 27 August.

Rufus Norris has become an Associate Director of the National Theatre, where his productions have also included Death and the King’s Horseman and Market Boy. His other work includes productions of Vernon God Little, Tintin, Sleeping Beauty, Peribanez and Afore Night Come for the Young Vic, Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Broadway), Festen (Almeida, West End, on tour and on Broadway, for which he received the Evening Standard Award for Best Director), Cabaret (West End) and Don Giovanni (ENO).

A WOMAN KILLED WITH KINDNESS
The cast for Katie Mitchell’s production of A WOMAN KILLED WITH KINDNESS by Thomas Heywood, opening in the Lyttelton Theatre on 19 July as part of the Travelex £12 Tickets season, is: Sebastian Armesto (Wendoll), Leo Bill (Charles Mountford), Nick Blakely, Louis Brooke, Josie Daxter, Kate Duchêne, Nick Fletcher, Gawn Grainger, Tom Kay, Esther McAuley, Sandy McDade (Susan), Rob Ostlere, Leighton Pugh, Paul Ready (John Frankford), Hugh Sachs, George Taylor, Liz White (Anne Frankford) and Gilbert Wynne.

WATCH THIS SPACE 1 July to 11 September
Giant green chairs in Theatre Square can mean only one thing – the return of the National Theatre’s annual Watch This Space Festival, running from 1 July until 11 September 2011 and featuring an exciting range of free theatre, dance, circus and music events for all ages.

July highlights include PLANET LEM, a UK premiere from Poland’s foremost outdoor theatre company Teatr Biuro Podróży: an explosive sci-fi extravaganza of robots, aliens and cosmonauts. The Circus Space Graduates 2011 build up to their spectacular ensemble show, THE OTHER ROAD, and Australian company ThisSideUp explore the concept of ‘controlled falling’ using the highest-levels of acrobatic skill; while FLIGHTS OF FANTASY FAMILY WEEK kicks off the school holidays with fun activities and shows.

In August The Gandinis return for a week of invigorating juggling, and you can join an epic battle between the Trojans and the Greeks in THE GREAT SHAKESPEAREAN WORKOUT from the UK’s 1623 Theatre Company. During DANCE WEEK Cie Bilbobasso present a passionate, incendiary tango amidst fire and smoke, and THE ALTERNATIVE VILLAGE FETE by Home Live Art returns for an urban twist on traditional village fetes for the Bank Holiday weekend.

In September we host the outdoor performances for the Liberty Festival, London’s annual disability arts festival, and during Thames Festival Weekend, over twenty-five shows culminate in a massive all-singing, all-dancing painting created in PAGE BLANCHE by Compagnie Luc Amoros from France.

Full details will be available online at www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/wts

PLATFORMS

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

Nicholas Hytner on One Man, Two Guvnors Mon 27 June, Lyttelton
The National’s Director discusses his production.

Connections Writers’ Forum Mon 4 July, Lyttelton
To celebrate this year’s Connections plays, the writers gather to talk about
how they created their new dramas for young people.

Chekhov: A Man for our Time? Fri 15 July, Olivier*
Despite international admiration, a campaign to save Chekhov’s house in Yalta faced huge political and financial struggles. His biographer Rosamund Bartlett is joined by
actress Caroline Blakiston to question his relevance in his homeland today.

Ibsen’s Modern Breakthrough Fri 22 July, 5.30pm, Olivier
Ibsen always considered Emperor and Galilean his most important play. Toril Moi explores why this neglected masterpiece, written at a moment of transition to modernism, mattered so intensely to Ibsen, and why it should matter to us today.

Ian Hislop Mon 25 July, Lyttelton
The indefatigable Editor of Private Eye celebrates 25 years at the helm of the satirical magazine, with Mark Lawson.

Michael Simkins Wed 3 Aug, Lyttelton*
In Last Flannelled Fool, the actor and author goes on a reflective odyssey to recharge his cricketing batteries, in search of himself and an England past.

Jonathan Lynn Fri 5 Aug, Lyttelton*
The creator of Yes Prime Minister shares stories from a life misspent making people laugh in plays, television and film, to coincide with his new book, Comedy Rules.

Creating Double Feature Thu 11 Aug, 6.30pm, The Paintframe
The directors and writers talk about the double bill of new plays.

Katie Mitchell on A Woman Killed with Kindness Mon 22 Aug, Lyttelton
Katie Mitchell discusses her new production.

Galton & Simpson: The Fathers of Sitcom Thu 1 Sept, Lyttelton*
Writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson talk to their biographer Christopher Stevens about creating Hancock’s Half Hour and Steptoe and Son, and working with numerous comedy legends.
The John Harvard Lecture with Simon Schama
Whatever Happened to Toleration? Thoughts from an Anglo-New Yorker a decade after 9/11. Mon 5 Sept, 5.45pm (1hr), Lyttelton, £5/£4
With issues of tolerance front and centre in Europe, the US and the Middle East, the historian Simon Schama poses the simple, painful, question: how did this happen? And asks, what are the prospects for that most fragile plant of cultural co-existence, toleration?

Bijan Sheibani on The Kitchen Fri 9 Sept, Olivier
The director discusses his new production of Arnold Wesker’s play.

Di Trevis Fri 23 Sept, Cottesloe*
Being a Director is both a practical guide to directing and a professional autobiography of her National Theatre productions.

David Edgar: Playwrights and Politics Tue 27 Sept, Cottesloe*
Post-war British playwrights have been solicited, and sometimes derided, for their opinions on the issues of the day. Does this reflect the character of British Theatre?
Or the place of the “intellectual” in British society? Janelle Reinelt, co-author of The Political Theatre of David Edgar, discusses these questions with the playwright.

Simon Russell Beale Wed 28 Sept, Olivier*
Simon Russell Beale talks about his 20-year creative partnership with the director Sam Mendes, as celebrated in Mark Leipacher’s new book, Catching the Light.

Jonathan Miller Fri 30 Sept, Olivier
With St Matthew Passion and an exhibition at the NT, the distinguished director, author, broadcaster, humorist and sculptor talks about his life and work.

Mrs Oscar Wilde Mon 3 Oct, Cottesloe*
Constance and Oscar Wilde’s lifestyle shook the foundations of 19th-century society; drawing on Constance’s letters, Franny Moyle’s book examines another victim of an
infamous betrayal.

Mike Leigh Tue 4 Oct, Olivier
The award-winning director talks about his new play.

Arnold Wesker Wed 5 Oct, Olivier*
The playwright reads from his one-woman play, Annie Wobbler, in which he discusses, for the only time in his fiction, the process of writing.

Bonnie Greer on Langston Hughes Tue 11 Oct, Cottesloe*
Bonnie Greer’s new biography gives an insight into the controversial and contradictory life of the African-American poet, novelist, campaigner and playwright.

Craig Brown and Friends Fri 14 Oct, Cottesloe*
The satirist and guests perform One on One, a daisy chain of 101 meetings, from Bacon heckling Princess Margaret to Edward Heath carol-singing for Sickert.

Black Voices Mon 17 Oct, Lyttelton
Paterson Joseph is joined by several generations of Black British actors to discuss the identity of the modern black voice in British theatre today.

Conor McPherson on The Veil Tue 25 Oct, Lyttelton
The playwright and director discusses his new play.

James Corden Mon 31 Oct, Lyttelton*
The multi-talented James Corden talks about his recent memoir.

Melvyn Bragg Sat 5 Nov, 10.30am, Lyttelton*
The broadcaster and author looks at the radical impact of The King James Bible over the last 400 years in The Book of Books.

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.
James Corden Mon 27 June, Lyttelton
Zoë Wanamaker Fri 15 July, Olivier
Kenneth Cranham Thu 4 Aug, Cottesloe
Ian McDiarmid Wed 10 Aug, Cottesloe

FREE EXHIBITIONS
www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/exhibitions
Stage by Stage, a permanent exhibition on the National’s history is in the Olivier Circle, plus a changing programme throughout the year, FREE to attend.

THE PRESS PHOTOGRAPHER’S YEAR 2011 18 July – 4 September
The Press Photographer’s Year is unique: the only competition that showcases the outstanding photography commissioned for and used in the UK media. Designed by
photographers for photographers, and judged by their peers, it celebrates the unsung art of seeing through the chaos to capture that one still moment which defines an
entire news event. With a thought-provoking collection of images from 2010, The Press Photographer’s Year returns to the NT for a sixth year and is held in association with The British Press Photographers’ Association and supported by Diageo and Canon.

JONATHAN MILLER 12 September – 23 October
Running alongside Jonathan Miller’s extraordinary career in revue, television, the theatre and opera has been a fascination with the visual arts. As a practitioner, Miller has concentrated on assemblages – of discarded metal, which he beats and welds into sculpture, or of old and tattered posters, which he photographs, or reconstitutes as montages. “I’m interested in the overlooked and the negligible,” he says, “where some of the most interesting breakthroughs in art and science come from.” As an
interpreter, Miller has frequently used the imagery of celebrated artists as a backdrop to his directorial work. This exhibition will explore both aspects of this fertile preoccupation.

THE LINBURY PRIZE 31 October – 27 November
The Linbury Prize for Stage Design is one of UK’s most important awards for stage design, and a unique opportunity for graduating designers to work with leading directors and gain a professional commission with one of four major companies, which this year are Lyric Hammersmith and Filter Theatre, The Opera Group, Royal
Opera House – ROH2 and Watermill Theatre. The prize is a turning-point in the careers of young designers; all the finalists’ designs are exhibited at the National Theatre. Find out more at linburyprize.org.uk.

Discover: National Theatre
A programme of events and activities for people of all ages to discover more about the National Theatre.

For secondary schools
Shakespeare on Stage 22 July, 9.30am – 4pm, Lyttelton
NT artists and educators adapt their work for teachers directing Shakespeare with students. The day includes masterclasses on voice and the young actor; stage combat with large groups; and great effects from simple lighting.
£50/£25 for schools participating in the Shakespeare Schools Festival, including lunch. www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/secondary

New Views from September/October 2011
The NT’s political play-writing programme for 6th formers offers the chance for students to develop their writing skills and be in with a chance of having their play staged in Parliament in July 2012. www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/newviews

Student workshops
Two-hour production and skills-related workshops are available for KS 3-5 school groups visiting the NT. 30 minute Q&A sessions offer students a unique opportunity to ask questions of a key member of the creative team before the show.
www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/secondary

Discover more
Video and audio content from and about past and current productions is available, as well as background packs about NT productions. www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/discover
Interactive whiteboard resources are available to download from www.prometheanplanet.com/nationaltheatre

For adults
In Depth: Ibsen 6 – 7 July, 10.30am
A two-day intensive exploration of Ibsen and his extraordinary play, Emperor and Galilean, including seminars by Dr Marie Wells who worked on the production; Stephen Unwin, who will talk about directing Ibsen; and an introduction of his new version of the play by writer and NT Associate Director Ben Power.
£75 including a ticket for Emperor and Galilean
www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/discover

Theatreworks Shorts on ‘The Deck’
A short masterclass followed by drinks in the NT’s private rooftop events space.
Vocal Impact, 8 August, 6.15pm
Coaching Others, 22 August, 6.15pm

Half-day Open Courses: experiential learning at its best
Resilience, 13 September
Gravitas, 20 September
Voice, 29 September

One day in-depth Open Courses
Personal Impact: 6 September & 26 October
www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/theatreworks

Release issued by: National Theatre press office

LINKS

National Theatre website

Tony Award presenters announced: Daniel Radcliffe, Catherine Zeta-Jones

The Tony Awards have announced the initial line-up of Broadway stars to present this year’s awards on 12 June 2011 in New York.

Joining host Neil Patrick Harris will be UK stars Daniel Radcliffe, who is currently starring in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying at Al Hirschfeld Theatre in New York, Catherine Zeta-Jones, who won a Tony last year for her performance in the Menier Chocolate Factory production of A Little Night Music, Vanessa Redgrave, who recently starred in Driving Miss Daisy on Broadway, and legendary actress Angela Lansbury.

The British presenters will be joined by American stars Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock, Alec Baldwin, Samuel L. Jackson, Kelsey Grammer, Viola Davis,  James Earl Jones, Harry Connick Jr., Christie Brinkley, David Hyde Pierce, Marg Helgenberger, Matthew Broderick, Jim Parsons, Joel Grey, Patrick Wilson and Robert Morse.

A number of high-profile UK shows have been nominated in this year’s awards including the National Theatre’s War Horse and the Royal Court’s Jerusalem, both running for Best Play.

Jerusalem was also nominated for six other awards including Mark Rylance for leading actor in a play, Mackenzie Crook for featured actor in a play, lighting design, scenic design and sound design.

The awards will be presented on Sunday 12 June in a three hour live ceremony broadcast by CBS in the States.

LINKS

Tony Award nominations 2011
Book tickets to Broadway shows

One Man, Two Guvnors – Round-up of Reviews

Reviews round-up for One Man, Two Guvnors at the National Theatre, starring James Corden.

Nicholas Hytner’s production of One Man, Two Guvnors is a smash-hit for the National.

James Corden’s performance as Francis Henshall is relished by the critics, along with Oliver Chris, Jemima Rooper and the rest of the cast.

Richard Bean’s adaptation, based on by Carlo Goldoni ‘s The Servant of Two Masters, with songs by Grant Olding, will follow it’s National Theatre run with a UK tour and a West End run at the Adelphi Theatre, from November.

Read a round-up of One Man, Two Guvnors reviews, below.

The Cherry Orchard at the Olivier Theatre starring Zoe Wanamaker – Review

A review of The Cherry Orchard at the Olivier Theatre (National Theatre) starring Zoe Wanamaker and Conleth Hill

It was the great theatre critic, Kenneth Tynan, who when asked which of Anton Chekhov’s quartet of masterpieces he liked best, answered, ‘the last one I saw.’ I know exactly what he meant. The last one I saw, just days ago, was The Cherry Orchard which time cannot wither nor custom style its infinite variety – even in a new version by Australian Andrew Upton better suited to the Ozzie outback than the Russian countryside.

Though ‘nudged’ (according to a programme note) from the play’s 1904 setting to 1905, the year in which the Bloody Sunday massacre outside the Winter Palace would began to sow the seeds of the 1917 Revolution, Upton anachronistically coarsens his adaptation to nearer our own time with expressions such as ‘you whiffy crap artist’, ‘bloody hell’, ‘listen up’, ‘oh bollocks!’ and ‘I’ve told you a thousand frigging bloody, frigging times’ – uttered in exasperation by the peasant-turnedcapitalistic landowner Lopahin as he vents his frustration on the cherry orchard’s near bankrupt owner, Madame Ranevskaya, who stubbornly refuses to take his advice and sell the estate to pay off her gargantuan debts.

The result of this coarsening of the text while adding a discombobulating comic tone to the proceedings – which, it could be argued, is in keeping with Chekhov’s insistence that his play is a comedy – nevertheless undermines the heart-breaking, elegaic quality that is so essential to any great Chekhov production.

The scene towards the very end of the play, in which Ranevskaya’s adopted daughter Varya hopes Lopahan will propose to her, should break your heart, but it doesn’t; nor does the play’s final moments, when the old retainer Firs is inadvertently left to die alone in the abandoned house as Ranevskaya and her family finally leave the estate for the last time.

Yet, while director Howard Davies and Upton seem deliberately to have desentimentalised this great text, the production nevertheless thrives on a cluster of beautifully observed performances. Zoe Wanamaker is absolutely splendid as the feckless Ranevskaya, who, though the architect of her own financial downfall, and still harbouring guilt for her drowned, ten year-old son, is a loving mother to her daughters Anya and Varya, and a caring sister to her useless but endearing brother Gaev (James Laurenson excellent).

Conleth Hill is superb as the caring, but frustrated landowner whose love and concern for Ranevskaya and her doomed brood is wonderfully conveyed in his contradictory mood swings.

There’s fine work, too, from Charity Wakefied and Claudie Blakley as Anya and Varya, from Mark Bonnar as the eternal student Trofimov, and Kenneth Cranham as the ageing butler Firs. I couldn’t quite work out the architecture of Bunny Christie’s crumbling wooden set – whose windows remained frosted in the height of summer. Nor did I feel it imparted any sense of the beauty that made the cherry orchard so speacial to Ranevskaya and her family.

Still, it’s an imperishable play and a good start to the National’s £12 Travelex season.

CLIVE HIRSCHHORN. Courtesy of This Is London magazine.

LINKS

Book tickets to The Cherry Orchard at the National Theatre

Polly Findlay and Lyndsey Turner direct DOUBLE FEATURE, four new plays by Tom Basden, Sam Holcroft, DC Moore and Prasanna Puwanarajah

A new ensemble takes over a transformed Cottesloe Theatre this summer to present four short plays by writers new to the National Theatre: Tom Basden, Sam Holcroft, DC Moore and Prasanna Puwanarajah. A live band and a single group of performers and theatre-makers will premiere the two double-bills, directed by Polly Findlay and Lyndsey Turner, designed by Soutra Gilmour, with lighting by James Farncombe, sound by Carolyn Downing and fight direction by Bret Yount. The cast includes Pippa Bennett-Warner, Karina Fernandez, Trystan Gravelle, Nitin Kundra and Stephanie Street.

EDGAR & ANNABEL
by Sam Holcroft, directed by Lyndsey Turner
A young married couple prepare dinner in a smartly furnished kitchen. Annabel is composed, intelligent, in love. Edgar is professional, successful, assured. She’s chopping vegetables, he’s brought the wine. But something isn’t right. In a city not so different from our own capital, a group of freedom fighters attempt to stand up to an Orwellian establishment in increasingly perilous circumstances. Sam Holcroft’s ingenious new play paints a picture of a police state in crisis. The story that unfolds brings into question relationships, identities and the very nature of reality itself…

Sam Holcroft’s plays include Dancing Bears, part of the Charged season for Clean Break at Soho Theatre and Latitude Festival; While You Lie (Traverse, Edinburgh); Pink, part of the Women, Power and Politics Season at the Tricycle; and Cockroach, a National Theatre of Scotland and Traverse co-production, nominated for Best New Play 2008 by the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland.

THE SWAN
by DC Moore, directed by Polly Findlay
In a decaying pub in South London, preparations are being made for a wake. The beer is warm, the rain is falling, and tempers are running close to breaking point. Denise has lost a father – and Jim has missed his own son’s funeral. With only an hour before their guests arrive, a fractured family begin to settle their accounts. The ghosts of lives lived and opportunities missed are laid to rest as new and ancient betrayals are confronted and forgiven. DC Moore’s touching and very funny new play examines the ties that hold us together in a multi-cultural society.

DC Moore’s credits for the Royal Court include Alaska and The Empire, which won the TMA Award for Best Touring Production 2010 and was nominated for the Oliver Award for Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre; he was also nominated for the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright in 2010. For television he is currently working with Great Meadow Productions/Channel 4 on an original project called Jalalabad.

NIGHTWATCHMAN
by Prasanna Puwanarajah, directed by Polly Findlay
Abirami is English. And Sri Lankan. And a professional cricketer. Tomorrow she makes her debut for England against Sri Lanka, but tonight she faces a relentless bowling machine in a one-on-one session to prepare her for the innings of her life. As the night draws on, she challenges our preconceptions of politics, sport and national pride as harshly as she challenges her own. Prasanna Puwanarajah’s new play, coarse, funny and provocative, is a vivid exploration of the search for the meaning of home.

Prasanna Puwanarajah’s work as an actor includes Emperor and Galilean, Hamlet and London Assurance at the National; Twelfth Night for the RSC; Thyestes at the Arcola (Ian Charleson Award commendation in 2009). His writing credits include the short films The Half Light which he also directed, starring David Haig, Henry Goodman and Harry Lloyd, and Clamp and Grind.

THERE IS A WAR
by Tom Basden, directed by Lyndsey Turner
In another country, in another time, civil war rages. The Blues and the Greys have been fighting each other for as long as they can remember. Soldiers, priests and scavengers roam a landscape scorched by years of battle and decay. Anne, a young medical officer, finds herself abandoned and useless, unable to locate the hospital or even the war she was promised. A journey into the dark heart of a strange and surreal conflict, Tom Basden’s miniature epic explores the mad savagery of war with biting black comedy.

Tom Basden’s plays include Joseph K at The Gate and Party! (Fringe First Award), Tom Basden Won’t Say Anything (if.comedy Best Newcomer Award) at the Edinburgh Festival and Melbourne Comedy Festival. TV includes Fresh Meat, The Best, Me and My Monsters (co-written with Sam Leifer), Armstrong and Miller, Party, Brave Young Men and Cowards. Radio includes Party (nominated for Writers Guild Award), Cowards, Comedy and Sketchzilla. With Tim Key he co-wrote the short film The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island (Best British Short Film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and Best Overall Film at the No Spot Short Film Festival, New York; nominated for BAFTA for Best Short Film).

Polly Findlay was the winner of the JMK Award for Young Directors, and the recipient of the 2006/07 Bulldog Prinsep Bursary at the NT Studio. Directing includes Twisted Tales at Lyric Hammersmith; Honest for the Royal & Derngate Northampton, Edinburgh Festival and Soho; Light Shining in Buckinghamshire at the Arcola; The Door Never Closes at the Almeida; Eigengrau at the Bush; Short Fuses and Kick Off at Bristol Old Vic; Riz MC – MICroscope at Sadler’s Wells; Miles Away for Nabokov at Latitude; Romeo and Juliet at BAC; Good at Sound Theatre; and As You Like It at Oxford Playhouse.

Lyndsey Turner is an Associate Director at Sheffield Theatres and London’s Gate Theatre. Directing credits include My Romantic History at the Traverse, Bush and Sheffield; Posh, A Miracle and Contractions at the Royal Court; Nocturnal at The Gate Theatre; The Lesson at the Arcola; Still Breathing, Hymn and What’s Their Life Got? at Theatre 503; Dealer’s Choice at Central; and The Grace of Mary Traverse at LAMDA.

The double-bills are: EDGAR & ANNABEL / THE SWAN and NIGHTWATCHMAN / THERE IS A WAR.

DOUBLE FEATURE is suitable for 15yrs+
The production is supported by the NT’s Young Patrons; media partner i, the new concise quality newspaper.

Release issued by: National Theatre

LINKS

National Theatre website

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