OWAIN ARTHUR in One Man, Two Guvnors

Owain Arthur joins the cast of hit National Theatre show One Man, Two Guvnors at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.

They were always going to be big shoes to fill. James Corden won rave reviews for his performance as Francis Henshall in One Man, Two Guvnors – and is now winging his way to Broadway to wow the other side of the Atlantic. And the job of leading the cast of the West End production of the show now falls to exciting British newcomer Owain Arthur, who has been understudying Corden in the starring role.

Nicholas Hytner and the production team went to see Owain give an understudy performance as Francis when the show played the Adelphi late last year, to decide on his future in the show. And what they found was an exciting new talent who is clearly going places.

Hytner is no stranger to Owain’s work having cast him in his National Theatre production of The History Boys. Owain’s other theatre credits include Romeo and Juliet for the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Comedy of Errors for the Royal Exchange Theatre and Birdsong at the Comedy Theatre.

TV work includes Holby City, Ddeg, Cei Bach, New Tricks and The Palace, and on film he can he seen in Abroad, Mr Nice and Eldra.

Nicholas Hytner’s award-winning production of One Man, Two Guvnors starts at the Theatre Royal Haymarket on 2 March with a cast that includes Hannah Spearritt as Pauline and Jodie Prenger as Dolly.

LINKS

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

 

HANNAH SPEARRITT in One Man, Two Guvnors

S Club 7′s Hannah Spearritt joins the cast of hit National Theatre show One Man, Two Guvnors at the Theatre Royal Haymarket

Hannah  made her stage debut in The Belle’s Stratagem at Southwark Playhouse last year.

A former member of the hugely successful pop group S Club 7, Spearritt has made a number of US movie appearances including Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London and Seed of Chucky.

UK television credits include Miss Marple and Blessed, but she is best known for playing the leading role of Abby Maitland in five seasons of ITV’s action packed sci-fi series Primeval.

Nicholas Hytner’s award-winning production of One Man, Two Guvnors starts at the Theatre Royal Haymarket on 2 March with a cast that includes Owain Arthur as Francis Henshall and Jodie Prenger as Dolly.

LINKS

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

 

JODIE PRENGER in One Man, Two Guvnors

I’d Do Anything and Oliver! star Jodie Prenger joins the cast of hit National Theatre show One Man, Two Guvnors at the Theatre Royal Haymarket

Jodie Prenger stars as Dolly in the acclaimed production of One Man, Two Guvnors, as it transfers from the National and the Adelphi theatres to the Theatre Royal Haymarket.

Jodie came to prominence after winning the role of Nancy in Cameron Mackintosh’s revival production of Oliver!  through BBC talent search I’d Do Anything. Other theatre credits include playing The Lady of The Lake in the Spamalot UK tour.

TV credits include Hustle, Justin’s House, Candy Cabs and Waterloo Road for the BBC. Extensive presenting work includes leading the search to find a Toto for a gala performance of The Wizard of Oz in Over The Rainbow, covering for Elaine Paige and Paul O’Grady on BBC Radio 2 and co-hosting on Going Out With Alan Carr, the Chris Evans’ Breakfast Show, Laurence Olivier Awards 2010 and Children in Need 2009.

In 2010 and 2011 she toured with John Barrowman on his UK concert tour and made regular concert appearances on Thank You for the Music and The Friday Night Is Music Night James Bond Special.

Nicholas Hytner’s award-winning production of One Man, Two Guvnors starts at the Theatre Royal Haymarket on 2 March with a cast that includes Owain Arthur as Francis Henshall and Hannah Spearritt as Pauline.

LINKS

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

 

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

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

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

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.

Caroline Sheen returns to the West End in Favourite Things and Les Miserables

West End actress Caroline Sheen is to return to London this summer following a year-long tour of the USA starring in Cameron Mackintosh’s production of Mary Poppins.

The actress, who is a cousin of actor Michael Sheen, will return to Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre in June to play the role of Fantine. Caroline originally played Eponine in the show ten years ago. She will join some high-profile new starters on the show this summer including Alfie Boe and Matt Lucas.

Ahead of returning to Les Mis she will sing musical interludes to accompany These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things at the Jermyn Street Theatre, where theatre critic of The Stage, Mark Shenton, will interview a host of well-known theatre names.

The show, in aid of charity the Theatrical Guild which supports backstage and front of house theatre workers, will feature Shrek The Musical and Anna Christie director Rob Ashford, director and choreographer Craig Revel Horwood, Blood Brothers and Dreamboats and Petticoats producer Bill Kenwright, producer Michael Codron, the National Theatre’s director Nicholas Hytner, West End actress and current Shakespeare’s Globe star Janie Dee, veteran theatre school director Sylvia Young, and Betty Blue Eyes and Mary Poppins songwriting team George Stiles and Anthony Drewe.

The show will run at the Jermyn Street Theatre from 29 May to 4 June 2011.

Caroline Sheen has appeared in numerous West End shows including Grease, Into the Woods, Mamma Mia!, The Witches of Eastwick, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Last month she played a cabaret show alongside Evita and Zorro star Matt Rawle at the Battersea Barge in London. She is married to actor Michael Jibson, who will star alongside David Bedella this summer in the Menier Chocolate Factory’s premiere of new Stephen Sondheim’s latest musical, Road Show.

LINKS

Book tickets to Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre in London

The Jermyn Street Theatre website

American Express and the National Theatre announce multi-year partnership

American Express and the National Theatre today announce a major new multi-year partnership.

American Express will work with the National to support the Theatre through several different strands of commercial and philanthropic activity on both sides of the Atlantic, including headline sponsorship of one prominent production each year on the South Bank in London. American Express will also support the gala performance of the National Theatre’s acclaimed production of War Horse in New York, ahead of its opening at the Lincoln Center in April.

This new partnership builds on American Express’ history of supporting the best in the arts from around the world and will form a key part of the company’s strategy of providing American Express Cardmembers with special access to memorable experiences across a broad range of entertainment categories. The relationship with the National Theatre will be a valued addition to American Express’ ‘Preferred Seating’ programme, which offers Cardmembers priority tickets and ‘meet and greet’ opportunities at many of the country’s most sought after music concerts, film premieres and other entertainment events.

Raymond Joabar, UK Managing Director, American Express, comments: “We are delighted to be working with such an internationally respected organisation as the National Theatre to give our Cardmembers access to some of the best theatre the UK has to offer. This new partnership further builds on our support for the arts in the UK and around the world, including the National’s neighbour, the British Film Institute.”

Nicholas Hytner, Director of the National Theatre, said: “I warmly welcome our new partnership with American Express, which expands and builds on our very successful established relationship. The loyalty and commitment of our corporate partners is vital in enabling the National to thrive; the generosity of American Express will help us to continue programming an exciting and adventurous repertoire for the widest possible audience.”

Release issued by: National Theare press office

LINKS

National Theatre website

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

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