National Theatre 2012 Season

The National Theatre of Great Britain is one of the world’s major theatre producing houses, staging over 20 theatre productions a year across three auditoriums – the Olivier, Lyttelton and Cottesloe Theatres – and presenting a mix of new plays and classics, with up to six productions in repertory at any one time.

 

National Theatre 2012 Season

 

13
Set in a dark and magical landscape of singing pensioners, fanatical atheists and imminent apocalypse, more

Can We Talk About This?
DV8′s new production examines how events have reflected and influenced multicultural policies, more

Juno and the Paycock
One of the great plays of the twentieth century, Sean O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock offers a devastating more

She Stoops to Conquer
One of the great, generous-hearted and ingenious comedies of the English language, Oliver Goldsmith’s more

The Comedy Of Errors
Shakespeare’s furiously paced comedy will be staged in a contemporary world and stars Lenny Henry. more

Travelling Light
Following Vincent in Brixton and The Reporter, Nicholas Wright’s new play is a funny and fascinating more

 

… And now playing in the West End

The Pitmen Painters
Following celebrated seasons at the National Theatre and on Broadway, Lee Hall’s The Pitmen Painters more

War Horse
The National Theatre’s sell out production transfers to the New London Theatre. Life sized puppets depict more

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

FELA! tickets at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre

Direct from Broadway and a sell-out season at the National Theatre, Bill T Jones’ Tony award-winning dance, theatre and music show about Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti returns to London.

JONNY LEE MILLER in Frankenstein

Jonny Lee Miller reunited with director Danny Boyle for Frankenstein at the National

Film director Danny Boyle has cast his new production of Frankenstein at the National Theatre. The show begins at the Olivier theatre from February 2011 and will see Jonny Lee Miller reunited with the Trainspotting director, alongside Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock). In an interesting casting twist, both stars will alternate in the roles of Dr Frankenstein and his monster.

Jonny Lee Miller worked with Boyle in his 1996 break-out movie Trainspotting, and has gone on to cover a number of TV, film and stage roles.

In theatre his performances include Beautiful Thing (Bush Theatre), Festen (Almeida and Lyric Theatre), Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me (Ambassador’s Theatre) and After Miss Julie on Broadway.

Once married to Angelina Jolie, his extensive film and TV work includes Douglas Mackinnon’s The Flying Scotsman, After Glow alongside Nick Nolte and Julie Christie and TV drama Eli Stone.

This new adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic Gothic novel has been reimagined by Nick Dear and told from the point of view of the monster.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH in Frankenstein

TV’s Sherlock to play Frankenstein and his monster

Film director Danny Boyle has cast his new production of Frankenstein at the National Theatre, and it’s going to be good!

The show starts in the Olivier theatre from February 2011 and will see Benedict Cumberbatch return to the venue alongside movie star Jonny Lee Miller. And to keep things fresh they will be alternating the roles of Dr Frankenstein and his monster.

There is no doubt that Benedict Cumberbatch has hit the mainstream this year, enjoying a huge hit playing Sherlock Holmes in the BBC’s modern take on Conan Doyle’s books – Sherlock.

He is also no stranger to the National, having played the lead in Thea Sharrock’s acclaimed production of Terence Rattigan’s After The Dance earlier this year.

And his fame will be further sealed with some forthcoming, high-profile movie roles including Steven Spielberg’s film version of the National Theatre’s War Horse, and a new version of John le Carre’s classic spy novel Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy alongside Gary Oldman and Colin Firth.

Trained at LAMDA, Cumberbatch’s past stage roles include work for the Open Air Theatre and the Almeida – including an Olivier Award nomination for his performance in Hedda Gabler in 2005. And on TV and film he has played alongside Rebecca Hall in Starter for Ten,  gave an acclaimed performance as Stephen Hawking for the BBC, and played William Pitt in Michael Apted’s movie Amazing Grace.

This new adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic Gothic novel has been reimagined by Nick Dear and told from the point of view of the monster.

Frankenstein in the Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre will start previews from 5 February with press nights on 22 and 23 February, and the show is currently booking until 17 April, with further dates to be announced. The show is suitable only for 15 years+. Public booking for Frankenstein opens on 1 December 2010.

A series of special Platforms talks called ‘Beyond Frankenstein’ will run alongside the production: Frankenstein on Film on  24 February looks at Hollywood and the Frankenstein story; Frankenstein’s Science on 4 March sees Dr Brian Cox talk to Richard Holmes about the science behind Mary Shelley’s creature; Frankenstein’s Creator: Mary Shelley on 15 March sees acclaimed biographer Claire Tomalin discuss the life of the author of Frankenstein; and Josephine Hart presents Romantic Poetry on 15 April, revealing the works of Shelley, Byron and their Romantic contemporaries.

Frankenstein will also be broadcast live to cinemas across the UK and around the world on 17 March as part of National Theatre Live.

Book tickets to Frankenstein at the National Theatre

Frankenstein cast: Cumberbatch & Miller

Fresh from receiving a British Film Institute Fellowship this week, director Danny Boyle has announced his cast for Frankenstein at the National Theatre, playing in the Olivier from February 2011.

Benedict Cumberbatch returns to the venue following his much-praised turn in Terence Rattigan’s After the Dance, and will be alternating the roles of Dr Frankenstein and his monster with movie star Jonny Lee Miller.

This creative casting is in-line with Boyle’s promise to create a fresh new approach to theatre through this production. The adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic Gothic novel has been reimagined by Nick Dear and told from the point of view of the monster.

Boyle, who has spent the last 15 years in film and won an Oscar last year for Slumdog Millionaire, has a previous history in theatre, having worked for the RSC and Royal Court, including productions of Howard Barker’s Victory, Howard Brenton’s Genius and Edward Bond’s Saved. Boyle, along with former Royal Court head Stephen Daldry, is also charged with creating the opening and closing ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympics.

Earlier this year Benedict Cumberbatch played the lead in Thea Sharrock’s acclaimed production of Terence Rattigan’s After The Dance at the National Theatre. This year he has also become a household name by playing Sherlock Holmes in the hugely popular BBC series based on Conan Doyle’s books. Forthcoming roles include Steven Spielberg’s film version of the National Theatre’s War Horse, currently playing at the New London Theatre in the West End. Past stage roles include work for the Open Air Theatre and the Almeida – including an Olivier Award nomination for his performance in Hedda Gabler in 2005.

The play’s adaptor, Nick Dear, covers the world’s of theatre, film and TV. At the National Theatre his plays Summerfolk and Power have been staged, plus The Art of Success at the RSC. Screenwriter credits include Agatha Christie’s Poirot and Lewis.

Frankenstein in the Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre will start previews from 5 February with press nights on 22 and 23 February, and the show is currently booking until 17 April, with further dates to be announced. The show is suitable only for 15 years+. Public booking for Frankenstein opens on 1 December 2010.

A series of special Platforms talks called ‘Beyond Frankenstein’ will run alongside the production: Frankenstein on Film on  24 February looks at Hollywood and the Frankenstein story; Frankenstein’s Science on 4 March sees Dr Brian Cox talk to Richard Holmes about the science behind Mary Shelley’s creature; Frankenstein’s Creator: Mary Shelley on 15 March sees acclaimed biographer Claire Tomalin discuss the life of the author of Frankenstein; and Josephine Hart presents Romantic Poetry on 15 April, revealing the works of Shelley, Byron and their Romantic contemporaries.

Frankenstein will also be broadcast live to cinemas across the UK and around the world on 17 March as part of National Theatre Live.

Book tickets to Frankenstein at the National Theatre

MORE NATIONAL THEATRE NEWS

Cottesloe to Change Name

A £10 million  donation from Travelex founder Lloyd Dorfman towards the redevelopment of the National Theatre, will see  the Cottesloe Theatre renamed in his honour. The gift will form the cornerstone of the £70 million the venue needs to raise to complete its NT Future project. The donation is the largest ever given to the National and will see the studio space, called the Dorfman Theatre, enlarged. An enjoining room will be called the Cottesloe Room.

Dorfman’s Travelex company has supported the National for the last 8 years through its Travelex £10 tickets season.

National Theatre – Olivier Theatre in London – Map

A London map highlighting the location of the Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre, Upper Ground, London, SE1 9PX

Read more about the theatre, including What’s On, Journey Planner, Seating Plan, Parking and Transport

Back to all London Maps of Theatres

View westendtheatre.com – West End Theatres in a larger map

National Theatre – Olivier Theatre

National Theatre – Olivier Theatre, Upper Ground, London, SE1 9PX

FELA!

Direct from Broadway, Bill T Jones’ Tony award-winning dance, theatre and music show based on the extravagant, decadent and rebellious world of Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.

Welcome to Thebes – Review

Interesting that on the two occasions the Olivier Theatre has played host to new plays by women writers, both should tackle ambitious subjects and, understandably, prominently feature women.

Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s Her Naked Skin (2008) dramatised the trials and tribulations of the militant suffragette movement in 1913, and in Welcome to Thebes, Moira Buffini connects the dots between contemporary politics and Greek tragedy.

The ambiguous question she leaves dangling and unanswered is how much of what happens to us is preordained by an implacable fate or man-made.

Though the play is set in the 21st century in an African city she calls Thebes, the situation is clearly inspired by recent events in Liberia and the election of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who founded a women’s peace movement, and who. after suffering political exile, became Africa’s first elected female president.

In Buffini’s modern take on Sophocles’ Antigone, Thebes’ newly elected leader is called Eurydice (Nikki Amuka-Bird), who, in the aftermath of a bloody civil war, turns to powerful Athens (read America) to help her establish a new democracy.

The leader of this super-power is Theseus (David Harewood), a cocksure clump of testosterone whose tunnel vision sees no further than the profit to be derived from such an alliance.

The arranged summit meeting, heralded by the arrival of a helicopter carrying Theseus and his delegates, is, however, compromised by Prince Tydeus (Chuck Iwuji), the leader of the opposition, who sabotages Eurydice’s plans by belabouring the shocking fact that Eurydice refuses to allow the rotting corpse of her vanquished warlord brother Polynices, to be buried, thereby perpetuating a regime of chaos and anarchy which makes mock of her impassioned talk of ‘truth and reconciliation’.

Throughout the evening Buffini injects any number of touches – from mobile phones, sanitising gel, internet websites, and the aforementioned helicopter to help contrast the ancient with the modern, and draws humour of sorts from a trio of very young soldiers who, before the auditorium lights dim, harangue the audience to switch off their phones and stop rummaging through their programmes.

Nonetheless, an air of self-conscious contrivance prevails as the author attempts to prove her thesis that nothing changes human nature, especially men behaving badly.

Played out against Tim Hatley’s operatic-looking ruin of a set, and acted in operatic fashion by a large cast, the best of whom are Nikki Amuka-Bird, David Harewood and Chuck Iwuji, Richard Eyre’s rock-solid direction does the best it can for a play whose ambitions cannot disguise its woolly thinking, often tiresome dialogue, and, most damaging of all, failure to involve us emotionally with any of the characters.

Olivier Theatre (National Theatre)

CLIVE HIRSCHHORN. Courtesy of This Is London.

Book tickets to Welcome to Thebes at the National Theatre in London