NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE
TO BROADCAST
SIMON RUSSELL BEALE
IN WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S
KING LEAR
DIRECTED BY SAM MENDES
BROADCAST TO CINEMAS INTERNATIONALLY ON
THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2014
Two-time Olivier Award winner Simon Russell Beale’s performance in the title role of William Shakespeare’s KING LEAR, directed by Academy Award winner Sam Mendes, will be seen by cinema audiences worldwide when NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE broadcasts the production live from the National’s Olivier Theatre on Thursday, May 1, 2014, with varying dates internationally and encore screenings to follow.
KING LEAR begins previews on January 14, 2014 and officially opens on January 23, 2014. In addition to Simon Russell Beale, the cast also includes Stephen Boxer (as Gloucester), Cassie Bradley, Tom Brooke (Edgar), Richard Clothier, Jonathan Dryden Taylor, Kate Fleetwood (Goneril), Simon Manyonda, Anna Maxwell Martin (Regan), Daniel Millar, Michael Nardone, Gary Powell, Adrian Scarborough (Fool), Hannah Stokely, Stanley Townsend (Kent), Sam Troughton (Edmund), Olivia Vinall (Cordelia) and Ross Waiton. The production will be designed by Anthony Ward, with lighting by Paul Pyant, video design by Jon Driscoll, fight direction by Terry King and sound design by Paul Arditti.
In KING LEAR, an aged king decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, according to which of them is most eloquent in praising him. His favourite, Cordelia, says nothing. Lear’s world descends into chaos.
About NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE
National Theatre Live is an initiative by the National Theatre to broadcast live performances onto cinema screens around the world. Since its first season, which began in June 2009 with the acclaimed production of Phédre starring Helen Mirren, over 2 million people have now experienced the work of National Theatre Live in cinemas worldwide. In addition to the recent record-breaking broadcast of The Audience starring Helen Mirren as The Queen (winner of two 2013 Olivier Awards, including the Best Actress award for Mirren), recent broadcasts have included the theatrical adaptation of Mark Haddon’s award-winning novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (winner of seven 2013 Olivier Awards, including Master Card Best New Play); Steven Beresford’s acclaimed new comedy The Last of the Haussmans; a new production of Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens starring Simon Russell Beale in the title role; Arthur Wing Pinero’s The Magistrate starring John Lithgow in the title role; Alan Bennett’s new comedy People with Frances de la Tour; and James Graham’s acclaimed new play This House.
ALL UPCOMING BROADCASTS
Encore screenings are now ongoing for some for the National Theatre Live’s most acclaimed recent productions including Live From The National Theatre: 50 Years On Stage; Macbeth with Kenneth Branagh; Othello with Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear; Hamlet with Rory Kinnear; Frankenstein by Nick Dear, based on the novel by Mary Shelley, with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller; and The Habit of Art by Alan Bennett with Alex Jennings and the late Richard Griffiths. Encore dates and cinema locations are added frequently. For listings and to learn more and purchase tickets, visit www.ntlive.com.
Shakespeare’s CORIOLANUS
The Donmar Warhouse’s production, directed by Josie Rourke
Live Broadcast: January 30, 2014 (with many encore dates in U.S. cities)
National Theatre Live will broadcast the Donmar Warehouse’s production of Coriolanus, Shakespeare’s searing tragedy of political manipulation and revenge, with Tom Hiddleston (The Avengers, War Horse (film), BBC's The Hollow Crown) in the title role and Mark Gatiss (Season's Greetings at the National Theatre, BBC's Sherlock) as Menenius, directed by the Donmar's Artistic Director Josie Rourke.
When an old adversary threatens Rome, the city calls once more on her hero and defender: Coriolanus. But he has enemies at home too. Famine threatens the city, the citizens’ hunger swells to an appetite for change, and on returning from the field Coriolanus must confront the march of realpolitik and the voice of an angry people.
WAR HORSE
Live Broadcast: February 27, 2014 (with many encore dates in U.S. cities)
National Theatre Live will broadcast the internationally beloved play War Horse live from London’s West End to cinemas around the world in 2014.
Since its first performance at the National Theatre in 2007, War Horse has become an international phenomenon, seen by over 4 million people world-wide and receiving numerous awards, including two Olivier Awards in London, six Tony Awards in New York and three Dora Awards in Toronto.
Based on Michael Morpurgo’s novel and adapted for the stage by Nick Stafford, with direction by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, War Horse takes audiences on an extraordinary journey from the fields of rural Devon to the trenches of First World War France. Filled with stirring music and songs, this powerfully moving and imaginative drama is a show of phenomenal inventiveness. At its heart are astonishing life-sized puppets by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company, who bring breathing, galloping, charging horses to thrilling life on stage.
War Horse is currently in its sixth year in London and is on a major tour of North America which continues through 2014. A tour of the UK and Ireland begins in September 2013 and Gefährten, a German language production of War Horse opens in Berlin in October 2013. More details on www.warhorseonstage.com.
NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE is distributed by New York-based BY Experience, Inc. (www.byexperience.net)
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