National Theatre announce new Season to April 2012

The National Theatre has announced its new Season productions and platforms to April 2012.

Public booking opens 23 Nov 2011.

New show in The Lyttelton Theatre...

Travelling Light
by Nicholas Wright, opens 18 Jan 2012, following previews from 11 Jan, booking to 06 Mar 2012. Directed by Nicholas Hytner, designed by Bob Crowley, sound by Rich Walsh, lighting by Bruno Poet, costume by Vicki Mortimer. cast includes Antony Sher, Mark Extance, Colin Haigh, Paul Jesson, Sue Kelvin, Abigail McKern, Damien Molony, Lauren O'Neil, Karl Theobald, Alexis Zegerman. In a remote village in Eastern Europe, around 1900, the young Motl Mendl is entranced by the flickering silent images on his father's cinematograph..

New show in The Olivier Theatre...

She Stoops To Conquer
by Oliver Goldsmith, opens 31 Jan 2012, following previews from 24 Jan 2012, booking to 29 Mar 2012. Directed by Jamie Lloyd, designed by Mark Thomson, lighting by Neil Austin, music and sound by The Ringham Brothers. Starring David Fynn, Harry Hadden-Paton, John Heffernan, Cush Jumbo, Katherine Kelly (Kate Hardcastle), Steve Pemberton (Mr Hardcastle), Gavin Spokes and Sophie Thompson (Mrs Hardcastle). Hardcastle, a man of substance, looks forward to acquainting his daughter with his old pal's son with a view to marriage.

New show in The Cottesloe Theatre...

Moon On A Rainbow Shawl
by Errol John, opens 14 Mar 2012, following previews from 07 Mar 2012, booking to 27 Mar 2012. Directed by Michael Buffong, designed by Soutra Gilmour. For the teeming populace of Old Mack's cacophonous yard in Port of Spain, Trinidad, it's a cheek by jowl existence lived out on a sweltering public stage. Snatches of calypso compete with hymn tunes, drums and street cries as neighbours drink, brawl, pass judgment, make love, look out for each other and crave a better life. But Ephraim is no dreamer and nothing, not even the seductive Rosa, is going to stop him escaping his dead-end job for a fresh start in England.

New show in The Lyttelton Theatre...

Can We Talk About This?
by Lloyd Newson, co-produced with DV8 Physical Theatre, opens 12 Mar 2012, following previews from 09 Mar 2012, booking to 28 Mar 2012. Directed by Lloyd Newson, designed Anna Fleischle, lighting by Beky Stoddart. Cast includes Joy Constantinides, Lee Davern, Kim-Jomi Fischer, Ermira Goro, Hannes Langolf, Samir M'Kirech, Christina May, Seeta Patel, Anwar Russell, Ira Mandela Siobhan. From the 1989 book burnings of Salman Rusdie's The Satanic Verses, to the murder of filmmaker Theo Van Gogh and the controversy of the 'Muhammad cartoons' in 2005, DV8's new production examines how these events have reflected and influenced multicultural policies, freedom of speech and censorship.

New show in The Cottesloe Theatre...

Island
children's drama by Nicky Singer, opens 15 Feb 2012 - 25 Feb 2012. Directed by Adam Penford, designed by Simon Kenny, lighting by Paul Knott, sound by Tom Gibbons. Cast includes Rebecca Boey, James Cooney. In the middle of the Arctic Ocean lies an island where it is always day. The ice groans and cracks, the ground shifts under your feet, and skies flash with ice storms that freeze flesh in thirty seconds flat. Little wonder Cameron is reluctant to spend a week of his school holidays there.

Productions Extending ....
The Comedy Of Errors (extends booking to 01 April 2012)
Juno And The Paycock (Now closes 26 Feb 2012)
Collaborators (Now closes 31 Mar 2012)

New Platforms ....
Shivaun O'Casey
Mon 5 Dec, Lyttelton
With the production of one of her father's greatest plays in the repertoire, Sean O'Casey's daughter talks to the Abbey's Lisa Farrelly.

Ralph Fiennes
Fri 6 Jan, Olivier
As his new film of Coriolanus opens, the actor Ralph Fiennes reflects on playing the title role in his directorial debut.

Michael Pennington on Shakespeare
Thu 12 Jan, Cottesloe BS
Michael Pennington has spent over 20,000 hours performing, directing and writing about Shakespeare. Based on his one-man show, his new book, Sweet William, illuminates the plays and brings new understanding of the man and his work.

Simon Callow on Dickens and Theatre
Mon 6 Feb, Cottesloe BS
In a new biography to mark the bicentenary of Charles Dickens' birth, Simon Callow offers an insight into a life driven as much by performance and showmanship as by literary endeavour.

Jamie Lloyd on She Stoops to Conquer
Thu 9 Feb, Olivier
The director discusses his new production of Oliver Goldsmith's comedy.

Alain de Botton
Mon 13 Feb, Lyttelton BS
What if religions are neither all true nor all nonsense? In Religion for Atheists, the philosopher (a nonbeliever) suggests that rather than mocking religions, agnostics and atheists should steal from them - because they're packed with good ideas on how we arrange our societies.

Nicholas Hytner and Nicholas Wright on Travelling Light
Fri 17 Feb, Lyttelton
The playwright and director discuss this new production.

Gregory Doran
Mon 20 Feb, Cottesloe BS
Shakespeare's Lost Play is the story of RSC associate director Gregory Doran's quest to discover and stage a missing masterpiece, Cardenio; unseen since its first performance in 1613, it is believed by many to be the work of England's greatest dramatist.

Antony Sher
Thu 23 Feb, Lyttelton
The actor, author and artist talks about his career, and his latest role in Travelling Light

Sue Johnston
Fri 2 Mar, Lyttelton BS
The actress best-known for her roles in Brookside, The Royle Family and Waking the Dead, reflects on the most precious and fraught relationship of any woman's life in her poignant and funny memoir, Things I Couldn't Tell My Mother.

DV8: Can We Talk About This?
Mon 19 Mar, Lyttelton
Freedom of speech, multiculturalism and Islam; a discussion on DV8's new production.

Julian Clary
Mon 26 Mar, Cottesloe BS
Briefs Encountered is Julian Clary's latest novel, a dark and wickedly witty story of love, obsession and Noël Coward, evoking both 1920s England and our own more liberated times...

Michael Buffong on Moon on a Rainbow Shawl
Tue 27 Mar, Cottesloe
The director discusses his production of Errol John's play.

IN CONVERSATION WITH...Steve Pemberton & Sophie Thompson
Mon 5 March, Olivier, 3pm (1hr), £5
Afternoon interviews with members of the company, talking to Al Senter about their current role and career, and answering your questions.