NT announce new season

NT announce new season

The National Theatre announce new schedule to Nov 2007 in the Lyttelton & Cottesloe Theatres and Jan 2008 in the Olivier - includes Much Ado About Nothing & Present Laughter and new platforms.

Public booking opens 15 Aug 2007 for the two new productions of Much Ado About Nothing & Present Laughter.

The two new productions join the repertoire:

Extended...

Saint Joan (closes 25 Sep 2007)

Five Wives of Maurice Pinter (closes 24 Oct 2007)

Emperor Jones (closes 31 Oct 2007)

The Hothouse (extends to 27 Oct 2007)

The Enchantment (closes 1 Nov 2007)

Rafta, Rafta (closes 10 Nov 2007)

War Horse (extends to 12 Jan 2008)

New Platforms announced....
(6pm (45 mins) £3·50 unless stated

Alan Bennett: The Uncommon Reader
4 September, Olivier
Alan Bennett reads from his latest book, The Uncommon Reader, in which HM The Queen wanders into a mobile library and finds literature changes her world view, with mildly shocking and very funny consequences. Booksigning

In Conversation with Paterson Joseph
7 September, 3pm (1 hour), Cottesloe
Paterson Joseph talks to Al Senter about his current role as Brutus Jones in The Emperor Jones, and his career.

Thea Sharrock on The Emperor Jones
7 September, Olivier
The director Thea Sharrock discusses her production of Eugene O'Neill's controversial play.

Rose Collis: This Effing Lady on Coral Browne
4 October, Cottesloe
Rose Collis's This Effing Lady celebrates an actress renowned for her glamour, often-savage wit and high-camp performances. Booksigning

Mike Alfreds
5 October, Cottesloe
The founder of Shared Experience, Mike Alfreds, talks about Different Every Night, a practical guide to rehearsal and performance for directors and actors. Booksigning

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CONFLICTS AND CONFRONTATIONS
New Israeli Political Drama
In collaboration with the Habimah National Theatre of Israel
Price: £5
A series of readings of five new plays from Israel, performed in English, and a discussion on the state of Israeli theatre. These plays represent a range of voices from two peoples caught in a bloody embrace. Common to all of them is the theme of occupation which turns both Palestinians and Israelis into its victims. Occupation becomes a metaphor for life appropriated by authority, religion, social tradition and nationalism, when personal identity is constantly under threat.

The Guide to the Good Life by Yael Ronen
8 October, 2pm Cottesloe
Naturalistic in style, this play is about Israeli youth after their military service.

The Masked by Ilan Hatsor & In Spitting Distance by Taher Najib
9 October, 2pm Cottesloe
The Masked is a family drama about three Palestinian brothers: one is a collaborator with the Israelis, one fights them and the third is torn between the two. In Spitting Distance uses the theme of military occupation to give voice to a playwright's search for his identity.

Hebron by Tamir Greenburg & You and Me and The Next War by Hanoch Levin 10 October, 2pm Cottesloe
Hebron raises the Palestinian Israeli conflict to a mythological level. You and Me and The Next War is a satirical cabaret directed at the 'victory' of the Six Day War.

Discussion: New Israeli Political Dram
10 October, 6pm Cottesloe
A discussion about these distinctive dramas and the social and political context in which they were written.
Supported by the Israeli Embassy and BI Arts

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Howard Davies on Present Laughter
12 October, Lyttelton
Director Howard Davies discusses his new production of Coward's theatrical comedy.

Braham Murray and Nicholas Hytner
19 October, Cottesloe
As his autobiography The Worst It Can Be is a Disaster is published, one of the founding directors of the Royal Exchange Manchester talks to Nicholas Hytner about the challenges and rewards of running a large theatrical institution. Booksigning

Jeanette Winterson: The Stone Gods
22 October, Lyttelton
The award-winning novelist discusses her new novel The Stone Gods, an interplanetary love story. Booksigning

Lynne Truss
23 October, Cottesloe
The author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves takes on the apostrophe in her new children's book The Girl's Like Spaghetti. Booksigning

Handspring Puppet Company
25 October, Olivier
Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler of Handspring Puppet Company reveal the challenges of bringing Joey - War Horse's eponymous character - to life. Captioned platform

Michael Morpurgo
26 October, Olivier
The former Children's Laureate discusses his work and War Horse's journey to the stage. Booksigning. Captioned platform

Sue Townsend
29 October, Cottesloe
The Royal Family has been living in exile on a bleak housing estate. Now an abdication and a succession crisis loom in Sue Townsend's sharp and satirical new novel Queen Camilla. Booksigning

A Voyage Round John Mortimer with John Mortimer and Valerie Grove
1 November, Lyttelton
Novelist, playwright and barrister, John Mortimer talks to his biographer Valerie Grove about his extraordinary legal and literary career.

Les Dawson's Secret Notebooks
6 November, Lyttelton
Les Dawson was one of Britain's finest comedians. His widow Tracy Dawson and long-time collaborator Roy Barraclough reminisce about this much loved man. Booksigning

Peter Gill with Nicholas Wright
7 November, Lyttelton
Playwright, director and founder of the NT Studio, Peter Gill, and fellow playwright Nicholas Wright discuss the new NT book, Actors Speaking, a collection of conversations with 12 remarkable actors, and Gill's own attitude to modern verse-speaking. Booksigning

First World War Poetry
9 November, Olivier
Alongside War Horse's depiction of WW1, members of the company read some of the beautiful and moving poetry inspired by the conflict.

Michael Billington and Nicholas Hytner
19 November, Olivier
Britain's longest-serving theatre critic, Michael Billington, talks to Nicholas Hytner about postwar Britain from a theatrical perspective, as featured in his new book, State of the Nation. Booksigning

Animals in War
22 November, Olivier
The extraordinary contribution that animals have made to the war effort is celebrated by Mike Baker of the overseas equine welfare charity The Brooke, Terry Charman of the Imperial War Museum, and historian and writer Juliet Gardiner.