NT announces productions for June to Oct 2005

NT announces productions for June to Oct 2005

The National Theatre has announced productions for June to Oct 2005

Public booking opens 11 May 2005 for the following new three productions

In the Olivier...

Playing With Fire by David Edgar, opens 21 Sep 2005, following previews from 12 Sep 2005, closing 22 Oct 2005. It is directed by Michael Attenborough with lighting by Mark Henderson. When the District Council of Wyverdale fails to satisfy a government audit, New Labour high-flyer Alex is sent north from London to formulate a robust recovery plan. But websites, faith festivals and council leaflets in Bengali seem beside the point to the Labour old guard, struggling to provide the basics to an alienated and divided electorate. What begins as a metro-versus-retro comedy of misunderstanding soon becomes a chilling drama about multicultural Britain. Populist politicians play the race card, racial tensions grow and good intentions have fatal consequences.

In the Lyttelton...

Aristocrats by Brian Friel, opens 12 July 2005, following previews from 2 July, booking to 25 Aug 2005. It is directed & designed by Tom Cairns with lighting by Bruno Poet. The cast includes Dervla Kirwan, Peter McDonald, Gina McKee, Andrew Scott.. A family gathers for a wedding at the ancestral home in County Donegal, its crumbling edifice testimony to an opulent way of life that's all but finished. As the accusations and demands of their dying father ring out, his wayward, volatile offspring find consolation in reinventing wild and bohemian stories of the big house in its heyday.

In the Cottesloe...

The President of An Empty Room by Steven Knight, opens 28 June 2005, following previews from 17 June, closing 27 Aug 2005. It is directed by Howard Davies, designed by Bunny Christie, lighting by Mark Henderson. The cast includes Georgina Ackerman, Jim Carter, Nona Dumezweni, Paul Hilton, Fraser James, Inika Leigh Wright, Petra Letang, Stephen Moore, Lucian Msamati, Anthony O'Donnell, Tracey Saunders.A story of voodoo, heroin and tobacco. Amid the vibrant, spirited community of a Cuban cigar factory, the senior roller proclaims a democracy and work goes to hell. There's Flamenco dancing, bursts of opera, quarrels, reconciliations, revelations and a bungled sexual encounter; but Miguel has lost his sweetheart to America, there's a storm in Havana, and tobacco is the last thing on his mind.

Productions extended

The House of Bernarda Alba
will now end 30 June 2005

On The Shore Of The Wide World
will now close 23 Aug 2005

Henry IV Part 1 & 2
will now close 31 Aug 2005

The UN Inspector
will now close 5 Oct 2005

Theatre of Blood
now booking 27 Aug 2005

Casting updates......

The Un Inspector freely adapted from Gogol's Russian satire The Government Inspector by David Farr, opening in the Olivier on 16 June 2005, following previews from 7 June, running to 5 Oct: Cast is Michael Sheen ( Carson, the UN Inspector), David Ryall (Justice), Mark Arends, Geoffrey Beevers, Elizabeth Bell, Kate Best, Sam Cox, Michelle Dockery, Nick Fletcher, Michael Gould, Daisy Haggard, Geraldine James, Mark Leadbetter, Penelope McGhie, Jonathan McGuinness, David Ryall, Justin Salinger, Nicolas Tennant and Tony Turner..

Theatre of Blood by Lee Simpson and Phelim McDermott, opens in the Lyttelton on 19 May 2005, following previews from 9 May,booking to 27 Aug 2005 directed by Howard Davies. The cast is Jim Broadbent (as Lionheart), Paul Bentall, Hayley Carmichael, Sally Dexter, Nick Haverson, Mark Lockyer, Tim McMullan, Rachael Spence, Steve Steen , Rachael Stirling, Gerard Bell, Bette Bourne, Stephen Harper, Victoria Willing and Edward Woodall.

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

G8 Plays 27, 28 and 30 June 2005, Olivier
Marking the G8 Summit, held this year from 6 - 8 July in Gleneagles, three specially commissioned short plays covering some of the aims of the Summit (debt cancellation, better aid, trade justice and Africa). www.makepovertyhistory.org

JB Priestley: The Art of the Dramatist 4 July, Olivier
JB Priestley's passionate and humorous essays distil his experience as playwright, producer, director and - just once - actor. Tom Priestley discusses his father's plain speaking, characteristic wit, and above all, good sense.

David Farr: The UN Inspector 7 July, Olivier
The writer and director David Farr talks about The UN Inspector, his version of Gogol's masterpiece.

Shell Connections Writers' Forum 12 July, Cottesloe
Every year, Connections playwrights are given the simplest of briefs: 'write a 60 minute play for young people'. This basic request has led to the vast Connections compendium of new plays. Some of this year's writers discuss their experiences of contributing to Connections 2005.

In Conversation 13, 22, 27 July, 3, 12, 17 August, 3pm (60 mins), Cottesloe, £5
The ever-popular summer series of informal interviews with NT actors returns. Guests TBA. Chaired by Al Senter.

Michael Gambon: A Life in Acting 14 July 3pm (60 mins), Olivier, £5
Michael Gambon takes time out from playing Falstaff to talk about his recent work. Booksigning

Penguin Shakespeare Masterclasses 18, 25 July and 1, 2 August, 2.30pm (90 mins), Olivier, £5
A short series of Masterclasses taken by leading Shakespearean actors and directors, offering practical insight into performing the work of Britain's greatest playwright.

Sheila Hancock: The Two of Us 20 July, Olivier
Sheila Hancock talks about her moving and compelling account of her marriage to John Thaw. The Two of Us is the biography of a born actor and a tender, often heartbreaking memoir of a marriage, which evokes two lives lived to the utmost. Booksigning

Gwynne Edwards on Lorca 27 July, Lyttelton
Lorca translator and biographer Gwynne Edwards talks about the life and work of the distinctive Spanish playwright and poet, with readings from his letters and writings.

Steven Knight: The President of an Empty Room 11 August, Cottesloe
As he makes his NT debut, the writer of The President of an Empty Room discusses his new play.

Prunella Scales and Timothy West: So You Want to be an Actor? 26 September, Olivier
Marking the publication of their new handbook for aspiring actors, the celebrated husband-and-wife team discuss their approach to acting. Booksigning

From 'Rivers of Blood' to Playing With Fire 29 September, Olivier
A panel discussion about the themes of David Edgar's provocative new play Playing with Fire. The playwright is joined by leading public figures to debate the relationship of multiculturalism and contemporary politics in the aftermath of a turbulent political year.

Alan Bennett: Untold Stories 3 October, Olivier
The bestselling author and playwright reads from Untold Stories, a compendium of some of his finest and funniest writing from the last nine years. A poignant memoir of growing up in Leeds, it also features his much-celebrated diary for the years 1996-2004. Booksigning

David Hare: Obedience, Struggle and Revolt 4 October, Olivier
What is a political playwright? Does theatre have any direct effect on society? Is theatre itself facing oblivion? Since 1978, David Hare has sought uniquely to address these and other questions in occasional lectures given both in Britain and abroad. Now, as these lectures are published together for the first time, he discusses the relationship of art to politics.

Stephen Unwin: A Guide to the Plays of Bertolt Brecht 21 October, Olivier
The director and author Stephen Unwin provides a clear and readable new guide to all of Brecht's key plays that sets them in their historical, dramaturgical and political contexts. Booksigning

FRIEDRICH SCHILLER 1759 - 1805 Celebrating the bi-centenary of the death of the German dramatist, historian, poet and philosopher, and the publication of new collections of his plays, translated by the late Robert David MacDonald.

Playreading: The Robbers (1781) 7 October, Olivier, 2 - 4.30pm, £5
Schiller's first play is a rebellious tirade against tyranny. Directed by Garry Cooper.

Discussion: Schiller the Rebel 7 October, Olivier, 6pm
After the revolutionary The Robbers, Schiller created the Weimar style in Passion and Politics and Don Carlos, before turning his back on the theatre.

Playreading: William Tell (1804) 13 October, Olivier, 2 - 4.30pm, £5
Schiller's last play celebrates liberty and the beauty of life in nature. Directed by Garry Cooper.

Discussion: Schiller the Romantic Idealist 13 October, Olivier, 6pm
Lured back to playwriting by Goethe, Schiller produced some of his greatest work including the romantic tragedies Mary Stuart and Joan of Arc.