#nt 2017 twelfth night

[suburbanrot]

send me a character/thing to draw (doesnt have to be fandom related but all my relevant fandoms r tagged) and I'll do a wee doodle of them in my notebook !! I want to make some silly little things for you guys

[oliverchris]

Orsino

[oliver-chris]

Same energy

NT Live Twelfth Night (2017) & NT Live A Midsummer Night's Dream (2019)

[emjee]

The Glorious Queer Potential of Viola and Orsino in Twelfth Night

for Shakespeare Appreciation Week - Day Three - Lovers Day

This is a long-promised essay/ramble and I’m chucking it under Lover’s Day because it mostly concerns Viola and Orsino. I suppose an alternate title for it could be Orsino: He’s as Queer as the Rest of Them.

Before we begin, brief caveat: queerness exists in many forms and means many things to many people. This is my reading as one (1) singular queer person. Also, as you will have noticed if you read this far, I’m using the word queer. Not only is it an academically accepted term and one of my personal identifiers, it is in many cases the best descriptor for people and relationships in a play written in a time where gender and sexuality were constructed differently than they are today. Am I going to use the word “bisexual” when I talk about Orsino? Probably. But overall, the play’s just queer, in terms of gender, sexual attraction, and social relationships.

Let’s start with Viola (another heads up, I’m going to refer to her mostly as Viola because that’s how she seems to think about herself, and I’m going to use she/her pronouns). I believe @shredsandpatches recently made an argument that Viola can be read as a trans woman, which is an argument I love—she’s clearly uncomfortable with her masculine disguise (“Disguise, I see, thou art a wickedness, / Wherein the pregnant enemy does much. / How easy is it for the proper-false / In women's waxen hearts to set their forms!”) but she also passes as a man marvelously well. Like, people make a few comments about her higher voice, but nobody actually seems to suspect that she’s a woman until she’s finally in the same place as Sebastian and everyone goes “twins?!” Viola being a trans woman would also make the whole “she and Sebastian are literally identical” thing much more plausible, although one should never let “biological technicalities” get in the way of a good twin plot. I think there are also arguments to be made for playing Viola as a gender nonconforming cis woman who thinks, “It��ll be safer if I just pass as a man”, or with some other relationship to genderqueerness. (And by the way, when I say “arguments to be made”, sometimes that can mean the argument is “I, a queer person, feel like playing Viola this way.” Sometimes you just gotta do it for the queer joy, you know?)

So, Orsino. The two most memorable Orsinos I’ve seen have been Nicholas Bishop in the 2017 RSC production and Oliver Chris in the 2017 National Theatre production (truly we were blessed with Twelfth Nights in 2017). The RSC production chose to look at Orsino and immediately go, “This is not a Straight Man” which was valid of them—from the get-go, you understand why Orsino might go for a person who’s got some excellent gender-fuckery going on. In the NT production, Orsino is much more of a jock and, to my interpretation, definitely Thinks He’s Straight, which is fun because you get to see his heterosexuality crumble before his very eyes. (The moment where Viola reveals herself as a woman and Orsino lets out a long “oh thank God” breath can read a little too close to “no homo” for my liking, but Oliver Chris is good at making even asshole characters weirdly endearing, so I will let it pass.)

With both of these productions, you also have to consider the era they’re set in: the RSC is in the Victorian era, the NT in the 1970s (I think. I’m pretty sure it’s the 70s. Could be the 60s?) In the RSC, one could infer that Orsino’s commitment to getting Olivia to love him stems from the homophobia of the society he’s living in. Would he love to be able to just get with men? Sure. But the odds of him getting away with that for his entire life are low. The show’s design really makes this production Shakespeare-by-way-of-Wilde: the sets, the costumes (especially Antonio, who’s literally wearing a green carnation in his lapel). By evoking Wilde and his persecution, the production reminds the viewer that plenty of the people in this play—Antonio, Olivia, Viola, Orsino—can’t show the outside world their true queer selves, however much they might want to be.

Now, the NT production’s version of Orsino reads to me very much like someone going through a bisexual awakening. Source: I have undergone a bisexual awakening and I took one look at Orsino in this production and went *John Mulaney voice* “Oh, okay.” To me, Oliver Chris’s Orsino is going through the motions of compulsive heterosexuality. By all accounts, he should be in love with Olivia. It makes sense to him. He knows all the motions to go through. He’s talked himself into loving her because that’s what you do when you feel you need to be visibly in love with a woman and she’s the most suitable person around.

But once Orsino meets Viola, he seems to immediately adore her, in his own bro way, for herself. This isn’t what he’s used to attraction being like, he doesn’t immediately recognize it because Cesario is a guy, sometimes guys are just friends with other guys and do a lot of homoerotic boxing practice (still not over it) and it’s just dudes being bros and chilling on a table at your fortieth birthday part five feet apart because you’re not gay (spoiler: you’re actually really gay, and by gay I mean pick your favorite flavor of polysexual queerness).

Orsino continues to refer to Viola as Cesario up until the end of the play, mostly because Viola is still wearing men’s clothes. In early modern England, clothes were a huge part of gender expression. Cross-dressing was against the law (I’m 99% sure, someone please correct me on this if I’m wrong; it’s been several years since I discussed queer early modern stuff in a formal setting). Orsino referring to Viola as Cesario even when he knows she’s a woman is one of those things that has a reasonable historic explanation, but can also be read nowadays as: he likes it. Orsino’s into genderqueerness, and good on him. Genderqueerness is attractive as hell.

I know we sometimes lament the end of Twelfth Night along the lines of “But Will! Tell us what the original super-gay ending was!!” I totally understand why people want to see Olivia and Viola wind up together (Olivia—another raging queer who I didn’t even get to in this ramble—does seem to be truly in love with Viola and it’s hard to leave her disappointed at the end of the play), and I think we’re all heartbroken for Antonio (he just loves Sebastian so MUCH). However, I want to point out that men and women can still have queer romantic relationships with each other.  A love story between Viola as a straight trans woman and Orsino as a bisexual cis man is still a queer love story.

Happy Lovers Day, my loves! Have a fabulously queer day.

[burntcopper]

Top ten (ish) theatre of 2017

Saint Joan (Donmar) Platinum (Hampstead) Kinky Boots (Adelphi) The White Devil (Globe) Sex With Strangers (Hampstead) The Play That Goes Wrong (Duchess) Twelfth Night (NT) The Taming of the Shrew (Globe) Twelfth Night (Merely Theatre) Love in Idleness (Menier) Othello (Globe) The Red Shoes (Bourne) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Old Vic) The Treatment (Almeida) Romeo and Juliet (Globe) Salome (NT) Romeo and Juliet (Union Theatre) Madame Rubinstein (Park) Woyzeck (Old Vic) Twelfth Night (Globe) Common (NT) Twelfth Night (Rain or Shine) Gloria (Hampstead) Life of Galileo (Young Vic) Ink (Almeida) Tristan and Yseult (Globe) The Ferryman (Gielgud) Certain Young Men (NT) Wind in the Willows (Progress) Yank! (Charing Cross) Against (Almeida) Much Ado About Nothing (Globe) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Apollo) Wings (Young Vic) Boudica (Globe) Young Frankenstein (Garrick) Albion (Almeida) St George and the Dragon (NT) Young Marx (Bridge) Oslo (Harold Pinter) The Secret Theatre (Globe) Dracula (Rain or Shine)

(It was kind of the year of Twelfth Night)

Anyway, in no particular order, the top 10 were:

The Red Shoes (Bourne) - gorgeous, lyrical, funny with some very nice period dance pieces and AMAZING set changes (the onstage proscenium arch swivelled to show backstage). It's Matthew Bourne. The Play That Goes Wrong (Duchess) - imagine an amateur theatre company, and then imagine every possible thing that could go wrong. And hurt yourself laughing.  Several times. Twelfth Night (NT) - We are stylish.  You are peasants.  Everyone is gay or at least bisexual.  And of course the Elephant is a drag club, it's Antonio's local. Boudica (Globe) - FIGHT.  Never fucking forget you're a queen and that you will have bloody vengeance, and then fucking yell London Calling to the heavens. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (Old Vic) - Daniel Radcliffe and Joshua Maguire are here to be confused at you, and the Player King is here to really confuse you.  Hamlet is here to drink cocktails in a deckchair on the boat to England. Twelfth Night (Globe) - Fuck the text, we're going to go to the 70s on a disco cruise ship, crash into a scottish island, and everyone is going to dance at all times, wear kilts and have terrible mullets.  Olivia's going to be in her 40s and be seduced by Sebastian in one seriously sexy tango. Bring your inner diva. Much Ado About Nothing (Globe) Mexican Revolution. Horseback done by puppetry and stillts.  Full. On. Beatrice and Benedick sniping.  A seriously menacing Don Pedro. 'Nothing rhymes with senorita but...’ *audience* 'Margarita!' 'Oh, not bad...' And achieved the impossible by making Dogberry make sense for once by having him be an American film director who can't speak the language. Oslo (Harold Pinter) - documenting all the behind the scenes meetings of the Oslo accords, where they achieved the miracle of getting the Palestinians and Israelis to sit in a room and talk to each other.  unbelievably tense, utterly brilliant. Tristan and Yseult (Globe) - Everyone needs love.  You may go back to being part of the Unloved. You also need to do it in a funny, impressionist dance and song way with lots of trailing red cloth. Wings (Young Vic) - recovery from a stroke, from the point of view of an ex wing-walker rediscovering her sense of self, memories and ability to communicate.  And btw, Juliet Stevenson will do all this while mostly spinning on a trapeze above the audience.

The worst (avoid like the plague)

Common (NT) This was TURGID.  and DREARY.  And REPETITIVE. I actually wrote a blog post on how much I hated it. Against (Almeida) - Elon Musk-alike decides to rediscover himself by going out and talking to people across America, do some really terrible journey of Jesus allusions, and say absolutely fucking nothing but does disappear up his own arsehole.  Only even vaguely watchable due to Ben Whishaw.

[km-theatre]

Cast & Creatives The Ladykillers

NEW WOLSEY THEATRE IPSWICH SUFFOLK  UK 15 SEP 2017

Friday 15 September 2017

Ann Penfold — Mrs Wilberforce

Theatre credits include: The Taming of the Shrew (RSC),Brighton Till I Die(Brighton),, Revenger's Tragedy, Deep Blue Sea,(West Yorkshire Playhouse)Saturday Sunday Monday (National Theatre/West End)  The Wars of the Roses(English Shakespeare Company, world tour and Old Vic) Design for Living (Peter Hall Company,) The Winslow Boy,(Guildford and tour) The Contractor (Oxford Stage company tour) Forty Years On (Scarborough)The Glass Menagerie,(Greenwich), In Celebration,(Chichester.) Duet for One (Edinburgh, Lyceum)

At the Wolsey Theatre: The Winter's Tale; Hamlet; Romeo and Juliet; Mrs Warren's Profession; Perfect Days.

And at Salisbury Playhouse: For Services Rendered ( and at the Old Vic), and The Lady in the Van.

Television credits include: Tripped (Mammoth Screen), Doctors, Casualty, Sea of Souls, Dangerfield, No Place Like Home, Mrs Pym’s Day Out, Cranford, Villette, There is Also Tomorrow (BBC), The Bill, The Vice, Coronation Street, The Brontes of Haworth, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries (ITV) A Wing and a Prayer, Family Affairs (Ch5)

Film credits include: Keeping Rosy, Winter Sunlight, Family Life.

Steven Elliot — Professor Marcus

Theatre Credits Include: Frankenstein, The Winter’s Tale. (Royal National Theatre) Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar, Revenger’s Tragedy, Henry V, Twelfth Night, Pentecost, The Bite of the Night, The Jew of Malta, Measure For Measure (Royal Shakespeare Company) The Devil Inside Him (National Theatre Wales) Dancing at Lughnasa (Abbey, Dublin) King Lear (Almeida, London) True West (Glasgow Citz) Arcadia (Bristol Old Vic) Frank, in Educating Rita (Oldham Coliseum) Dumb Show, Inherit the Wind (New Vic Theatre) The Weir (Sherman, Cardiff) Amadeus, Hamlet, And Then There Were None, Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’ (Salisbury Playhouse) Macbeth, Two Princes, A Chorus of Disapproval, Arcadia, Troilus and Cressida, Measure for Measure, The Suicide, Noises Off, Jumpy, Cyrano de Bergerac (Theatr Clwyd)  Steven recently played the role of George Ring in an adaptation of ‘Adventures in the Skin Trade,’ by Dylan Thomas, at the Sydney Opera House and Melbourne Arts Centre, Australia. He also recently played Oscar Wilde in a tour of ‘The Trials of Oscar Wilde.’

Directing Credits Include: Assistant Director to Terry Hands on ‘Pygmalion’ by George Bernard Shaw (Theatr Clwyd) A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Rose Theatre, Kingston) Well Thumbed (Notional Theatre) The Dreamer (Maltings, Farnham)

Television Credits Include:  Da Vinci’s Demons, Holby City, Judge John Deed, Ghostboat, Crash, Tunnel of Love, Porthpenwaig, Inspector Morse, Harpur and Isles, Art that Shook the World, 90 Days in Hollywood, Return to Treasure Island, That Uncertain Feeling, Rhinoceros, Van der Valk,  999 Killer on the line, Mike Bassett - Manager, Gwaith Cartref.

Film Credits Include:  Steven has just finished filming ‘The Watcher in the Woods’ with Anjelica Huston, in which he plays the title role. Other Film work includes; Hamlet, Cold Earth, Rise of the Appliances, Trauma, Trail of Crimson, De Sade, Green Monkey and Time Bandits. Also recordings of Frankenstein (NT Live) King Lear and True West (Digital Theatre)

Graham Seed — Major Courtney

Graham trained at RADA and is best known for playing Nigel Pargetter in the radio series The Archers for 27 years, until the character’s untimely demise in January 2011. Theatre credits include: Dead Sheep and An Audience with Jimmy Savile (Park Theatre), Dead Sheep (National Tour), 
Bedroom Farce and Separate Tables (Salisbury Playhouse), Flare Path (National Tour) Jim Hacker in Yes Prime Minister (National Tour), Basket Case with Nigel Havers (National Tour)Major Metcalf in The Mousetrap (60th Anniversary tour), Toad of Toad Hall (West
End); Me and My Girl (Adelphi Theatre); Relatively
Speaking and Confusions (national tour); Design for Living (English Touring Theatre); Twelfth Night
(BAC); Translations (Watford and tour); A Chaste
Maid of Cheapside (Almeida and tour); Someone to
Watch Over Me (Frankfurt); An Eligible Man (New
End, Hampstead); The Skin Game (Orange Tree);
Nelson (Nuffield, Southampton); Present Laughter
(Theatr Cymru); French Without Tears (Mill at
Sonning); Journey’s End (National Tour) Accolade at the
Finborough. He has also played many
repertory seasons including: Birmingham, Greenwich, 
Library Theatre, Manchester, and Perth.

Television credits include: The Durrells, I, Claudius, Edward
VII, Brideshead Revisited, Mike Leigh’s Who’s Who, Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV, Jeeves and Wooster, The Cleopatras, Crossroads, Coronation Street, Brookside, Prime Suspect, Nature Boy, Dinnerladies, Station Jim, Band of Brothers, The Chatterley Affair, Doctors, Midsomer Murders and He Kills Coppers. Film credits include: Peterloo, Gandhi, Good and Bad at
Games, Honest, Little Dorrit, These Foolish Things and Wild Target with Bill Nighy and Emily Blunt. Radio credits include: Nigel Pargetter
in The Archers. He is an occasional presenter on ‘Pick of the Week’ and was a regular voice on ‘What The Papers’ Say’ both for Radio 4.
 He was the recipient of the
Broadcaster of the Year Award 2010 from the
Broadcasting Press Guild and the Voice of Listener
and Viewer Special Award 2010.

Marcus Houden — Constable Macdonald

Theatre credits include: The Tempest (Hope Theatre, London) - BroadwayWorldUK Best Leading Actor nomination, Overture Live (Hippodrome, London), Peter Pan (UK Tour), Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood(Gala Theatre, Durham), Treasure Island (Cambridge Touring Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (International Tour), Romeo and Juliet, Sense and Sensibility (Chapterhouse Theatre Company), Bouncers(UK Tour), The Three Musketeers (Jamie Marcus Productions), The Merry Wives of Henry VIII (Edinburgh Festival), Art, Macbeth(Seagull Theatre), Tartuffe, The Beaux’ Stratagem (Lichfield Garrick) and Dick Whittington (Theatre Colwyn).

Damian Williams — One-Round

Damian became well known to television audiences in the early nineties for his appearances as Ginger Gahagan in the BBC series Billy Webb and the second series Alfonzo Bonzo. His other television appearances include Lumpy in Spatz; Gavin in Exam Conditions and Ian in The Bill. Damian was the presenter of Damian’s Are You Smarter Than Your 10 Year Old for Sky One and was also in the new series of Birds of a Feather.

Damian is always in demand for Musical Theatre and in 2013 and 2014 Damian played Edna Turnblad in Hairspray both at the Leicester Curve as well as a tour of Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Damian’s first love is comedy (his heroes are Laurel & Hardy) and he has played various comedy roles from Luther Billis in South Pacific to Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum. Damian played Tommy Cooper in the new play Being Tommy Cooper, and toured in the one man play My Dog’s Got No Nose. Most recently he’s also played Tommy Cooper in the short film The Last Laugh, written and directed by Paul Hendy for which Damian won best Actor (Southampton film festival)

Damian has toured the country for over 25 years and has a wealth of experience in Theatre, a well respected farceur Damian has appeared in; Run for your wife, Cash on Delivery, Funny Money, Tom Dick & Harry, It Runs in the Family, Not now darling, There Goes The Bride, Out of Order, Caught in the Net, Dry Rot, See How they Run and Don’t Dress For Dinner.

As resident Dame of 10 years at the Sheffield Lyceum Damian is set to play Mother Goose this year.

Damian was born in Tilbury in Essex and now resides in Southend on sea with his wife Barbie. They are proud parents of twins, Joshua and Esme, undoubtedly Damian’s finest productions to date!

Anthony Dunn — Louis Harvey

Anthony has worked extensively as an actor in the UK, Europe, Canada and the United States over the last 30 years. Theatre includes Calamity Jane (UK and Ireland Tour), Paved in Gold (Canada), Birds (US Tour), Face (UK Tour), Buddy (Victoria Palace), Bouncers (Hull Truck), L'Ascencore (European Tour) and Don Quixote(Warehouse Theatre). His television appearances include The Murdoch Mysteries (US and Canada), Roomers and The Last Word for the BBC and Stuck on You, The Upper Hand and Frank Stubbs for ITV. Anthony has also worked in academia, teaching and doing Ph.D research in Washington and New Orleans. When not working as an actor, Anthony can be found taking groups of people on entertaining historical tours of London by road, river or foot.

Sam Lupton — Harry Robinson

Training: Manchester School Of Theatre (Man met, Acting)

Theatre includes: ‘Wilfred Crompton’ in Spring and Port Wine (Oldham Coliseum 2017); 'Seymour' in Little Shop Of Horrors (UK Tour 2016),  'Boq' in Wicked (Apollo Victoria Theatre, West End); 'Princeton’ & ‘Rod' in Avenue Q (UK Tour 2012); 'Man' in Starting Here, Starting Now'; Greg' in Single Sex and 'Gena Hamlet' in Galka Motalka (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester);  'Harry' in Love On The Dole and 'Young Collector/Sailor' in A Streetcar Named Desire (Bolton Octagon); 'Colin Ireland & Robin Oake' in Out Out Out (Pitgems Theatre); "Jim/Ensemble" in The Hired Man (Bolton Octagon) which won the 2010 TMA Award for Best Performance in a Musical, awarded to the entire ensemble. He Also originated the role of 'Ben' in Firing Life.

Television includes: The Late Late Show (RTE) and Ireland:AM (TV3).

Radio Includes: 'Nino Sarratore' in The Story Of A New Name & My Brilliant Friend (BBC Radio 4), Various Characters in National Velvet (BBC Radio 4)

Workshops: 'Boy & Zacky' in Big Fish; 'John-Michael' in Doris Stokes

Other Work Includes: The Music of Kooman & Diamond (IlliaDebuts, London Debut), "The Concrete Jungle": UK Album Launch (IlliaDebuts), 'West End Switched Off' (Parallel Productions)

Sam has also worked as a puppet coach for the 2014 professional UK tour of Avenue Q. In 2016 he made is directorial debut with How To Curse at London's Etcetera Theatre.

[picolin]

Twelfth Night

by William Shakespeare (dir. Simon Godwin)

2017年4月3日 NT Olivier

マルヴォーリオ（ア）とフェステを女優が演じるというキャスティング。そもそもこの��品自体がジェンダーを混乱させた話の面白さがあるので、それをさらに先に進めるとどうなるかというコンセプトがドタバタ具合を増幅し、混沌の中に楽しさを浮かび上がらせるようなところがあるプロダクション。

演出のトーンやセットの使い方が同じ演出家による二年前の『The Beaux' Stratagem』にも共通するものがある。今回の美術はジェイミー・ロイドとの仕事で有名なSoutra Gilmourで、中央の回転舞台に置かれた直角三角錐が閉じたり開いたりすることにより、階段になったり壁になったり建物の玄関になったり部屋と中庭になったりと自由自在。この装置を見ているだけで楽しい気分になる。

オーシーノウとヴァイオラ（シザーリオ）がスパーリングの練習をしていたり（一応相手女の子なのにw）、セバスチャンが自転車を乗り回したり、酒場「The Elephant」がドラァグショウのあるナイトクラブだったりする、相当遊んだ現代服装の演出。マルヴォーリアとフェステがどちらもTVのコメディショウやドラマで有名な俳優であるせいか、ふたりとも歌に踊りにと達者極まりない。このプロダクションにおいては、特に一泡食わされたマルヴォーリアの悲哀が強調されるエンディングとなっており、軽妙な取り違えで最後までおかしみを強調したヴァイオラのプロットとの落差が際立つようになっている。

[londontheatre]

National Theatre Jan 2015 – photo by Philip Vile

On the Southbank the NT played to 93% capacity – the best-attended programme in 12 years In the six months since April 2017 we have played to 89% capacity

There was a broad programme of new and classic work speaking to the present moment New work included The Flick, The Suicide, LOVE, Another World and My Country Classic work with contemporary resonance included The Threepenny Opera, Amadeus, Hedda Gabler and Twelfth Night

In less than two years, 50% of all state secondary schools have signed up to the NT’s free service, On Demand In Schools Two-thirds of subscribed schools are outside London and the South East

Thanks to plans put in place last year, by the end of 2017-18 the NT will have toured six productions to 36 towns and cities across the UK for a total of 115 touring weeks

we’re here because we’re here touched millions of people across the UK, and demonstrated theatre’s power and potential to engage a diverse, nationwide audience – winning 15 awards

we’re here because we’re here inspired us to create a bold touring and participation programme to reach new audiences and support theatre-making around the country

Lisa Burger, Executive Director of the National Theatre said: “2016-17 was a vintage year for the National Theatre. It was wonderful to see large and enthusiastic audiences come to see shows that ranged from Mike Longhurst’s magnificent Amadeus, to Alexander Zeldin’s powerful and moving LOVE. We embarked on a period of intense touring of live theatre – by the end of this year six productions will have visited 36 cities for a total of 115 weeks. On top of that we expanded our nationwide Learning programme and developed a bold new touring and participation project. It’s been quite a year, with more yet to come.”

http://ift.tt/2wkVHn9 LondonTheatre1.com

[peterviney1]

Twelfth Night – NT review Review of the National Theatre's Twelfth Night, featuring Tamsin Greig as a female "Malvolia". As lavish a production as you can get too. Link later. Till then, scroll down the menu bar on the right to Twelfth Night, NT-2017.

[suburbanrot]

last gasp has to be one of my least favourite in9 eps and yet I rewatched it last night just to kick my feet and giggle over tamsin greig

[oliverchris]

If that ain't just the most relatable reaction!

("Twelfth Night", NT Live, 2017.)

[emjee]

Watching The Great on Hulu and Phoebe Fox (aka the most adorable Olivia ever in the 2017 NT Twelfth Night) plays Catherine’s maid which is just fantastic.

Everyone also says “fuck” a lot and that is valid.

[londontheatre]

The National Theatre today announced Toby Stephens in the role of social-scientist Terje Rød-Larsen, with Lydia Leonard as his wife, diplomat Mona Juul and Peter Polycarpou plays Ahmed Qurie, the former Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority. The Lincoln Center Theater’s critically acclaimed production of OSLO, begins performances at the National Theatre on 5 September (press nights 15, 16, 18 September) and later transfers to the Harold Pinter Theatre (2 October – 30 December 2017).

This gripping new play by J T Rogers, directed by Bartlett Sher, was awarded ‘Best Play’ at the 2017 Tony Awards ® and was winner of every ‘Best Play’ award on Broadway this season including those given by New York Drama Critics’ Circle, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle , Drama League, Obie and Lucille Lortel Awards.

In 1993, in front of the world’s press, the leaders of Israel and Palestine shook hands on the lawn of the White House. Few watching would have guessed that the negotiations leading up to this iconic moment started secretly in a castle in the middle of a forest outside Oslo.

Oslo tells the true story of how one young Norwegian couple Mona Juul (Lydia Leonard) and her husband, Terje Rød-Larsen (Toby Stephens) planned and orchestrated top-secret, high-level meetings between the State of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation, which culminated in the signing of the historic 1993 Oslo Accords. Featuring dozens of characters and set in locations across the globe, Oslo is both a political thriller and the personal story of a small band of women and men struggling together – and fighting each other – as they seek to change the world. (Mona Juul is currently the Norwegian Ambassador to the UK – the first woman to occupy the role).

Toby Stephens has recently completed filming Lost in Space for Netflix – playing the leading role of John Robinson. The series is due for launch in 2018. Previous stage work includes Private Lives (Chichester Festival Theatre and Gielgud Theatre), Danton’s Death (NT), The Real Thing (Old Vic), A Doll’s House (Donmar Warehouse), Betrayal (Donmar Warehouse), Japes (Theatre Royal, Haymarket), A Streetcar Named Desire (Theatre Royal, Haymarket), The Country Wife (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Wallenstein (RSC), Unfinished Business (RSC), Tamburlaine (RSC), The Pilate Workshop (RSC), Hamlet – title role (RSC), Measure for Measure (RSC), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (RSC), Coriolanus – title role (RSC), All’s Well That Ends Well (RSC), Antony and Cleopatra (RSC), Britannicus (Almeida), Phèdre (Almeida and Brooklyn Academy Of Music)), Tartuffe (Playhouse), and Ring Round the Moon (Lincoln Center). Recent film work includes 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, The Journey and Hunter Killer (due for release.) Other film work includes: The Machine, Believe, All Things To All Men, Severance, The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey, Die Another Day, Possession, The Announcement, Onegin, Photographing Fairies, Sunset Heights, Cousin Bette, The Great Gatsby, Twelfth Night and Orlando. TV work includes: Black Sails, And Then There Were None, Vexed, Robin Hood , Wired, The Wild West, Jane Eyre, The Best Man, The Queen’s Sister, Cambridge Spies, Perfect Strangers, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

Lydia Leonard appeared in Time and the Conways at the National. Her previous stage work includes Wolf Hall / Bring Up the Bodies for which she was nominated for a TONY award and Hecuba (RSC), Let There Be Love (Tricycle); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bristol Old Vic), Love’s Labour’s Lost on national tour and Onassis and Frost/Nixon in the West End. Her television appearances include Life in Squares, River, Lucan, Ambassadors, Da Vinci’s Demons, Whitechapel, Law & Order, Spooks, Casualty 1909, The 39 Steps, Ashes to Ashes, Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley, Casualty 1907, The Line of Beauty, Jericho, Rome, Foyle’s War and Midsomer Murders. On film she has appeared in The Fifth Estate, The Big Picture, The Shocate, Born of War, Archipelago and True True Lie.

Peter Polycarpou takes the role Ahmed Qurie, the former Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority. Peter’s previous work at the NT includes The Magistrate, Oklahoma! (also West End) and Metropolis Kabarett, He was in the original company of Les Misérables (RSC) and Miss Saigon (West End) he most recently appeared in Working at Southwark Playhouse.

The cast also includes Geraldine Alexander, Philip Arditti, Thomas Arnold, Nabil Elouahabi , Paul Herzberg. Karoline Gable, Anthony Shuster, Daniel Stewart and Howard Ward. Further casting will be announced.

Oslo is written by J T Rogers and directed by Bartlett Sher, with sets by Michael Yeargan, costumes by Catherine Zuber, lighting by Donald Holder, sound by Peter John Still and projections by 59 Productions. JT Rogers’ previous plays for the National Theatre are: Blood and Gifts, which premiered at the Lyttelton Theatre in 2010 and The Overwhelming, a co-production between the National Theatre and Out of Joint. His other plays include Madagascar (Theatre503 in London and Melbourne Theatre Company) and White People (Off-Broadway; Starry Night Productions). He was one of the authors of the Olivier nominated The Great Game: Afghanistan at the Tricycle Theatre. His plays have been seen across the U.S., and in Canada, Germany and Israel. Bartlett Sher’s makes his directorial debut for the National Theatre with Oslo. His previous work in the UK includes Women on the verge of a Breakdown at the Playhouse in 2015, Two Boys for the ENO and South Pacific for the Barbican in 2011 and TFANA’s Cymbeline, at the RSC’s The Other Place in 2001. His previous work for Lincoln Center Theater includes: The King and I, Golden Boy, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Awake and Sing!, The Light in the Piazza (Tony nominations); South Pacific (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle awards; also London, Australia); Blood and Gifts; Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (London). Broadway: Fiddler on the Roof (Broadway Theatre), The Bridges of Madison County (Schoenfeld). Off-Broadway: Prayer for My Enemy (Playwrights Horizons), Waste (Best Play Obie Award), Don Juan, Pericles (TFANA, BAM). Upcoming productions include Adam Guettel’s new musical Millions and My Fair Lady for LCT.

OSLO Listings Information National Theatre, Upper Ground, London SE1 9PX Dates: 5 – 26 September 2017 Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm, Thursday and Saturday at 2.00pm There will be a Platform event with Mona Juul, Mona Juul and the Oslo Accords in the Lyttleton Theatre on 15 September at 6pm.

Harold Pinter Theatre, Panton St, London SW1Y 4DN Dates: 2 October – 30 December 2017

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A ship is wrecked on the rocks. Viola is washed ashore but her twin brother Sebastian is lost. Determined to survive on her own, she steps out to explore a new land.

So begins a whirlwind of mistaken identity and unrequited love. The nearby households of Olivia and Orsino are overrun with passion. Even Olivia’s upright housekeeper Malvolia is swept up in the madness. Where music is the food of love, and nobody is quite what they seem, anything proves possible.

Simon Godwin directs this joyous new production of Twelfth Night. Tamsin Greig is a transformed Malvolia, performing alongside Adam Best, Oliver Chris (Orsino), Claire Cordier, Imogen Doel, Mary Doherty, Ammar Duffus, Daniel Ezra (Sebastian), Phoebe Fox (Olivia) Whitney Kehinde, Emmanuel Kojo, Tamara Lawrance (Viola), Andrew Macbean, Doon Mackichan, Tim McMullan, Brad Morrison, Daniel Rigby, Imogen Slaughter, James Wallace and Niky Wardley. The production is designed by Soutra Gilmour, lighting by James Farncombe, movement by Shelley Maxwell, music by Michael Bruce, sound by Christopher Shutt, and fight direction by Kev McCurdy.

[See image gallery at http://ift.tt/1FpwFUw] Previews from 15th February 2017, press night 22nd February, continuing in the repertoire until 13th May Twelfth Night will be broadcast live from the Olivier Theatre on 6th April by NT Live.

Show Schedule Monday – 7.30pm Tuesday – 7.30pm Wednesday – 2.00pm and 7.30pm Thursday – 7.30pm Friday – 7.30pm Saturday – 2.00pm and 7.30pm Sunday – No Show

Additional Information Booking From: 15th Feb 2017 Booking Until: 17th Apr 2017

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Photo credit: Artwork: AKSE P19/Pentagram

Further casting is announced for the production of Woyzeck by Georg Büchner. The world premiere of a new version by Jack Thorne. Directed by Joe Murphy. Starring John Boyega. Previews from Saturday 13th May 2017, press night Tuesday 23rd May 2017

The multi-award winning Jack Thorne breathes new life into Woyzeck, one of the most extraordinary plays ever written.

It’s 1980s Berlin. The Cold War rages and the world sits at a crossroads between Capitalism and Communism. On the border between East and West, a young soldier and the love of his life are desperately trying to build a better future for their child.

But the cost of escaping poverty is high, and its tragic consequences unfold in this searing tale of the people society leaves behind.

John Boyega plays Woyzeck. John trained as an actor at the Identity School of Acting. The recipient of the 2016 BAFTA Rising Star Award and the Chopard Trophy at Cannes, John was most recently seen in Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015). He is currently filming Pacific Rim: Uprising which he is also producing through his production company, Upper Room Productions. He will next be seen in The Circle (April 2017) followed by a principle role in Kathryn Bigelow’s Untitled Project set against the backdrop of the 1967 Detroit Riots (August 2017). In December 2017, he will reprise his role of Finn in Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi and will also star in the Netflix original feature, Imperial Dreams. Theatre credits include Six Parties (National Theatre), Category B (Tricycle Theatre), Seize The Day (Tricycle Theatre) and Detaining Justice (Tricycle Theatre). Film and feature-length dramas include Half of a Yellow Sun (2013), The Whale (2013), My Murder (2012), Attack the Block (2011, SXSW Audience Award) and Da Brick (2011). Television credits include Becoming Human and 24: Live Another Day.

Ben Batt plays Andrews. Recent theatre credits include the acclaimed A Streetcar Named Desire (Royal Exchange Theatre). Other credits As You Like It (Royal Exchange Theatre), The Funfair (HOME), Making Noise Quietly (Donmar Warehouse).

Nancy Carroll plays Maggie. Her theatre credits include The Moderate Soprano (Hampstead Theatre), Closer, The Recruiting Officer (Donmar Warehouse), The Magistrate, After the dance, for which she won an Olivier Award for Best Actress and Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress at the Evening Standard Awards, Man of Mode, The Enchantment, The Voysey Inheritance, The False Servant, The Talking Cure (National Theatre), Arcadia (Duke of York’s), Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 (RSC), House of Games, Waste, King Lear (Almeida), Mammals (Bush Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Sheffield Crucible), The Lady’s Not For Burning (Chichester Festival Theatre).

Steffan Rhodri plays Captain. His recent theatre credits include This House (Garrick Theatre), The Hairy Ape (Old Vic Theatre), The Mentalists (Wyndham’s), Posh (Duke of York’s), Absent Friends (Harold Pinter), Abigail’s Party (Hampstead Theatre), The Kitchen Sink (Bush), Clybourne Park (Royal Court Theatre), and It’s A Mad World My Masters and Candide (RSC).

Jack Thorne‘s recent work includes Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (SFP Productions/ Harry Potter West End Theatrical), The Solid Life Of Sugar Water (Graeae Theatre Company, Edinburgh Festival & UK Tour), Hope (Royal Court Theatre), Let The Right One In (Dundee Rep / Royal Court Theatre, NTS / Marla Rubin Ltd.), The Borough (Punchdrunk / Aldeburgh Festival), Stuart: A Life Backwards (adapt. Hightide / Sheffield Theatre – Edinburgh Festival & UK tour), Mydidae (Drywrite – Soho Theatre / Trafalgar Studios), The Physicists (adapt. Donmar Warehouse), Bunny (nabokov – UK tour / NYC), Red Car Blue Car, Two Cigarettes, When You Cure Me (Bush Theatre), Greenland (National Theatre), 2nd May 1997 (Bush / nabokov), Burying Your Brother in the Pavement (NT Connections), Stacy (Tron /Arcola / Trafalgar Studios) and Fanny and Faggot (Pleasance Edinburgh / Finborough / Trafalgar Studios).

Joe Murphy is a freelance director with experience working in London, on the West End, Broadway and internationally. He was Artistic Director of nabokov theatre company from 2010 to 2015, during which time the company presented the work of 88 playwrights and 496 artists across three continents. He took up his role as The Old Vic’s Season Two Baylis Director in September 2016.

Adaptation Jack Thorne Director Joe Murphy Designer Tom Scutt Lighting Neil Austin Sound Gareth Fry Composer Isobel Waller-Bridge Movement Polly Bennett Illusion Ben Hart

Cast list: John Boyega (Woyzeck), Ben Batt (Andrews), Nancy Carroll (Maggie), Sarah Greene (Marie) and Steffan Rhodri (Captain).

Further casting to be announced.

Buy Tickets for Woyzeck

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NT entrance February 2015 photo by Philip Vile

Ivo van Hove follows his acclaimed Hedda Gabler with the world premiere of Network, with Bryan Cranston making his UK stage debut

Anne-Marie Duff returns to the National Theatre in Common, and will appear alongside Rory Kinnear in Macbeth in 2018, directed by Rufus Norris

Award-winning playwright Annie Baker (The Flick) returns with the European premiere of her new play John in the Dorfman

John Tiffany directs the world premiere of Pinocchio

Saint George and the Dragon, Beginning and The Majority continue the NT’s commitment to new work and contemporary stories on our stages

12 new plays, 50% of which are written by women, will open in the next 12 months

People, Places & Things transfers to St Ann’s Warehouse, New York

The NT will tour to 47 venues in 35 towns and cities across the UK in 2017-18

Co-productions with Fuel, Headlong, Out of Joint, Improbable, and West Yorkshire Playhouse

Double the number of Entry Pass tickets for young people under 26

NEW PRODUCTIONS ANNOUNCED OLIVIER THEATRE

AMADEUS – photograph by Seamus Ryan, designed by the NT Graphic Design Studio

SAINT GEORGE AND THE DRAGON Rory Mullarkey’s epic new folk play tells of a knight who became a myth, and a country in need of a story. The world premiere is directed by National Theatre Associate Lyndsey Turner with design by Rae Smith, lighting design by Bruno Poet, music by Grant Olding, choreography by Lynne Page and sound design by Christopher Shutt. Opening in October 2017. Hundreds of Travelex tickets at £15 available per performance.

MACBETH Rufus Norris directs Rory Kinnear and Anne-Marie Duff in Shakespeare’s darkest tragedy 25 years after his last Shakespeare production. Opening in spring 2018. Broadcast to cinemas by NT Live in 2018.

AMADEUS Michael Longhurst’s sell-out production of Peter Shaffer’s masterpiece returns to the Olivier. Lucian Msamati and Adam Gillen once again lead the company of actors, singers and musicians. Amadeus is directed by Michael Longhurst with design by Chloe Lamford, music direction and additional music by Simon Slater, choreography by Imogen Knight, lighting design by Jon Clark and sound design by Paul Arditti. Amadeus is produced in association with Southbank Sinfonia, supported by the Amadeus production syndicate. Opening in January 2018.

LYTTELTON THEATRE NETWORK

Ivo van Hove © Jan Versweyveld

Lee Hall’s new adaptation of the Oscar-winning film by Paddy Chayefsky is directed by Ivo van Hove. Cast includes Tony award winner Bryan Cranston (All the Way, Breaking Bad and Trumbo for which he was nominated for both an Oscar and a BAFTA) in the role of Howard Beale. Set and lighting design by Jan Versweyveld, video design by Tal Yarden, costume design by An D’Huys, music by Eric Sleichim and sound design by Tom Gibbons. Network is produced in association with Patrick Myles, David Luff, Ros Povey and Lee Menzies. Production supported by Marcia Grand for the memory of Richard Grand. Opening in November 2017.

DORFMAN THEATRE THE MAJORITY Following the acclaimed run of Bullet Catch in The Shed, Rob Drummond returns to the National with a new one-man show about democracy. Directed by David Overend and opening in August 2017. Originally co-commissioned with The Arches, Glasgow.

BEGINNING In the early hours of the morning, in the aftermath of a party in north London, two people meet. And nothing will ever be the same for them again. The world premiere of David Eldridge’s new play is directed by Polly Findlay. With design by Fly Davis, lighting design by Jack Knowles and sound design by Paul Arditti. Opening in October 2017.

JOHN Following The Flick in 2016, Annie Baker returns to the Dorfman with her new play, John. James Macdonald directs the European premiere, with a cast including Georgia Engel. Opening in early 2018.

UPDATES ON PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED PRODUCTIONS OLIVIER THEATRE

Tamsin Greig in Gethsemane (2008)-credit Catherine Ashmore

TWELFTH NIGHT Will now run until 13 May, previews from 15 February, press night 22 February. Simon Godwin directs this joyous new production. Tamsin Greig is a transformed Malvolia, performing alongside Adam Best, Oliver Chris, Claire Cordier, Imogen Doel, Mary Doherty, Ammar Duffus, Daniel Ezra, Phoebe Fox, Whitney Kehinde, Emmanuel Kojo, Tamara Lawrance, Andrew Macbean, Doon Mackichan, Tim McMullan, Brad Morrison, Daniel Rigby, Imogen Slaughter, James Wallace and Niky Wardley. The production will be designed by Soutra Gilmour, lighting by James Farncombe, movement by Shelley Maxwell, music by Michael Bruce, sound by Christopher Shutt, and fight direction by Kev McCurdy.

A ship is wrecked on the rocks. Viola is washed ashore but her twin brother Sebastian is lost. Determined to survive on her own, she steps out to explore a new land. So begins a whirlwind of mistaken identity and unrequited love. The nearby households of Olivia and Orsino are overrun with passion. Even Olivia’s uptight housekeeper Malvolia is swept up in the madness. Where music is the food of love and nobody is quite what they seem, anything proves possible. Broadcast to cinemas by NT Live on 6 April.

Director Yael Farber NT lesblancs 2016 credit Johan Persson

SALOMÉ Previews from 2 May, press night 9 May, continuing in the repertoire until 15 July. Salomé in a new version by Yaël Farber The story has been told before, but never like this. An occupied desert nation. A radical from the wilderness on hunger strike. A girl whose mysterious dance will change the course of the world. This charged retelling turns the infamous biblical tale on its head, placing the girl we call Salomé at the centre of a revolution.

Internationally acclaimed director Yaël Farber (Les Blancs) draws on multiple accounts to create her urgent, hypnotic production on the Olivier stage.

Salomé is designed by Susan Hilferty with lighting design by Tim Lutkin, music and sound by Adam Cork, movement direction by Ami Shulman, fight direction by Kate Waters and dramaturgy by Drew Lichtenberg. Cast includes Philip Arditti, Paul Chahidi, Ramzi Choukair, Uriel Emil, Olwen Fouéré, Roseanna Frascona, Aidan Kelly, Yasmin Levy, Theo T J Lowe, Isabella Niloufar, Lubana al Quntar, Raad Rawi and Stanley Townsend. Hundreds of Travelex tickets at £15 available per performance. Broadcast to cinemas by NT Live on 22 June.

COMMON Previews from 30 May, press night 6 June. A co-production with Headlong.

Mary’s the best liar, rogue, thief and faker in this whole septic isle. And she’s back. As the factory smoke of the industrial revolution belches out from the cities, Mary is swept up in the battle of her former home. The common land, belonging to all, is disappearing. D C Moore’s dark and funny new play is an epic tale of unsavoury action and England’s lost land.

Headlong’s Artistic Director, Jeremy Herrin, (People, Places and Things, This House) directs Anne-Marie Duff as Mary. Cast includes Trevor Fox. Design is by Richard Hudson, lighting design by Paule Constable, music by Stephen Warbeck and sound design by Ian Dickinson. Hundreds of Travelex tickets at £15 available per performance.

FOLLIES Further casting has been announced for Follies, which will be directed by Dominic Cooke, book by James Goldman and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Joining Imelda Staunton will be Dame Josephine Barstow, Tracie Bennett, Janie Dee, Peter Forbes and Phillip Quast. Design will be by Vicki Mortimer, choreography by Bill Deamer, musical supervision by Nicholas Skilbeck, orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, musical direction by Nigel Lilley, lighting design by Paule Constable and sound design by Paul Groothuis. Opening in August 2017.

LYTTELTON THEATRE HEDDA GABLER – Ends 21 March

Just married. Buried alive. Hedda longs to be free… Ruth Wilson plays the title role in a new version of Ibsen’s masterpiece, by Patrick Marber. Directed by Ivo van Hove, set and lighting design by Jan Versweyveld, costume design by An D’Huys, sound design by Tom Gibbons. Production supported by the Williams Charitable Trust. Broadcast to cinemas by NT Live on 9 March.

UGLY LIES THE BONE Previews from 22 February, press night 1 March Ugly Lies the Bone by Lindsey Ferrentino makes its European premiere. ‘Beauty is but skin deep, ugly lies the bone; beauty dies and fades away, but ugly holds its own.’ After three tours in Afghanistan and months in a severe burns unit, Jess finally returns to Florida. In a small town on the Space Coast, as the final shuttle is about the launch, Jess must confront her scars, and a home that may have changed even more than her. Experimenting with pioneering virtual reality therapy, she builds a breathtaking new world where she can escape her pain. There, she begins to restore her relationships, her life and, slowly, herself.

Award-winning playwright Lindsey Ferrentino’s honest and funny new drama is directed by Indhu Rubasingham, with set design by Es Devlin, video design by Luke Halls, costume design by Johanna Coe, lighting design by Oliver Fenwick, music and sound by Ben and Max Ringham, movement direction by Lucy Hind and fight direction by Rachel Brown-Williams and Ruth Cooper-Brown of RC-Annie Ltd. The cast is Marianne Adams, Katy Brittain, Olivia Darnley, Buffy Davis, Kate Fleetwood, Ralf Little, Kris Marshall, Tom Peters and Siân Polhill-Thomas. Hundreds of Travelex tickets at £15 available per performance.

ANGELS IN AMERICA: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes Previews from 11 April, press day 4 May, continuing in repertoire

America in the mid-1980s. In the midst of the AIDS crisis, and a conservative Reagan administration, New Yorkers grapple with life and death, love and sex, heaven and hell.

This new staging of Tony Kushner’s multi-award-winning two-part play is directed by Olivier and Tony award-winning director Marianne Elliott (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and War Horse). Part One: Millennium Approaches was first performed at the NT in 1992, and was joined by Perestroika in a double-bill the following year. 2017 marks the 25th anniversary of the shows.

Set design is by Ian MacNeil, costume design by Nicky Gillibrand, lighting design by Paule Constable, choreography and movement by Robby Graham, music by Adrian Sutton, sound design by Ian Dickinson, puppetry direction and movement by Finn Caldwell, puppetry design by Finn Caldwell and Nick Barnes, illusions by Chris Fisher, aerial direction by Gwen Hales and fight direction by Kate Waters.

The cast is Stuart Angell, Mark Arnold, Arun Blair-Mangat, Susan Brown, Laura Caldow, Andrew Garfield, Denise Gough, Kate Harper, John Hastings, Claire Lambert, Nathan Lane, Amanda Lawrence, James McArdle, Becky Namgauds, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Russell Tovey, Paksie Vernon, Stan West and Lewis Wilkins.

The Angels in America ballot presented by Delta – each week hundreds of £20 tickets will be released in a ballot for the following week’s performances. Broadcast to cinemas by NT Live – Part One on 20 July, Part Two on 27 July

John Tiffany, credit Tony Rinaldo

PINOCCHIO John Tiffany directs the world premiere of Pinocchio by Dennis Kelly, with songs and score from the Walt Disney film by Leigh Harline, Ned Washington and Paul J. Smith newly adapted by Martin Lowe. With design and puppet co-design by Bob Crowley, lighting design by Paule Constable, music supervision, orchestrations and additional music by Martin Lowe, choreography by Steven Hoggett, puppet co-design and puppetry direction by Toby Olié, sound design by Simon Baker and illusions by Jamie Harrison. Presented by special arrangement with Disney Theatrical Productions. Opening in the Lyttelton in December 2017.

DORFMAN THEATRE SHAKESPEARE FOR YOUNGER AUDIENCES Following highly successful schools performances, these productions can be seen in the Dorfman.

Macbeth 6 – 20 February Amid bloody rebellion and the deafening drums of war, Macbeth and his wife will stop at nothing to fulfil their ambition. Witchcraft, murder, treason and treachery are all at play in this murky world. A bold contemporary retelling of one of Shakespeare’s darkest plays. Suitable for 13yrs+

Romeo and Juliet 11 – 24 February Set against a vibrant urban backdrop bursting full of excitement, colour, dancing and live song, a company of eight tell the most famous love story of all time. Join us for this swift, contemporary celebration of Shakespeare’s masterpiece as we bring Romeo and Juliet to life for a new generation. Suitable for 8 – 12yrs

Shakespeare for younger audiences is supported by: The Ingram Trust, Archie Sherman Charitable Trust, Behrens Foundation, Cleopatra Trust, The Ernest Cook Trust, Jill and David Leuw, Mulberry Trust, The Royal Victoria Hall Foundation and the Topinambour Trust.

MY COUNTRY; A WORK IN PROGRESS 28 February – 22 March, prior to national tour, see p10 for details Britannia has called a meeting, to listen to her people. Form an orderly queue.

In the months following the Brexit vote, a team of interviewers from the NT spoke to people nationwide, hearing their views on Britain, the community they live in, and the referendum. Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and Director of the NT Rufus Norris put those conversations centre stage in this new production, which opens in London before playing at venues around the country. Designed by Katrina Lindsay, lighting design by Paul Knott, Music by David Shrubsole and sound design by Alex Caplen. The cast for My Country; a work in progress are Seema Bowri, Cavan Clarke, Laura Elphinstone, Adam Ewan, Penny Layden, Stuart McQuarrie and Christian Patterson. Created in collaboration with eight UK arts organisations in association with Cusack Projects Limited.

The NT today announces a new behind-the-scenes BBC Radio 4 documentary, which will track the development of Rufus Norris’ new play My Country: a work in progress. The Radio 4 programme captures the development of the creative process for the NT’s production My Country: a work in progress. It follows the rehearsal process as Rufus Norris, Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and designer Katrina Lindsay work with the interviewers, their material and the cast to bring to life this current and compelling verbatim play.

LOST WITHOUT WORDS 4 – 18 March A co-production with Improbable. Imagine older actors in their 70s and 80s, actors who have spent their lives being other people, bringing life to other people’s words. Imagine they were on stage with nothing but themselves and no worlds but their own. No script, no map, a different show every night, all they have is a lifetime of theatre to help them find their way.

Lost Without Words is co-directed by Phelim McDermott and Lee Simpson with design by Katrina Lindsay, lighting design by Colin Grenfell and music by Steven Edis. The cast is Georgine Anderson, Caroline Blakiston, Anna Calder-Marshall, Lynn Farleigh, Charles Kay and Tim Preece.

CONSENT Previews from 28 March, press night 4 April, playing until 17 May A co-production with Out of Joint. Consent by Nina Raine will receive its world premiere in the Dorfman Theatre. Why is justice blind? Is she impartial? Or is she blinkered? This powerful, painful and funny play sifts the evidence in a rape case from every side and puts justice in the dock. Directed by Roger Michell with set design by Hildegard Bechtler, costume design by Dinah Collin, lighting design by Rick Fisher and sound design by John Leonard. Cast includes Priyanga Burford, Pip Carter, Ben Chaplin, Heather Craney, Daisy Haggard, Adam James and Anna Maxwell Martin.

BARBER SHOP CHRONICLES Previews from 30 May, press night 7 June, in repertoire until 8 July A co-production with Fuel and West Yorkshire Playhouse. A new play by Inua Ellams, directed by Bijan Sheibani.

Newsroom, political platform, local hot-spot, confession box, preacher-pulpit and football stadium. For generations, African men have gathered in barber shops to discuss the world.

This dynamic new play journeys from a barber shop in London, to Johannesburg, Harare, Kampala, Lagos and Accra. These are places where the banter can be barbed and the truth is always telling.

Barber Shop Chronicles is Inua Ellams’ third play at the National, following the exhilarating The 14th Tale and Black T-shirt Collection.

The production is designed by Rae Smith with lighting design by Jack Knowles, movement direction by Aline David and sound design by Gareth Fry.

Barber Shop Chronicles will play at West Yorkshire Playhouse 12 – 29 July.

MOSQUITOES Mosquitoes by Lucy Kirkwood will have its world premiere in the Dorfman Theatre in July. Rufus Norris will direct this new play about families and particle physics, with a cast that includes Olivia Colman. Designed by Katrina Lindsay, lighting design by Paule Constable, music by Adam Cork, sound design by Paul Arditti and video design by Finn Ross & Ian William Galloway.

Mosquitoes is generously supported by the Edgerton Foundation, the Winton Charitable Foundation, and Rosetrees Trust. This play is a recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Plays Award.

NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE NT Live has a season of ten new broadcasts to the UK and 55 countries across the globe

Amadeus by Peter Shaffer. Lucian Msamati plays Salieri, with live orchestral accompaniment by Southbank Sinfonia. Broadcast live from the NT on Thursday 2 February.

Saint Joan Josie Rourke directs Gemma Arterton as Joan of Arc in Bernard Shaw’s electrifying classic. Broadcast live from the Donmar Warehouse on Thursday 16 February.

Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen in a new version by Patrick Marber. Ruth Wilson plays the title role in Ivo van Hove’s production. Broadcast live from the NT on Thursday 9 March.

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. Tamsin Greig plays Malvolia in Shakespeare’s comedy of mistaken identity. Directed by Simon Godwin. Broadcast live from the NT on Thursday 6 April.

Salomé A radical retelling of the biblical story of one young woman’s political awakening. Directed by Yaël Farber. Broadcast live from the NT on Thursday 22 June.

Peter Pan, Sally Cookson’s wondrously inventive production recorded live during its run at the NT will be broadcast on Saturday 10 June.

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard. Fifty years after the play premiered at The Old Vic, David Leveaux directs Daniel Radcliffe and Joshua McGuire as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern alongside David Haig as The Player in this iconic mind bending situation comedy. Broadcast live from The Old Vic on Thursday 20 April, this marks the Old Vic’s first collaboration with NT Live.

Angels in America, Marianne Elliott’s new production of Tony Kushner’s two-part play will be broadcast live from the NT. Part 1: Millennium Approaches on Thursday 20 July and Part 2: Perestroika on Thursday 27 July.

Yerma – Billie Piper stars in Yerma as a woman driven to the unthinkable by her desperate desire to have a child. Simon Stone creates a radical new production of Lorca’s achingly powerful masterpiece. Broadcast live from the Young Vic on 31 August.

Macbeth with a cast including Rory Kinnear and Anne-Marie Duff will be broadcast by NT Live in 2018. Find your nearest venue at ntlive.com

NATIONAL THEATRE THROUGHOUT THE UK, IN THE WEST END AND INTERNATIONALLY The NT will tour to 47 venues in 35 towns and cities across the UK in 2017-18

PEOPLE PLACES AND THINGS TRANSFERS TO NEW YORK AND TOURS THE UK THIS AUTUMN The National Theatre, Headlong and St Ann’s Warehouse in association with Bryan Singer Productions will present the National Theatre/Headlong production of People, Places and Things by Duncan Macmillan at St Ann’s Warehouse in New York in October 2017. Directed by Jeremy Herrin, Macmillan’s intoxicating new play opened at the NT’s Dorfman Theatre in autumn 2015, and transferred to the Wyndham’s Theatre in March 2016 where it became the ‘must see’ show of the season. Denise Gough will reprise her award-winning role as Emma. Gough’s raw and heart-breaking performance as an actress whose life has spun recklessly out of control because of her addiction to drink and drugs was unanimously acclaimed by critics and audiences alike, earning her the 2016 Olivier Award and the Critics’ Circle Award for Best Actress. Further cast details and dates to be announced.

Generous support to the National Theatre for People, Places and Things from: Areté Foundation / Betsy & Ed Cohen and Leila Maw Straus MBE.

Duncan Macmillan’s People, Places and Things will also begin a major UK tour with a new cast this autumn, in a co-production between the National Theatre, Headlong, HOME and Exeter Northcott Theatre. Full casting to be announced shortly. The tour begins at HOME, Manchester (22 September – 7 October), and continues to Oxford Playhouse (11 – 14 October), Theatre Royal Bath (17 – 21 October), Bristol Old Vic (24 – 28 October), Exeter Northcott Theatre (31 October – 4 November), Nuffield Southampton Theatres (7 – 11 November) and finish at Liverpool Playhouse Theatre (14 – 18 November).

The set is designed by Bunny Christie, the Olivier and Tony Award winning designer of the NT’s production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Costumes are by Christina Cunningham, lighting by James Farncombe, video by Andrzej Goulding and music is composed by Matthew Herbert with Olivier award-winning sound design by Tom Gibbons. Original production sponsored by Neptune Investment Management

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