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Dateline:
23rd January, 2003
Hytner's National Plans
Nicholas Hytner reveals his plans for this first year as artistic director
of the National Theatre.
At its heart is a six-month season in the Olivier by a group of leading
directors and designers collaborating on a bold new way of staging plays
in the National's largest auditorium, for which two thirds of the tickets
are £10. The rest will be £25.
The Cottesloe - for which prices have also been reduced - presents
a repertoire of predominantly new work; while in the Lyttelton there
is a blend of innovation and classics.
HENRY V - - Olivier Theatre £10 SEASON
Nicholas Hytner's first production as Director of the National will
be Shakespeare's HENRY V, with Adrian Lester playing the title role
and Penny Downie as Chorus. It previews from 6 May. This is the first
production of Henry V at the National.
HIS GIRL FRIDAY - - Olivier Theatre £10 SEASON
The stage premiere of HIS GIRL FRIDAY, adapted by John Guare from
The Front Page by Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur, and the
film produced by Columbia Pictures, will be the second production in
the Olivier £10 Season, previewing from 29 May. American director
Jack O'Brien makes his NT debut; Alex Jennings plays Walter Burns and
Zoë Wanamaker plays Hildy Johnson.
JERRY SPRINGER - THE OPERA - - Lyttelton Theatre
Jerry Springer - The Opera, the concert version of which
was the hit of last year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival, will receive its
world premiere as the new season's opening production in the Lyttelton
Theatre with a press night on Tuesday 29 April (following previews from
9 April).
JUMPERS - - Lyttelton Theatre
David Leveaux directs Tom Stoppard's Jumpers, with Simon
Russell Beale as George Moore. It previews in the Lyttelton from 7 June.
The production will also tour to seven venues around the UK, including
Theatre Royal, Newcastle; Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield; and The Lowry,
Salford.
SCENES FROM THE BIG PICTURE - - Cottesloe Theatre
Peter Gill directs SCENES FROM THE BIG PICTURE, a new play
by Owen McCafferty, whose Closing Time recently premiered at
the National. It previews from 2 April. The cast includes Kathy Kiera
Clarke, Ruairi Conaghan, Chris Corrigan, Darren Healy, Packy Lee, Karl
Johnson, Gerard Jordan, Aoife McMahon, Eileen Pollock, Frances Tomelty,
Harry Towb and June Watson.
ELMINA'S KITCHEN - - Cottesloe Theatre
ELMINA'S KITCHEN, a new play by Kwame Kwei-Armah, opens in
the Cottesloe on Thursday 29 May, following previews from 23 May, directed
by Angus Jackson.
POWER - - Cottesloe Theatre
Power, a new play by Nick Dear, opens at the Cottesloe Theatre
on Thursday 3 July (following previews from 27 June), directed by Lindsay
Posner, with music by Michael Nyman. The cast is led by Robert Lindsay.
TALES FROM THE VIENNA WOODS - - Olivier Theatre
Tales from the Vienna Woods by Ödön von Horváth,
in a new version by David Harrower, will be directed by Richard Jones
and designed by Nicky Gillibrand.
HIS DARK MATERIALS - - Olivier Theatre
Philip Pullman's great epic His Dark Materials will be adapted
into two plays by Nicholas Wright and directed by Nicholas Hytner, with
designs by Giles Cadle, Jon Morrell and Michael Curry, lighting by Paule
Constable, music by Jonathan Dove and movement by Aletta Collins.
The third novel in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy,
The Amber Spyglass, won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award.
CYRANO DE BERGERAC - - Olivier Theatre
Howard Davies will direct Cyrano de Bergerac, a freely adapted
version of Rostand's play by the Irish poet Derek Mahon, with Stephen
Rea playing the title role.
THREE SISTERS - - Lyttelton Theatre
Chekhov's Three Sisters, in a new version by Nicholas Wright,
will be directed by Katie Mitchell and designed by Vicki Mortimer. This
will be the first production of the play at the National since Laurence
Olivier's celebrated 1967 production.
MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA - - Lyttelton Theatre
Eugene O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra will be directed
by Howard Davies, whose production of O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh
(in London & on Broadway) won the Olivier, Critics' Circle and Evening
Standard Awards for Best Director.
THE PILLOWMAN - - Cottesloe Theatre
The Pillowman, a new play by Martin McDonagh, will be directed
by John Crowley.
THE PERMANENT WAY - - Cottesloe Theatre
A new play by David Hare, The Permanent Way, will be directed
by Max Stafford-Clark, in a co-production with Out of Joint.
NEW PLAY BY MICHAEL FRAYN - - Cottesloe Theatre
There will be a new play by Michael Frayn, whose many plays include
Copenhagen, Noises Off, Benefactors and Alphabetical
Order.
THE MANDATE - - Cottesloe Theatre
A lost comic masterpiece, The Mandate by Nikolai Erdman,
in a version by Declan Donnellan, will be directed by Declan Donnellan
and designed by Nick Ormerod.
Nikolai Erdman (1900-70) was a Russian satirist, who wrote two major
plays: The Mandate and The Suicide.
NEW PLAY BY MIKE LEIGH - - Cottesloe Theatre
There will be a new play by Mike Leigh, whose plays include Abigail's
Party.
THEATRE OF BLOOD
There will be a co-production with Improbable Theatre of a new devised
piece, Theatre of Blood, based on the 1970s MGM cult classic
film.
ASSOCIATES
Howard Davies will become Associate Director of the National. His productions
for the NT include The Talking Cure, All My Sons, The
Crucible, Battle Royal, Flight and The Shaughraun;
other recent productions include Private Lives and The Iceman
Cometh in London and on Broadway.
The following have agreed to become NT Associates: writers Patrick
Marber and Mark Ravenhill; directors Declan Donnellan, Edward Hall,
Phyllida Lloyd and Katie Mitchell; actors Simon Russell Beale, Alex
Jennings, Adrian Lester, Helen Mirren and Zoë Wanamaker; designers
Alison Chitty and Bob Crowley; lighting designer Mark Henderson; composer
Jonathan Dove and producer Michael Morris. The NT Associates will be
a consultative group that will meet at regular intervals to inform artistic
policy.
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