Antony Sher News

Forthcoming productions at the National Theatre, announced today by Nicholas Hytner, include plays familiar, rare and new: Shakespeare's Othello, Gorky's Children of the Sun,James Baldwin's The Amen Corner;Marlowe's Edward II, Pirandello's Liola, Eugene O'Neill's Strange Interlude and Georg Kaiser's From Morning to Midnight. Tori Amos and Samuel Adamson's musical The Light Princess will premiere in October, and there will be a new adaptation of Emil and the Detectives for family audiences at Christmas.

Theatre Royal Stratford East announces it will produce Oh What A Lovely War in 2014, directed by Terry Johnson and designed by Lez Brotherston, with tickets going on sale from 9th January 2013. The musical, which premiered at Theatre Royal Stratford East on 19th March 1963, will also coincide with the 100th Anniversary of World War I.

2013 is the year when some of the big Broadway hits of recent years head to the West End - but there are also lots of plays and new work opening in the UK.

In a unique series of six films debuting on PBS Friday, January 25 at 9 p.m. (check local listings), Shakespeare Uncovered will combine history, biography, iconic performances, new analysis, and the personal passions of its celebrated hosts - Ethan Hawke, Jeremy Irons, Derek Jacobi, Trevor Nunn, Joely Richardson, and David Tennant - to tell the stories behind the stories of Shakespeare's greatest plays.

Signature Theatre has announced the next wave of upcoming supplemental programs, which allow more intimate and direct access to a playwright's vision and process.

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts will present the fourth High Definition screening of this season's National Theatre Live series, TRAVELLING LIGHT, written by Nicholas Wright and directed by National Theatre's Nicholas Hytner on SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19 at 2pm at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd. in La Mirada.

DirecTV's Audience Network continues to provide viewers with cutting-edge, provocative programming with the addition of two new dramas, THE SLAP, premiering Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 10pm ET/PT and THE SHADOW LINE, premiering on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Travelling Light in HD is described as 'a funny and fascinating tribute to the Eastern European immigrants who became major players in Hollywood's golden age, Nicholas Wright's new play imagines the birth of silent film in a remote Eastern European village at the turn of the century.'

Winner of 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress - Gwyneth Paltrow and Best Supporting Actress - Judi Dench, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is noted playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard's imaginative restaging and reworking of the story of William Shakespeare which proceeds to present a thesis for how he came to write many of the finest dramas and comedies written in the English language. Boasting gorgeous costumes, breathtaking sets and an unmistakably Shakespearean atmosphere, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE has aged considerably well and looks even more rapturous and resplendent on Blu-ray than it ever has before. The new Blu-ray also comes with a fascinating slew of special features, the most appreciable of all being the two commentary tracks, one from director John Madden and another from assorted cast and crew members. Boasting an all-star cast to best even the Bard's vaunted coterie of performers themselves, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is lousy with pedigree - and nearly every actor makes his or her mark over the quite tight, terse running time of the film. In addition to the aforementioned Oscar-betrothed leading lady and supporting player, the cast of SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE also boasts recent Oscar-winner for THE KING'S SPEECH, Colin Firth, in a memorable role, as well as a charismatic lead performance by Joseph Fiennes as the titular playwright. Additionally, British stage stars Simon Callow, Antony Sher, Imelda Staunton, Tom Wilkinson and Tony Award-winning Australian leading man Geoffrey Rush all make solid impressions in their smaller roles. Yet, as with all of the greatest works of William Shakespeare, the text is the star, and Stoppard's precise and exacting script is much like a modern Shakespeare play in the way it juggles moments of levity, intrigue, history, comedy, tragedy and love into the drama of the film. While SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE may have been somewhat derided at the time for being too light to win over that year's favorite, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, time has been kind to the theatrically-tinged film, and, dare I say, it is even more enjoyable and entertaining now, on Blu-ray, than it may have even been at the time of its release fifteen years ago. All the world may be a stage, by SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is a Hollywood film relating to Shakespeare worth your time, attention and investment.

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. He soon stumbles on a revolutionary way of story-telling - and forty years later, he's become a famous American film director.

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts will present the fourth High Definition screening of this season's National Theatre Live series, TRAVELLING LIGHT, written by Nicholas Wright and directed by National Theatre's Nicholas Hytner on SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19 at 2pm at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd. in La Mirada.

National Theatre Live continues its third season with Nicholas Wright's new play TRAVELLING LIGHT, directed by Nicholas Hytner. Following Vincent in Brixton and The Reporter, Wright's new play is a funny and fascinating tribute to the Eastern European immigrants who became major players in Hollywood's golden age. The award-winning Antony Sher returns to the National to play "Jacob". National Theatre Live is an initiative by the UK's National Theatre to broadcast live performances onto cinema screens around the world.

DirecTV's Audience Network continues to provide viewers with cutting-edge, provocative programming with the addition of two new dramas, THE SLAP, premiering Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 10pm ET/PT and THE SHADOW LINE, premiering on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Travelling Light in HD is described as 'a funny and fascinating tribute to the Eastern European immigrants who became major players in Hollywood's golden age, Nicholas Wright's new play imagines the birth of silent film in a remote Eastern European village at the turn of the century.'

Highlights of the forthcoming productions at the National Theatre, announced today by Nicholas Hytner, include new plays by Alan Bennett, Stephen Beresford, Lisa D'Amour, James Graham and Lucy Prebble. There will be adaptations of Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Simon Stephens, and of The Count of Monte Cristo by Richard Bean. Enda Walsh's Misterman receives its London premiere; classic revivals include Polly Findlay's production of Sophocles' Antigone, Shakespeare's Timon of Athens directed by Nicholas Hytner, Bijan Sheibani's staging of Damned for Despair by Tirso de Molina, and Nadia Fall's production of Bernard Shaw's The Doctor's Dilemma.

The National Theatre presents the third season of National Theatre Live (NT Live), a successful initiative to broadcast live performances from the National's stages to cinemas worldwide. In addition to the previously scheduled broadcasts of The Comedy of Errors (March 1), the season will include Travelling Light (February 9) and She Stoops to Conquer (March 29). Since its first season, which began in June 2009 with the acclaimed production of Phédre starring Helen Mirren, over half a million people have now experienced the National's acclaimed work on movie screens around the world. Check out photos from National Theatre productions past below!

How had a 22-year-old pretentious layabout made a discovery that would elude every other cinematic pioneer for years to come?

The National Theatre presents the third season of National Theatre Live (NT Live), a successful initiative to broadcast live performances from the National's stages to cinemas worldwide. In addition to the previously scheduled broadcasts of The Comedy of Errors (March 1), the season will include Travelling Light (February 9) and She Stoops to Conquer (March 29). Check out a preview of the season below!

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. He soon stumbles on a revolutionary way of story-telling - and forty years later, he's become a famous American film director.

How had a 22-year-old pretentious layabout made a discovery that would elude every other cinematic pioneer for years to come?