NATIONAL THEATRE
SOUTHBANK
SE1 9PX
020 7452 3000
Young Chekhov season
Platonov
Various dates to 8 October
by Anton Chekhov, in a new version by David Hare
Set in the blazing heat of a rural summer, irresistible schoolteacher Mikhail Platonov is caught in a whirlwind of lust, dangerous liaisons and vodka. This riotous comedy is a declaration of youthful rebellion against the humdrum compromises of middle age.
Ivanov
Various dates to 8 October
by Anton Chekhov, in a new version by David Hare
Nikolai Ivanov is only 35, a radical and a romantic, but already he’s feeling that he’s thrown his life away. Determined not to become a small-town Hamlet, he hopes one last desperate romance may save him from a society rotten with anti-Semitism and drink. This electric play is powered both by hilarious satire and passionate self-disgust.
The Seagull
Various dates to 8 October
by Anton Chekhov, in a new version by David Hare
On a summer’s day in a makeshift theatre by a lake, Konstantin’s cutting-edge new play is performed, changing the lives of everyone involved forever. Chekhov’s masterly meditation on how the old take revenge on the young is both comic and tragic, and marks the birth of the modern stage.
The Threepenny Opera
18 May to 1 October
by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill
in collaboration with Elisabeth Hauptmann
in a new adaptation by Simon Stephens
A landmark of twentieth century musical theatre, The Threepenny Opera comes to the National Theatre in a bold new production. Simon Stephens’ vivid and darkly comic new translation of Brecht’s book and lyrics meets Kurt Weill’s extraordinary score. Rory Kinnear plays Macheath.
The Plough and the Stars
Various dates 22 October
by Sean O’Casey
From November 1915 to Easter 1916, as the rebellion builds to a climax half a mile away, the disparate residents of a Dublin tenement go about their lives, peripheral to Ireland’s history.
Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour
To 1 October
Adapted by Lee Hall from the novel The Sopranos by Alan Warner
A musical play about losing your virginity and finding yourself. This award-winning production arrives at the National following a sell-out run at the 2015 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and a national tour. Winner of a Scotsman Fringe First Award, Herald Angel Award and Stage Ensemble Award at the Fringe 2015.
Amadeus
From 19 October to 31 December
by Peter Shaffer
Vienna: the music capital of the world. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a rowdy young prodigy, arrives determined to make a splash. Awestruck by his genius, Court Composer Antonio Salieri has the power to promote his talent or destroy it. Seized by obsessive jealousy he begins a war with Mozart, with music and, ultimately, with God.
The Red Barn
6 October to 19 November
A new play by David Hare based on the novel, La Main, by Georges Simenon
Connecticut, 1969. On their way back from a party, two couples struggle home through the snow. Not everyone arrives safely… With a cast including Mark Strong (A View from the Bridge) and Hope Davis (God of Carnage).
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SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE
56 PARK STREET
SE1 9AR
020 7261 9565
Macbeth
To 1 October
On a barren heath, three sisters tell the great and bloodied Macbeth that he is fated to be King of Scotland. And so begins a terrifying series of events that lead to the murder of Kings, friends, mothers and their children. Macbeth and his Lady fall prey to a soul-corroding guilt as they desperately try and cling to the defiled crown.
Imogen
17 September to 16 October
In this thrillingly raw and modern production, created by young Londoners, Shakespeare’s Cymbeline is vividly re-told. London. 2016. A strange and unsettled time – where men and the violence of gangs rules the streets. In a dangerous world we hear a new voice – Imogen’s. Suffocated by her father’s aggression – her man kicked out of town, her life under threat, poisoned by the drugs of her step-mother – she strikes out on her own to try and reach the man she loves.
The Merchant of Venice
4 October – Saturday 15 October 2016
In Venice, the epicentre of consumption, speculation and debt, Bassanio borrows money from his friend Antonio to finance his attempt to win the hand of Portia, a wealthy heiress. Antonio, in turn, takes out a loan from the moneylender Shylock. The loan will be repaid when Antonio’s ships return to the city. But if they should fail, and the money cannot be repaid, Antonio shall give to Shylock a pound of his own flesh. And they do fail. And Shylock will have his ‘bond’. A revival of the thrilling 2015 Globe production with Jonathan Pryce as Shylock.
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THE OLD VIC
103 THE CUT
SE1 8NB
020 7928 2651
Groundhog Day
To 17 September
A new musical directed by Old Vic Artistic Director Matthew Warchus.
The story of Phil Connors (Andy Karl), a cynical Pittsburgh TV weatherman who is sent to cover the annual Groundhog Day event in the isolated small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, when he finds himself caught in a time loop, forced to repeat the same day again and again…and again. As each day plays out exactly the same as before Phil becomes increasingly despondent, but is there a lesson to be learnt through his experiences, will he ever unlock the secret and break the cycle?
King Lear
25 October to 2 December
A quarter of a century after she gave up acting for politics, double Academy Award-winning legend Glenda Jackson returns to play King Lear in Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy, alongside an outstanding company including Fiston Barek, William Chubb, Morfydd Clark, Jane Horrocks, Rhys Ifans.
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THE YOUNG VIC
66 THE CUT
SE1 8LZ
020 7922 2922
Yerma
To 24 September
By Simon Stone after Federico García Lorca
This achingly powerful story of a young woman desperate to become a mother expresses the anguish of a society battling to free itself from its past. Simon Stone’s new version re-imagines Lorca’s original for London today.
A Man of Good Hope
6 October – 12 November
Based on the book by Jonny Steinberg, adapted by Isango Ensemble
The true story of one refugee’s epic quest across Africa, brought to life with music from the world-renowned Isango Ensemble. Asad is a young Somali refugee with a painful past, miraculously good luck and a brilliant head for business. After years in a refugee camp and then learning to hustle in the streets of Ethiopia, he sets off for the promised land of South Africa. But when he arrives, he discovers the violent reality of life in the townships – and his adventures really begin.
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MENIER CHOCOLATE FACTORY
53 SOUTHWARK STREET
SE1 1RU
020 7378 1713
Travesties
22 September to 19 November
Tom Stoppard’s dazzling comedy of art, love and revolution features James Joyce, Tristan Tzara and Lenin as remembered – and misremembered – by Henry Carr, a minor British diplomat in Zurich 1917. When Gwendolen and Cecily wander in from The Importance of Being Earnest Henry’s mind wanders too. He knows he was Algernon in a production in Zurich. But who was the other one?
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UNICORN THEATRE
147 TOOLEY STREET
SE1 2HZ
020 7645 0560
The Duke
7 September to 18 November
Written and performed by Shôn Dale-Jones
A story about the world we live in. A new one-man show by Shôn Dale-Jones The Duke playfully mixes fantasy and reality, taking audiences on an imaginative and touching journey which gently challenges us to consider our priorities in a world full of crisis.
No set ticket prices, pay what you can after the performance. All proceeds go to Save the Children’s Child Refugee Crisis Appeal.
