Howard Davies News

The National Theatre will present the fourth season of National Theatre Live (NT Live), a successful initiative to broadcast live performances from the National's stages to cinemas worldwide. Since its first season, which began in June 2009 with the acclaimed production of Phedre starring Helen Mirren, over 750,000 people have now experienced the National's work on movie screens worldwide.

Vor Jahren, nachdem ihr kleiner Sohn ertrunken war, ging die Gutsbesitzerin Ranjewskaja nach Frankreich. Nun kehrt sie, von der Liebe enttäuscht, mit ihrer Familie nach Hause zurück: Haus und Hof kommen unter den Hammer, die Schulden sind zu hoch. Wie die Rettung aussieht, weiß Geschäftsmann Lopachin: Man könne auf dem Grundstück Datschen errichten und sie an Sommergäste vermieten. Voraussetzung dafür ist allerdings, den berühmten Kirschgarten der Familie abzuholzen.

As previously announced for STEP 9 (OF 12), joining Blake Harrison in his West End debut as Keith will be Wendy Nottingham, Barry McCarthy and Benjamin Dilloway. The show opens at Trafalgar Studios in a new production directed by Tom Attenborough. The four-week run begins tonight, May 4, 2012 at 7.00pm.

Howard Davies' five star critically celebrated production of Noël Coward' Hay Fever - the sublime comedy of bad manners - must end its limited run at the Noël Coward Theatre on 2 June 2012 as previously announced.

Full casting announced for STEP 9 (OF 12) - joining Blake Harrison in his West End debut as Keith will be Wendy Nottingham, Barry McCarthy and Benjamin Dilloway. The show opens at Trafalgar Studios in a new production directed by Tom Attenborough.

Joining Lindsay Duncan (Judith Bliss), Jeremy Northam (Richard Greatham), Kevin R McNally (David Bliss) and Olivia Colman (Myra Arundel) in Howard Davies' production of Noël Coward's Hay Fever are Sam Callis (Sandy Tyrell), Freddie Fox (Simon Bliss), Jenny Galloway (Clara), Amy Morgan (Jackie Coryton) and Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Sorel Bliss). Running at the Noël Coward Theatre from 10 February - 2 June 2012, Coward's sublime comedy of bad manners has designs by Bunny Christie, lighting by Mark Henderson and sound by Mike Walker. Hay Fever press preview performances are Thursday 23 February at 7pm, Friday 24 February at 7.30pm and Saturday 25 February at 2.30pm and 7.30pm, with reviews embargoed until Monday 27 February 2012. Hay Fever is produced in the West End by Richard Willis, Matthew Byam Shaw for Playful Productions and Sonia Friedman Productions.

Tom Bateman, Mark Bonnar, Harry Lloyd and Finbar Lynch join Eve Best in John Webster's great Jacobean tragedy, The Duchess of Malfi, directed by Jamie Lloyd. Eve Best last appeared at The Old Vic in London and on Broadway opposite Kevin Spacey in A Moon for the Misbegotten in the 2006/2007 Season. The Duchess of Malfi will open at The Old Vic on 28 March 2012, previewing from 17 March.

Kevin Spacey, currently starring in The Bridge Project's Richard III at BAM, will be a guest on "Theater Talk" on Friday February 3 at 1 AM on Channel 13 in New York. "Theater Talk" subsequently airs on CUNY TV on Saturday February 4 at 8:30 PM; Sunday February 5 at 12:30 PM; and Monday February 6 at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM. "Theater Talk" is hosted by The New York Post's Michael Riedel and Susan Haskins.

Kevin Spacey, currently starring in The Bridge Project's Richard III at BAM, will be a guest on "Theater Talk" on Friday February 3 at 1 AM on Channel 13 in New York. "Theater Talk" subsequently airs on CUNY TV on Saturday February 4 at 8:30 PM; Sunday February 5 at 12:30 PM; and Monday February 6 at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM. "Theater Talk" is hosted by The New York Post's Michael Riedel and Susan Haskins.

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.

Howard Davies' production of Noël Coward's Hay Fever will run at the Noël Coward Theatre from 10 February - 2 June 2012 - and here are some rehearsal shots by Catherine Ashmore.

Kevin Spacey will be a guest tonight on "Charlie Rose" at 11 PM on Channel 13 in New York. Please check local listings.

Digital Theatre announces William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing as its latest release available to watch online or download to the desktop, with pre-order available from today (13 December 2011) at www.digitaltheatre.com and release on 13 December 2011.

Digital Theatre announces William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing as its latest release available to watch online or download to the desktop, available from today (13 December 2011) at www.digitaltheatre.com.

In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, stage and screen star Kavin Spacey chatted about his most recent project- RICHARD III, which opened at London's Old Vic Theatre and will soon open at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Spacey told the WSJ: 'If there was one play that we really, really didn't want to f- up, this was it.'

Joining Lindsay Duncan (Judith Bliss), Jeremy Northam (Richard Greatham), Kevin R McNally (David Bliss) and Olivia Colman (Myra Arundel) in Howard Davies' production of Noel Coward's Hay Fever are Sam Callis (Sandy Tyrell), Freddie Fox (Simon Bliss), Jenny Galloway (Clara), Amy Morgan (Jackie Coryton) and Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Sorel Bliss).

In The Book of Mormon, the young Ugandan ingénue sings of a fantasy world she imagines where all the warlords are friendly.  And while in J.T. Rogers' intriguing drama of 1980s American foreign policy, Blood and Gifts, Afghan warlord Abdullah Kahn isn't exactly depicted as a saint, the author paints him as a man deeply dedicated to his family and the culture of his people who, like a typical American father, has job-related headaches (trying to secure weapons to defend his soil against the Soviets) and can't understand the music his son listens to (Rod Stewart's 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy' and Tina Turner's 'What's Love Got to Do with It').  As played by Bernard White, he is a humble and patriotic man of dignity.

Digital Theatre today announces William Shakespeare's Macbeth as its latest release available to watch online or download to the desktop. The Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse production starred David Morrissey in the title role and was directed by Gemma Bodinetz. Macbeth is now available at www.digitaltheatre.com.

For the first time since its renaming and refurbishment, one of Noël Coward's most well known plays will be performed at the Noël Coward Theatre.

After the success of our inaugural awards last year, in which Legally Blonde and Love Never Dies swept the board, nominations for the 2011 BWW:UK Awards are now open!