Bryan Cranston-Led NETWORK Begins Tonight at the National Theatre

This autumn the National Theatre will stage the world-premiere of Network, Lee Hall's new adaptation of the Oscar-winning film by Paddy Chayefsky.

Directed by Ivo van Hove, the cast includes Bryan Cranston A. Howard Beale, Michelle Dockery as Diana Christenson and Douglas Henshall as Max Schumaker.

Previews begin tonight 4 November for a press night 13 November and continue in the repertoire until 24 March.

Howard Beale, news anchor-man, isn't pulling in the viewers. In his final broadcast he unravels live on screen. But when the ratings soar, the Network seizes on their new found populist prophet, and Howard becomes the biggest thing on TV.

Network depicts a dystopian media landscape where opinion trumps fact. Hilarious and horrifying by turns, the iconic film by Paddy Chayefsky won four Academy Awards in 1976. Now, Lee Hall (Billy Elliot, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour) and director Ivo van Hove (Hedda Gabler) bring his masterwork to the stage for the first time, with Bryan Cranston (All the Way, for which he won the Tony for Best Actor, Breaking Bad and Trumbo for which he was nominated for an Oscar) in the role of Howard Beale.

The cast includes Charles Babalola, Tobi Bamtefa, Richard Cordery, Bryan Cranston (Howard Beale), Michelle Dockery (Diana Christenson),Isabella Della-Porter, Ian Drysdale, Michael Elwyn, Caroline Faber, RoBert Gilbert, Douglas Henshall (Max Schumaker) Tom Hodgkins, Tunji Kasim, AnDrew Lewis, Beverley Longhurst, Evan Milton, Stuart Nunn, Patrick Poletti, Danny Szam and Paksie Vernon.

Set and lighting design by Jan Versweyveld, video design by Tal Yarden, costume design by An D'Huys, music and sound design by Eric Sleichim.

See Network from a completely unique perspective - on-stage - with this immersive dining experience. A limited number of tickets will be available for this unique immersive experience via a ballot.

Network is produced in association with Patrick Myles, David Luff, Ros Povey and Lee Menzies. Production supported by Marcia Grand in memory of Richard Grand.

At the National Theatre, we make world-class theatre that is entertaining, challenging and inspiring, and we make it for everyone. In 2016-2017, the NT staged 26 productions and gave 2,585 performances at our home on the South Bank. The NT's award-winning programme had a UK paying audience of 1.8 million, 400,000 of which were NT Live audiences.

The work the National Theatre produces appeals to the widest possible audiences with new plays, musicals, re-imagined classics and new work for young audiences. The NT's work is seen in the West End, on tour throughout the UK and internationally, and in collaborations and co-productions with partners across the country. Through NT Live, we broadcast some of the best of British theatre to over 2,000 venues in 60 countries around the world.

Our extensive Learning programme offers talks, events and workshops for people of all ages, and reaches nationwide through programmes such as Connections, our annual festival of new plays for schools and youth theatres. In 2016-2017 there were 196,826 participations through the NT Learning events programme. Over 3,000 schools have signed up to the free streaming service, On Demand. In Schools, since its launch in September 2015.