MAC Opens 2019-2020 National Broadcasts With I'M NOT RUNNING

National Theatre Live broadcasts return to the McAninch Arts Center (MAC) with David Hare's "I'm Not Running," (Oct. 16 & 20), and concluding with "Small Island" (March 3 & 8).

London's National Theatre (a.k.a. Royal National Theatre) is one of the U.K.'s most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. National Theatre Live launched in June 2009 with a broadcast of "Phèdre" starring Helen Mirren. Since then, National Theatre Live has aired more than 80 live broadcasts of the best British plays from stages across the UK that have been watched by nearly nine million people around the world.

Broadcast screenings are as follows and will take place in the MAC's Belushi Performance Hall:

"I'm Not Running"

By David Hare

Directed by Neil Armfield

7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16; 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20

Pauline Gibson is a junior doctor, who becomes the face of a campaign to save her local hospital. She is thrust from angel of the National Health Services to becoming an independent Member of Parliament. In the Houses of Parliament, she crosses paths with her university boyfriend, Jack Gould, a stalwart Labour loyalist, climbing the ranks of the party. As media and public pressure mounts on Pauline to run for leadership of the Labour party, she faces an agonizing decision. "The play raises big issues and fields some acerbically funny lines and astute observations about contemporary politics," says the Financial Times.

The cast includes Siân Brooke (Sherlock Holmes' secret sister Eurus in the British crime series "Sherlock"), Joshua McGuire (starred opposite Daniel Radcliffe in London's National Theatre's critically acclaimed production of "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead") and Alex Hassell (featured in George Clooney's "Suburbicon" and guest star in the Amazon Prime series "The Boys" co-created by Seth Rogan).

Best known for his stage work, playwright Hare has enjoyed great success with films, receiving two Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay for writing "The Hours" (2002) based on the

novel written by Michael Cunningham, and "The Reader" (2008), based on the novel.

Please note: This production contains adult language and themes.

"42nd Street"

Book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, Lyrics by Al Dubin and Johnny Mercer, Music by Harry Warren

Directed by Mark Bramble; Choreographed by Randy Skinner

7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21; 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23

One of Broadway's most classic and beloved musical extravaganzas, "42nd Street" tells the story of Peggy Sawyer, a talented young performer with stars in her eyes who gets her big break on Broadway. The score features classic songs such as "We're In the Money," "You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me" and of course, the rousing tap-stravaganza "Forty-Second Street." The cast for this production features Bonnie Langford, whose Broadway credits include "Chicago" and "Gypsy," as Dorothy Brock and popular U.K. soap star Tom Lister as Julian Marsh.

This revival of director-choreographer Glower Champion's original production was recorded in 2018 at the end of its run in London's West End. The original 1980 production, an adaptation of the popular 1933 film, won the Tony Award for "Best Musical" and the 1984 U.K. staging launched the career of a teenage Catherine Zeta-Jones. The 2001 Broadway revival won Tony Awards for Best Revival and Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical (Christine Ebersol) and the 2014 U.K. revival garnered four WhatsOnStage awards: Best Revival Best Choreography (Randy Skinner), Best Set Design and Best Costume Design.

"Kinky Boots"

By Cyndi Lauper (Composer/Lyricist) and Harvey Fierstein (Book)

Directed and Choreographed by Jerry Mitchel

7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6; 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 9

The multiple Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning musical from Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein tells the story of Charlie (Killian Donnelly, Olivier Award nominee), a factory owner struggling to save his family business, and Lola (Matt Henry, Olivier Award winner), a fabulous entertainer with a wildly exciting idea. With a little compassion and a lot of understanding, this pair learn to embrace their differences and create a line of sturdy stilettos unlike any the world has ever seen.

This production was directed and choreographed by Tony Award-winner Mitchell and based on the film written by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth. The creative team also includes Tony Award nominee David Rockwell (scenic design), Tony Award-winner Gregg Barnes (costume design), Tony Award-winner Kenneth Posner (lighting design), and Tony Award-winner John Shivers (sound design). "Kinky Boots" features musical direction by Ryan Fielding Garrett, and musical supervision, arrangements and orchestrations by Tony and Grammy winner Stephen Oremus.

"Small Island"

Adapted by Helen Edmundson Based on the novel by Andrea Levy

Directed by Rufus Norris

7 p.m. Tuesday, March 3; 2 p.m. Sunday, March 8

"Small Island" takes the audience on a journey from Jamaica to Britain, through the Second World War to 1948 - the year the passenger liner and cruise ship HMT Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury. The play follows three intricately connected stories. Hortense yearns for a new life away from rural Jamaica, Gilbert dreams of becoming a lawyer, and Queenie longs to escape her Lincolnshire roots.

Hope and humanity meet stubborn reality as the play traces the tangled history of Jamaica and the UK. "4-Stars...a landmark in The National Theatre's history...one of the most important plays of the year," says the Guardian. A company of 40 actors are featured in this timely and moving story. "Small Island" is adapted by Helen Edmundson, whose original writing and adaptations of various literary classics for the stage and screen have garnered awards from the novel by prize-winning author Andrea Levy. It is directed by National Theatre Live Artistic Director Rufus Norris, who received five Tony nominations for his 2008 Broadway production of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses."

Please note: this production features strong language. As part of depicting the experience of Jamaican immigrants to Britain after the Second World War, at times characters in the play use language that is racially offensive.

Tickets for all National Theatre Live broadcasts are $24. Seating is general admission. For tickets or more information, visit AtTheMAC.org or call 630.942.4000.

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