Photo Flash: National Theatre Of London's PHEDRE Opens 6/11, Steppenwolf To Screen Performance 7/13

Tickets for PHÈDRE will go on sale to the general public on Monday, June 1 at 11 a.m. with an exclusive pre-sale for Steppenwolf subscribers beginning Wednesday, May 20 at 11 a.m. Tickets cost $20 and are available by calling Audience Services at (312) 335-1650, in person at the box office, 1650 N. Halsted St., or online at www.steppenwolf.org.

PHÈDRE is the pilot production of NT LIVE, a new initiative by UK's National Theatre to broadcast performances of plays on cinema screens around the world. The National Theatre stage performance of PHÈDRE will be filmed live in high-definition on June 25, 2009, and broadcast via satellite to more than 200 movie theatres and performing arts venues worldwide. Several arts venues, including Steppenwolf, will re-broadcast the production shortly after the live taping.

"The NT Live events are designed to bring what we do on the stages of the National to a far greater number of people than we would ever be able to reach otherwise," says National Theatre Director Nicholas Hytner. "Through high definition broadcasts, we have the technology at our disposal to present our productions beyond the four walls of the National, to reach passionate theatre-goers all over the world, and to do it really well."

"We are thrilled to continue our partnership with the National Theatre," adds Steppenwolf Artistic Director Martha Lavey. "After bringing Steppenwolf's hit play August: Osage County to UK audiences at the National this past winter, we are happy to share the National's prestigious work with our theatre-goers here in Chicago," adds Lavey.

Consumed by an uncontrollable passion for her young stepson and believing Theseus, her absent husband, to be dead, Phèdre confesses her darkest desires and enters the world of nightmare. When Theseus returns alive and well, Phèdre, fearing exposure, accuses her stepson of rape. The result is carnage.

Of her performance in PHÈDRE to be sent via satellite to movie theatres and performing arts centers, Helen Mirren says, "I am very happy to have the opportunity to play Phèdre - a rich, complex and demanding role - and to be part of NT Live, this grand new adventure for the National Theatre."

Helen Mirren is an NT Associate. Her many stage appearances include Mourning Becomes Electra and Antony and Cleopatra at the National Theatre, Dance of Death (Broadway), Orpheus Descending (Donmar Warehouse) and A Month in the Country (West End and New York). Her extensive and multi award-winning screen work includes The Queen (Academy Award for Best Actress), Prime Suspect (three BAFTA and two Emmy Awards for Best Actress), Elizabeth I (Golden Globe for Best Actress), Ayn Rand (Emmy Award for Best Actress), Calendar Girls, The Last Station, State of Play and The Madness of King George.

Margaret Tyzack's distinguished theatre career includes Southwark Fair, His Girl Friday, Tartuffe and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the National; several RSC seasons; and many West End appearances, most recently The Chalk Garden at the Donmar Warehouse, for which she won the Critics' Circle and Evening Standard Awards for Best Actress (the latter shared with Penelope Wilton).

Dominic Cooper last appeared at the National in The History Boys (also on Broadway, international tour and on screen) and in His Dark Materials. His recent screen credits include Sense and Sensibility, The Duchess and Mamma Mia.

Since he became Director of the National in April 2003, Nicholas Hytner has directed Henry V, His Dark Materials, The History Boys, Stuff Happens, Henry IV, Southwark Fair, The Alchemist, The Man of Mode, The Rose Tattoo (with Stephen Pimlott), Rafta, Rafta..., Much Ado About Nothing, Major Barbara and England People Very Nice. His film credits include The History Boys, The Madness of King George and The Crucible.

Photo credit: Catherine Ashmore

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