Stevenson To Return To Young Vic In HAPPY DAYS In 2015

Juliet Stevenson returns to the Young Vic in February 2015 to reprise her mesmerising performance as Winnie in Natalie Abrahami's acclaimed production of Happy Days which sold out its first run in the Main House. David Beames returns to play Willie in a limited five-week run of Samuel Beckett's existential masterpiece.

Public booking opens today for trailblazing director Benedict Andrews' new production of Tennessee Williams'A Streetcar Named Desire starring Gillian Anderson as Blanche DuBois in her Young Vic debut. The run is from 23 July - 6 September.

Happy Days

by Samuel Beckett

Main House

13 February - 21 March 2015
In Happy Days Beckett conceived one of the most memorable images in theatre: a middle-aged woman buried up to her waist in a great mound of earth. For his heroine, day and night are no more, the hours of waking and sleeping are signified by the ringing of a bell, and so it is that Winnie confronts her existential despair with absurd diversions and distractions, lurches of optimism and fragments of memories. Her dogged efforts to resist hopelessness and despair remain as potent a reminder of human resilience as when the play was first written in 1961.

Juliet Stevenson is one of the finest actors of her generation, with award-winning roles on stage as well as richly memorable performances on film and television. Juliet joined the RSC in 1978 and quickly ascended from minor roles to leads - her performances as Isabella in Measure for Measure and Cressida in Troilus and Cressida were both Olivier nominated. In 1990 she made her breakthrough in film playing Nina (a part written specifically for her) in Anthony Minghella's cinematic debut, Truly Madly Deeply, for which she received an Evening Standard British Film Award and a BAFTA nomination. The following year she won an Olivier Award for the role of Paulina in Death and the Maiden at the Royal Court. Juliet's extensive work in theatre also includes the title role in Yerma (Olivier nomination), the title role in Hedda Gabler, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Katie Mitchell's production of The Seagull(all National Theatre); Duet for One (Evening Standard and Olivier Award nomination) at the Almeida and in the West End; The Alice Trilogy, The Heretic (Royal Court). She was BAFTA nominated for her performance in Jimmy McGovern's BBC One drama Accused and for her role in Paula Milne's The Politician's Wife on Channel 4.

Natalie Abrahami directed the sold-out hit After Miss Julie at the Young Vic in 2012, and was assistant director to Benedict Andrews on his award-winning production of Three Sisters. She became associate director of the Young Vic in spring 2013 and is the third Genesis Fellow, succeeding Carrie Cracknell, with whom she co-ran the Gate Theatre from 2007-2012. In 2005 she won the James Menzies-Kitchin Trust Award for Young Directors for her staging of Beckett's Play and Not I at BAC. Her past work in theatre also includes Parallax (Almeida); Yerma, Women in Love, The Kreutzer Sonata, Vanya (Gate); Pericles (Regent's Park); Guardians (Hightide); The Eleventh Capital (Royal Court); Headlong's A Midsummer Night's Dream (UK tour).

Happy Days by Samuel Beckett is directed by Natalie Abrahami, with design by Vicki Mortimer, light by Paule Constable and sound by Tom Gibbons. Juliet Stevenson plays Winnie and David Beames plays Willie.

A Streetcar Named Desire

by Tennessee Williams

Main House

23 July - 6 September 2014
Press night: 28 July at 7pm

The profound and lyrical plays of Tennessee Williams had an immeasurable effect on American theatre. A Streetcar Named Desire is his greatest play. The downward spiral of Blanche DuBois and her collision with the visceral Stanley Kowalski remains one of the most explosive scenes of sexual tension in theatre.

Gillian Anderson began her career in theatre but achieved international recognition with a portrayal of Special Agent Dana Scully on the The X-Files. During the show's nine seasons she won an Emmy, Golden Globe and two SAG Awards. A Streetcar Named Desire is Gillian's fourth appearance on the London stage. In 2009 she received an Olivier nomination for her performance as Nora in A Doll's House at the Donmar Warehouse. Prior to this she appeared in The Sweetest Swing In Baseball at the Royal Court, and made her West End debut in Michael Weller'sWhat The Night Is For in 2002. On screen her credits include the role of Miss Havisham in the BBC adaptation ofGreat Expectations, a BAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe nominated performance in Bleak House, and a BAFTA nominated performance in Channel 4's adaptation of William Boyd's novel, Any Human Heart. More recently TV critics and audiences alike have been gripped by her performance in BBC 2's psychological thriller, The Fall. On the big screen, her numerous credits include The Mighty, Playing By Heart, Edith Wharton's classic The House of Mirth(for which she won a British Independent Film Award), The Last King of Scotland, Boogie Woogie and Shadow Dancer.Later this year cinema audiences will see her in Mr Morgan's Last Love alongside Michael Caine and Clemence Poesy, and in Richie Mehta's much-anticipated film I'll Follow You Down.

Benedict Andrews returns to the Young Vic after his sold-out production of Three Sisters in 2012, for which he received a Critics' Circle Award. His past work in the UK also includes The Return of Ulysses (Young Vic/ENO), Gross und Klein starring Cate Blanchett (Barbican), Caligula (ENO) and The Eternity Man (Almeida Opera). As former resident director of Sydney Theatre Company (2001-2003), his productions there included Jean Genet's The Maids, Martin Crimp's Attempts on Her Life, the multi-award-winning The Season at Sarsaparilla which played at the Edinburgh Festival in 2006, and a spectacular eight-hour staging of The War of the Roses. His work at Berlin's Schaubühne included A Streetcar Named Desire in 2009, Blackbird and Cleansed.

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams is a Young Vic & Joshua Andrews co-production directed by Benedict Andrews with design by Magda Willi, costume by Victoria Behr, sound by Paul Arditti and light by Jon Clark.

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