West End's THE WINTER TALE Broadcasts Live in Cinemas Tonight

The Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company, in partnership with Picturehouse Entertainment, will broadcast the first Branagh Theatre Live production to cinemas worldwide at 19:00 tonight 26 November 2015.

The Winter's Tale, which is now sold out at the Garrick, will be screened in more than 1300 cinemas worldwide, including over 500 in the UK. Tickets are now on sale and participating cinemas can be found at www.branaghtheatrelive.com

The Winter's Tale, Shakespeare's timeless tragicomedy of obsession and redemption, which opened to critical acclaim at London's Garrick Theatre on 7 November, is reimagined in a new production co-directed by Rob Ashford and Kenneth Branagh. Judi Dench plays Paulina opposite Kenneth Branagh as Leontes.

The cinema broadcast of The Winter's Tale will be directed by Benjamin Caron, who has also recently collaborated with Kenneth Branagh on the forthcoming series of Wallander, due to be broadcast on the BBC in 2016.

The Winter's Tale will also be screened in US cinemas on 30 November. Encore broadcasts will be held across the UK throughout the Christmas period.

Kenneth Branagh said: "In 2015, where theatre making and film making meet is exciting. The cinema broadcasts of our plays hope to challenge the possibilities of this relationship. We have a team of people who are experienced in both worlds. The potential results, particularly in exploring the magic of Shakespeare, should be fascinating.

I am very pleased indeed to be working with Picturehouse to bring The Winter's Tale and subsequently Romeo & Juliet and The Entertainer live into cinemas around the world. These plays have epic dimensions but also great intimacy, and I believe that, working with the talented director Benjamin Caron, we can bring the immediacy and excitement of the live stage production into cinemas. We will employ film techniques to make these broadcasts truly cinematic, without in any way compromising the theatrical experience.

The Winter's Tale is a play I have been drawn to through my entire career. Judi Dench has famously been in the play as Hermione and Perdita, but to have her in the company as Paulina and for us to work together on Shakespeare, which we have not done since Coriolanus in Chichester twenty years ago, is very rewarding."

The full cast for The Winter's Tale includes: Pierre Atri (Mamillius), Jaygann Ayeh (Archidamus & The Old Shepherd's Servant), Tom Bateman (Florizel), Jessie Buckley (Perdita), Vera Chok(Dorcas & First Lady), Jack Colgrave Hirst (Clown), John Dagleish (Autolycus), Hadley Fraser(Polixenes), Adam Garcia (Amadis), Rudi Goodman (Mamillius), Matthew Hawksley (Aegeum), Taylor James (Capnio), Pip Jordan (Shepherdess), Ansu Kabia (Cleomenes), Stuart Neal (Dion), Michael Pennington (Antigonus), Zoë Rainey (Emilia), Miranda Raison (Hermione), Michael Rouse(Gaoler & Mariner), John Shrapnel (Camillo), Kathryn Wilder (Mopsa) and Jimmy Yuill (The Shepherd).

The broadcast date for Romeo and Juliet, which plays at the Garrick from 12 May to 13 August, will be announced shortly. The Entertainer will also be screened later in 2016.

The Winter's Tale, Harlequinade / All On Her Own, Red Velvet, The Painkiller, Romeo and Julietand The Entertainer make up the inaugural Play at the Garrick season for the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company. For more information and to buy theatre tickets for these productions please see www.branaghtheatre.com

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