Theater News

Bertie Carvel, Linzi Hateley, Fiona Shaw Set for Upcoming National Theatre Season

Fiona Shaw
(© Joseph Marzullo/Retna)
Fiona Shaw
(© Joseph Marzullo/Retna)

Bertie Carvel, Linzi Hateley, and Fiona Shaw will be part of the National Theatre’s upcoming summer and fall seasons, running June-November 2012.

Phil Daniels, Philip Glenister, and Julian Wadham will star in James Graham’s This House, which runs September 18-December 1 at the Cottesloe Theatre, with press night set for September 25. Jeremy Herrin directs the production, which examines the British political system in 1974. The design team features Rae Smith (set and costumes), Paule Constable (lighting), Stephen Warbeck (music), Scott Ambler (choreography), and Ian Dickinson (sound).

Shaw will star in Howard Barker’s Scenes from an Execution, playing the Lyttleton Theatre from September 27, with an opening set for October 4. Set in 16th century Venice, Shaw is Galactica, a painter who decides to create a scene of war-torn carnage when commissioned to paint a canvas celebrating the triumph of the Battle of Lepanto. Tom Cairns directs the work, with designs by Hildegard Bechtler and sound and music by Ben and Max Ringham.

Sebastian Armesto and Carvel will star in Bijan Sheibani’s production of Tirso de Molina’s Damned by Despair, in a new version by Frank McGuinness, to open October 2 (with a press night October 10) in the Olivier Theatre. Rory Kenan and Amanda Lawrence also star. The creative team includes Giles Cadle (scenic design), Moritz Junge (costume design), Jon Clark (lighting design), Finn Ross (video design), Dan Jones (music and sound design), Aline David (movement), and Kate Waters (fights).

Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork’s musical London Road will return to the Olivier Theatre this summer beginning July 28. Rufus Norris’ production, a limited run until September 6, will feature original cast members Clare Burt, Kate Fleetwood, Hal Fowler, Nick Holder, Claire Moore, Michael Shaeffer, Nicola Sloane, Paul Thornley and Duncan Wisbey, with James Doherty and Hateley.

William Belchambers, Tom Burke, David Calder, Callum Coates, Jonathan Coote, Aden Gillett, Amy Hall, Paul Herzberg, Maggie McCarthy, Paul McCleary, Genevieve O’Reilly, Aimee Parkes, Robert Portal, Malcolm Sinclair, Samuel Taylor, Richard Teverson and Joseph Wilkins will star in Bernard Shaw’s The Doctor’s Dilemma, opening July 24 at the Lyttelton under the direction of Nadia Fall.

The National Theatre Live (NT Live) season will include broadcasts of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (September 6), The Last of the Haussmans (October 11), Timon of Athens (November 1), and The Count of Monte Cristo (January 17).

Additionally, the National will stage National Theatre Inside Out, a festival that will take place on the riverside terraces and squares of the theater complex. Running June 1-September 9, the line-up includes the free Watch This Space Festival, featuring circus performers, musicians, and street entertainers from around the world; The Pop-up Workshop, which explores the creation of National productions including War Horse, as well as performances of Bryony Lavery’s play for families Cesario (August 22-25); the Big Bell Breakfast on July 27, which will inaugurate the first day of the Olympic Games by ringing the giant bell from Danny Boyle’s Frankenstein; and free exhibitions Staging War Horse (June 18-September 9) and The Making of Timon (July 17-September 9).

For more information on the new season, click here.