Dates have been confirmed for the National Theatre’s January productions, including Antony Sher in Travelling Light and Jamie Lloyd’s production of She Stoops To Conquer.
Sher, whose casting was confirmed back in September, will appear at the Lyttelton theatre from 11 January (press night 18 January) to lead the cast of Nicholas Wright’s new play about the Eastern European immigrants who became major players in Hollywood’s golden age.
The actor, whose previous work for the National includes the Olivier Award-winning Stanley, is joined in Nicholas Hytner’s production by Lauren O’Neil, Damien Molony and Paul Jesson.
Meanwhile in the Olivier theatre, Lloyd’s production of Oliver Goldsmith’s She Stoops To Conquer, also announced last September, will play from 24 January (press night 31 January).
Leads Sophie Thompson, Steve Pemberton and Katherine Kelly are joined by rising stars Harry Hadden-Paton (Posh at the Royal Court, Flare Path in the West End) and John Heffernan, who can currently be seen in Wright’s The Last Of The Duchess at the Hampstead theatre.
Also announced today, Errol John’s 1953 play Moon On A Rainbow Shawl will be staged in the Cottesloe theatre from 7 March (press night 14 March), directed by Talawa theatre’s Michael Buffong.
Set in Port of Spain, Trinidad, as troops returning from World War II fill the town with raucous celebrations, the play centres on Ephraim, who is determined to escape his dead-end job for a fresh start in England.
On 9 March (press night 12 March), physical dance company DV8 returns to the National’s Lyttelton theatre, where it previously presented To Be Straight With You, with new work Can We Talk About This? Lloyd Newson’s piece examines how world events including the burning of Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses and the controversy of the Muhammad cartoons have influenced multicultural policies, freedom of speech and censorship.
Finally, a new play for young audiences, Island, will run in the Cottesloe from 15 to 25 February only, as part of a tour to primary schools. The story, about a young boy who must spend his school holidays on an icy island in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, is written by children’s author Nicky Singer, whose books include the award-winning Feather Boy, which was adapted into a musical for the National Theatre’s Connections programme.
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