THE AUDIENCE Screens Live in HD at Ridgefield Playhouse Today

Renowned actress Helen Mirren reprises her Academy Award winning role as Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience, Live in HD from Britain's National Theatre (NTL) today, July 20, at 6:30 p.m., a very civilized way to spend a hot summer's night in the cool, calm theater of The Ridgefield Playhouse.

A highly anticipated West End production of The Audience, a new play by Peter Morgan, will be broadcast live from London's Gielgud Theatre. The Audience reunites Morgan and Mirren following their collaboration on the critically acclaimed movie sensation The Queen. The NTL in HD series brings the best of British theatre live to cinemas worldwide. Media sponsor is WSHU. This event is supported by Starbucks Coffee.

For sixty years, Elizabeth II has met each of her twelve Prime Ministers in a weekly audience at Buckingham Palace, a meeting like no other in British public life, as it is private. Both parties have an unspoken agreement never to repeat what is said, not even to their spouses. The Audience breaks this contract of silence imagining a series of pivotal meetings between the Downing Street incumbents and their Queen. From Churchill to Cameron, each Prime Minister has used these private conversations as a sounding board and a confessional - sometimes intimate, sometimes explosive.

From young mother to grandmother, these private audiences chart the arc of the second Elizabethan Age. Politicians come and go through the revolving door of electoral politics, while the Queen remains constant, waiting to welcome her next Prime Minister. The Audience is directed by Academy Award-nominated director Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours) and presented in the West End by Matthew Byam Shaw for Playful Productions, Robert Fox and Andy Harries.

For tickets ($25 adults, $20 seniors & $15 students by calling the box office), call the box office at (203) 438-5795, or order online at ridgefieldplayhouse.org. The Ridgefield Playhouse is a not-for-profit performing arts center located at 80 East Ridge, parallel to Main Street, Ridgefield, CT.

Pictured: Helen Mirren. Photo Credit: Johan-Persson/National Theatre Live, London.

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