David Hare News

Theatre for a New Audience's inaugural production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by multiple Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor with original music composed by Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning Elliot Goldenthal, opens tonight, November 2, at the Theatre's newly-named building, Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place between Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street, Brooklyn.

The 50th anniversary celebration 'LIVE FROM THE NATIONAL THEATRE: 50 YEARS ON STAGE,' directed by Nicholas Hytner, will be broadcast by National Theatre Live to cinemas internationally today, November 2, 2013 (with many encore dates in U.S. cities). From Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead to The History Boys, from Antony and Cleopatra to Angels in America, from Guys and Dolls to London Road, this will be a thrilling evening of live performance and rare glimpses from the archive, featuring many of the most celebrated actors who have performed on their stages over the past five decades.

The Phoenix, the New Theatre Company founded by long-time PICT artistic director and founder Andrew Paul and Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre founder and former director of theatre initiatives at the August Wilson Center, Mark Clayton Southers, will debut with a four week run of Joe Penhall's provocative, caustically funny, Olivier Award-winning play Blue/Orange. The production will star acclaimed actors David Whalen, Sam Tsoutsouvas, and newcomer Rico Parker, with direction by Andrew Paul and scenic design by Mark Clayton Southers. Blue/Orange, sponsored by founding Phoenix Board Member and noted arts philanthropist Richard E. Rauh, plays tonight, November 1-23, 2013 at the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre, 937 Liberty Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh.

Artistic Director Daniel Evans today reveals Sheffield Theatres' spring season for 2014. The spring includes a season of work dedicated to playwright Brian Friel running across all three auditoria, the world premiere of a new dance-theatre adaptation of Kes, by Barnsley born director Jonathan Watkins; a major revival of fast-paced French farce Boeing Boeing, directed by Jonathan Humphreys, and The Sheffield Mysteries, the new Sheffield People's Theatre production directed by Daniel Evans. The company will also co-produce a brand new production with Third Angel, The Life and Loves of a Nobody.

Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company & York Theatre Royal presents RICHARD III by William Shakespeare, running tonight, 25 October - 16 November at Nottingham Playhouse, directed by Loveday Ingram, with designs by Simon Higlett and lighting designer Mark Jonathan, starring Ian Bartholomew as Richard III.

Theater for a New Audience has announced its 2013-2014 inaugural season, featuring A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, directed by Julie Taymor, KING LEAR, featuring Michael Pennington, and THE KILLER, starring Michael Shannon. Details below!

The Phoenix, the new theatre company founded by long-time PICT artistic director and founder Andrew Paul and Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre founder and former director of theatre initiatives at the August Wilson Center, Mark Clayton Southers, will debut with a four week run of Joe Penhall's provocative, caustically funny, Olivier Award-winning play Blue/Orange. The production will star acclaimed actors David Whalen, Sam Tsoutsouvas, and newcomer Rico Parker, with direction by Andrew Paul and scenic design by Mark Clayton Southers. Blue/Orange, sponsored by founding Phoenix Board Member and noted arts philanthropist Richard E. Rauh, plays November 1-23, 2013 at the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre, 937 Liberty Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh.

Julie Taymor, the Oscar and Tony Award-winning director of film, theatre and opera comes to 92Y on Sunday, November 17 to talk about her work in a conversation moderated by actor Harry Lennix, who received a Golden Satellite Award in Taymor's Titus. The event -From Stage to Screen and Back Again - will be illustrated with clips from her productions. Taymor is acclaimed for infusing her work with a uniquely theatrical vision - from the internationally acclaimed stage musical The Lion King, to the Beatles-inspired screen musical, Across the Universe, the timeless magic of Shakespeare on screen in Titus and The Tempest, to Shakespeare on stage, with her highly-anticipated upcoming production of A Midsummer Night's Dream for Theatre for a New Audience.

Helen Mirren, Benedict Cumberbatch and Christopher Eccleston have joined the starry cast for the National Theatre of Great Britain's 50th anniversary celebration "LIVE FROM THE NATIONAL THEATRE: 50 YEARS ON STAGE," directed by Nicholas Hytner. This special event will be broadcast by National Theatre Live to cinemas internationally on Saturday, November 2, 2013 (with many encore dates in U.S. cities). From Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead to The History Boys, from Antony and Cleopatra to Angels in America, from Guys and Dolls to London Road, this will be a thrilling evening of live performance and rare glimpses from the archive, featuring many of the most celebrated actors who have performed on their stages over the past five decades.

The artwork for Theatre for a New Audience's inaugural production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by multiple Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor with original music composed by Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning Elliot Goldenthal, at the Theatre's newly-named building, Polonsky Shakespeare Center, has just been released. Check it out below!

HBO Films presents in association with SAF Films West MUHAMMAD ALI'S GREATEST FIGHT, starring Academy Award(R) winner Christopher Plummer ('Beginners'), Academy Award(R) nominee Frank Langella ('Frost/Nixon') and Benjamin Walker ('Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter'); directed by Academy Award(R) nominee Stephen Frears ('The Queen') from a script by Shawn Slovo ('A World Apart'); and executive produced by Emmy(R) winner Frank Doelger (HBO's 'Game of Thrones' and 'The Gathering Storm'), Emmy(R) winner Tracey Scoffield (HBO's 'The Gathering Storm'), Jonathan Cameron and Stephen Frears.

Experiencing a play from Britain's National Theatre in London is possible thanks to the Live in HD series at The Ridgefield Playhouse, which will broadcast NTL 50 Years on Stage on Sunday, December 1, at 6:30 p.m. to celebrate its 50th anniversary, The National Theatre of Great Britain presents a once-in-a-lifetime performance featuring stars from its early golden period under the leadership of Laurence Olivier at the Old Vic theatre to its now iconic building in the heart of London. The anniversary performance will feature Britain's finest theatrical talent, including renowned writers such as Harold Pinter, Peter Shaffer, Tom Stoppard, Alan Bennett and David Hare, and celebrated actors including Maggie Smith, Derek Jacobi, Judi Dench, Michael Gambon and the rising stars of today.

Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz, and Rafe Spall star on Broadway in Harold Pinter's Betrayal, directed by ten-time Tony Award-winner Mike Nichols. Betrayal begins performances tonight, October 1 at the Barrymore Theatre (243 West 47th Street). Opening night is Sunday, November 3. Betrayal is a strictly limited engagement, running 14 weeks only, through January 5, 2014.

Richard Eyre has adapted and will direct Ibsen's Ghosts, running at the Almeida Theatre now through 23 November 2013, with Press Night on 3 October. Designs are by Tim Hatley with lighting by Peter Mumford and sound by John Leonard. The full cast is Lesley Manville (Helene Alving), Brian McCardie (Jacob Engstrand) Charlene McKenna (Regina Engstrand), Jack Lowden (Oswald Alving) and Will Keen (Pastor Manders). BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Long-time PICT artistic director and founder, Andrew Paul and Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre founder and former director of theatre initiatives at the August Wilson Center, Mark Clayton Southers have announced Pittsburgh's newest professional theatre company, The Phoenix. The mission of The Phoenix is to explore the issues facing our diverse and rapidly changing world through the language of theatre. The name is purposeful. The phoenix was a mythological creature that crossed borders finding a home in many cultures from ancient Greece and Egypt to Turkey, Persia, Russia, Tibet, China and Japan. It was and is a symbol of renewal, new life emerging from the ashes of the old in a never-ending cycle of death and rebirth.

Jack Lowden and Will Keen join Lesley Manville in Richard Eyre's production of Ghosts at The Almeida Theatre. Eyre returns to The Almeida Theatre to adapt and direct Ibsen's Ghosts. Ghosts will run from tonight, 26 September - 23 November 2013, with Press Night on 3 October.