Derek Jacobi News

The PBS summer schedule offers comprehensive election coverage, as well as specially themed programs around the 31st Olympiad in August 2016.

The two great Shakespearean actors are patrons of an organization that has serious doubts about the authorship of The Bard's plays.

February 1949. The tenants of a boarding house in Camden Town, alerted by a smell of gas coming from one of the rooms, discover a young man lying unconscious, and signs of what might be a botched suicide attempt. In an attempt to make contact with the victim's family or friends, they decide to telephone the first person listed in his book of personal telephone numbers. It is the celebrated playwright Terence Rattigan....

The Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company presents Romeo and Juliet, the fifth production in the inaugural Plays at the Garrick season. The production reunites the stars of Branagh's Cinderella, Lily James (Juliet) and Richard Madden. Romeo and Juliet will play at the Garrick Theatre from 12 May until 13 August with press night on 25 May. The production will be broadcast live to cinemas on 7 July. Check out a first look inside rehearsals below!

According to reports, Oscar-nominated actor, Ian McKellen, has backed out of a book deal with UK publisher Hodder & Stoughton, which was worth approximately $1.4 million.  

As president of The Royal Theatrical Fund, the star says the public would be surprised at the famous names who apply for assistance.

The full cast is announced for the final production in the Coronet's spring season, DEATHWATCH, from April 11 to May 7. This new Print Room production of Jean Genet's powerful and provocative first play, in a translation by David Rudkin, marks its first major revival in almost 30 years. Deathwatch stars Danny Lee Wynter, Joseph Quinn, Tom Varey and Emma Naomi, and is directed by Geraldine Alexander, who received critical acclaim for the direction of her own play, Amygdala, at The Print Room's former space in 2013. The Coronet is also working with playwright David Rudkin on complementary activity around the production.

Further casting has been announced for The Entertainer, the final production in the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company's Plays at the Garrick season. John Hurt will return to the London stage for the first time in a decade as legendary patriarch Billy Rice opposite Kenneth Branagh, who as previously announced, will play the unforgettable Archie Rice in Rob Ashford's production.

The Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company has announced the full cast for Romeo and Juliet, the fifth production in the inaugural Plays at the Garrick season. Joining previously announced Lily James (Juliet), Richard Madden (Romeo) and Derek Jacobi (Mercutio) will be Meera Syal as the Nurse. Romeo and Juliet will play at the Garrick Theatre from 12 May until 13 August with press night on 25 May. The production will be broadcast live to cinemas on 7 July.

Aidan Quinn (Michael Collins, Practical Magic, Legends of the Fall, Broadway's A Streetcar Named Desire, and currently appearing in CBS' Elementary) joins Patrick Breen (Madam Secretary, The Normal Heart), Julia Murney (Wicked, The Wild Party), Valorie Curry (The Following, Twilight, American Pastoral), Sam Underwood (Dexter, Homeland, The Following) and Fundamental Theater Project in celebration of their honorary patron, Sir Peter Shaffer (Equus, Amadeus, Royal Hunt of the Sun) and in support of their mission of fostering emerging voices in the theater.

Boyd Gaines, four-time Tony Winner (Gypsy, She Loves Me, Driving Miss Daisy), joins Julia Murney (Wicked, The Wild Party), veteran director Tony Walton, and Fundamental Theater Project in celebration of their honorary patron, Sir Peter Shaffer (Equus, Amadeus, Royal Hunt of the Sun) and in support of their mission of fostering emerging voices in the theater.

The Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company, in partnership with Picturehouse Entertainment, has confirmed that the date of the next Branagh Theatre Live cinema broadcast will be Romeo and Juliet on Thursday 7 July 2016. Tickets for the broadcast of Romeo and Juliet and details of participating cinemas can be found at branaghtheatrelive.com.

A new production of Alan Bennett's hit comedy will embark on a UK tour in February 2016.  Following the success of The King's Speech, Chichester Festival Theatre and Birmingham Repertory Theatre collaborate once again on this award-winning comedy masterpiece, Single Spies.

Today in 1946, Cyrano de Bergerac opened at the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon Theatre), where it ran for 193 performances. Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. Although there was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, the play bears a very scant resemblance to his life. The entire play is written in verse, in rhyming couplets of 12 syllables per line, very close to the Alexandrine format, but the verses sometimes lack a caesura. Notable English-speaking Cyranos include Ralph Richardson, DeVeren Bookwalter, Derek Jacobi, Richard Chamberlain, and Christopher Plummer, who played the part in Rostand's original play and won a Tony Award for the 1973 musical adaptation. Kevin Kline played the role in a Broadway production in 2007. The play is currently in previews at the American Airlines Theatre, starring Douglas Hodge in the title role.

Dame Eileen Atkins is to receive The Gielgud Award for Excellence in the Dramatic Arts at the UK Theatre Awards 2015. The ceremony will take place on Sunday 18 October at London's historic Guildhall.  

Gloucester Stage is pleased to announce that Robert Walsh has been named Artistic Director of the 36-year old non-profit professional theatre, effective immediately. Walsh's appointment as Artistic Director continues a 20-year relationship with Gloucester Stage as both an actor and director as well as serving as Interim Artistic Director since December, 2014. During Gloucester Stage's 2015 season Walsh directed Enda Walsh's The New Electric Ballroom and currently appears in the New England premiere of Israel Horovitz's Gloucester Blue, which has extended it run through October 11.

Welcome to the world of Dominique, a glamorous transsexual hooker, in the throes of an emotional meltdown, caught between a rock and a hard face, juggling a stalker client and her cute, chavved out, drugged up boyfriend who hasn't got out of the bath in a week. 

A memorial tribute will be held for Roger Rees, the legendary Tony Award-winning actor, and Tony Award nominated director, today, September 21 at 1:00 PM at the New Amsterdam Theatre (214 W 42nd Street, NYC). 

The Michael Grandage Company presents the UK premiere of Anna Ziegler's Photograph 51. Nicole Kidman who leads the company as Rosalind Franklin is joined by Will Attenborough (James Watson), Edward Bennett (Francis Crick), Stephen Campbell Moore (Maurice Wilkins), Patrick Kennedy (Don Caspar) and Joshua Silver (Ray Gosling). Photograph 51 opens at the Noel Coward Theatre tonight 14 September, with previews from 5 September, and runs until 21 November.

It is announced today that the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company, in partnership with Picturehouse Entertainment, will broadcast three productions of its year-long Plays at the Garrick season live to cinemas worldwide. The first Branagh Theatre Live production will be The Winter's Tale at 19:00 on Thursday 26 November 2015. Tickets are now on sale.