Hildegard Bechtler News

Nobel Prize winner T.S. Eliot is one of the giants of modern literature. Compelling, moving and symphonic, Four Quartets was the culminating achievement of his career as a poet, offering four interwoven meditations on the nature of time, faith, and the quest for spiritual enlightenment.

Ralph Fiennes will create a brand-new stage adaptation of T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets this summer. Announced this week as Britain marks a year since regional theatres were forced to close, this world premiere production will welcome audiences back to live theatre when it re-opens the Theatre Royal Bath.

Today (November 9) in live streaming: Robyn Hurder joins Brenda Braxton on Stars in the House, Rockers on Broadway, and so much more!

Back in the mists of time, (which was in fact only February) Covent Garden's Royal Opera House screened Dances at a Gathering / The Cellist to cinemas across the world. Having seen this beautifully moving production then, it was thrilling to see The Cellist repeated on the Royal Opera House's YouTube channel, accessible to millions across the globe.

Robert Icke's Almeida Theatre production, The Doctor, will now be postponed until 2021. Juliet Stevenson will reprise her role as Professor Ruth Wolff as previously announced, with further casting to be confirmed in due course.

Continuing their series National Theatre At Home, this week the world is treated to a wonderful version of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, with truly dazzling performances from Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo. At the height of both their powers, one of the three rulers of Rome, the once-great Antony, becomes infatuated with Cleopatra, the dramatic Queen of Egypt. Choosing ego and love over duty leads Antony to make some fatal strategic decisions, leading to war, betrayal and death.

Interestingly adapted by Robert Icke, from Arthur Schnitzler's 1912 play, Professor Bernhardi.

Covent Garden's Royal Opera House continues its successful series of live screenings to over 1000 cinemas across the world. Dances at a Gathering / The Cellist is a chance to see two incredibly different ballets in one evening; both beautifully moving in their own ways.

The first mixed programme of 2020 from the Royal Ballet sees Cathy Marston's much anticipated and arguably long overdue first work for the main stage at Covent Garden. Renowned for her lucid and atmospheric storytelling, most recently in The Suit (Ballet Black) and Victoria (Northern Ballet), she now turns her attention to an unconventional but heartfelt love story. 

As rehearsals for its tour and West End transfer commence, multi-award winning actress Juliet Stevenson jointly wins the acclaimed Best Actress award at this year's Critics' Circle Theatre Awards for her portrayal of Dr Ruth Wolff in director, Robert Icke's (The Wild Duck, Hamlet, Mary Stuart, Oresteia, 1984) sold-out, five-star Almeida Theatre production of The Doctor.

A Taste of Honey at Trafalgar Studios must end on Saturday 29 February 2020.

Shelagh Delaney's A Taste of Honey has returned to the West End for the first time in 60 years following a successful 2014 run at the National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre and a UK tour.

Last night' was the opening night of A Taste of Honey at Trafalgar Studios, followed by a party at Jack Solomons. Celebrities including Dame Vivienne Westwood, Alison Steadman, Neil Morrisey, Dame Kelly Holmes, Bruno Tonioli and John Partridge joined actor Jodie Prenger (who plays Helen) and the cast to celebrate the opening of Shelagh Delaney's era-defining play, which returns to the West End after 60 years.

Bijan Sheibani's (Barber Shop Chronicles, The Arrival) production of A Taste of Honey returns to the West End for the first time in 60 years this week, opening on Thursday at Trafalgar Studios. The remarkable taboo-breaking 1950s play written by Shelagh Delaney when she was just 19 will play a limited 12-week run in a co-production with Trafalgar Theatre Productions, with a press night on Monday 9 December.

The National Theatre has announced its upcoming lineup for December 2019 - June 2020.

Shelagh Delaney was known for putting working class women centre-stage. It is remarkable to think that she was only 19 when she penned A Taste Of Honey, a bleak depiction of working class life in post-war Britain where people did not live, but simply tried to exist. It is even more significant that she was a young, uneducated, Northern woman succeeding in a theatrical world that was run for and by an educated elite of men. The National Theatre's excellent 2014 version now returns for a national tour before transferring to the Trafalgar Studios next year.

When her mother Helen runs off with a car salesman, feisty teenager Jo takes up with Jimmy, a sailor who promises to marry her, before he heads for the seas. Art student Geoff moves in and assumes the role of surrogate parent until, misguidedly, he sends for Helen and their unconventional setup unravels.

The National Theatre today announced that Bijan Sheibani's (Barber Shop Chronicles, Dance Nation) production of A Taste of Honey, the remarkable taboo-breaking 1950s play written by Shelagh Delaney when she was just 19, will transfer to the West End immediately following a nine-week UK tour. A Taste of Honey will play a limited 12-week run at Trafalgar Studios from 5 December in a co-production with Trafalgar Theatre Productions, with an opening night on Monday 9 December. Tickets will go on sale to the general public from 11 October.

Robert Icke's sold-out, five-star Almeida Theatre production, The Doctor, will transfer to the Duke of York's Theatre from 20 April a?' 11 July 2020, with press night on Wednesday 29 April. Olivier Award winner, Juliet Stevenson, 'delivering one of the peak performances of the theatrical year' (The Guardian), will reprise her role as Professor Ruth Wolff.

Jodie Prenger stars in the National Theatre's production of A Taste Of Honey at The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury.