Mike Leigh News

Among those artists whose early films Cooper championed are: Chantal Akerman, Matthew Barney, Charles Burnett, David Cronenberg, Julie Dash, Terence Davies, Asghar Farhadi, Haile Gerima, Michael Haneke, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Mike Leigh, Lucrecia Martel, Mira Nair, László Nemes, Gaspar Noé, Christopher Nolan, François Ozon, and more.

In the seventeen years between his first two theatrical features (1971’s BLEAK MOMENTS and 1988’s HIGH HOPES), Mike Leigh, the great humanist of British cinema, sharpened his distinctive voice and famously improvisatory process at the BBC, where he directed a string of striking, bittersweet slice-of-life dramas built on sharply etched characters.

London Classic Theatre has announced a new UK and Ireland tour of Mike Leigh’s classic comedy Abigail’s Party. The production opens at Theatre Royal, Winchester on 1 March 2023 before touring to a further nineteen venues.

Exeter Northcott has announced a new season of events at its Northcott and Barnfield theatres for January to August 2023, revealing a rich range of absurd comedies, cutting-edge dramas, family favourites and innovative South West-based productions.

The curtain has gone up on Darlington Hippodrome’s new spring season of shows which is packed with an array of showstopping performances guaranteed to fire up audiences on chilly nights as we move towards a much anticipated summer.

To celebrate 30 years of the Victoria & Albert's National Video Archive of Performance, the museum is holding a weekend of free screenings from 26-27 November.

Kiln Theatre  has announced the full cast for the return of Zadie Smith's The Wife of Willesden, directed by Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham.

Jekyll and Hyde, currently running to great critical acclaim at Derby Theatre, will arrive at Queen's Theatre Hornchurch 26 October – 12 November.

Albert Camus’ The Fall will come to life onstage as Belgian-born actor Ronald Guttman embodies the anguish of exiled Parisian lawyer Jean-Baptiste Clamence. Performances of Albert Camus’ The Fall begin October 13 at The Huron Club at Soho Playhouse, with an opening set for Wednesday, October 19, for a limited run through November 19.

​​​​​​​Joining Simon Russell Beale in the title role, Clare Higgins as Gunhild Borkman and Lia Williams as Ella Rentheim, are Sebastian De Souza as Erhart Borkman, Daisy Ou as Frida Foldal, Laila Rouass as Fanny Wilton and Michael Simkins as Wilhelm Foldal who complete the cast for Henrik Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman, in a new version by Lucinda Coxon at the Bridge Theatre.

Derby Theatre and Queen's Theatre Hornchurch have announced the cast and creative team for their co-production of Jekyll and Hyde this autumn. Robert Louis Stevenson's iconic tale will be brought vividly to life through Neil Bartlett's brilliant and extraordinary adaptation, and through a stellar cast and creative team.

New book to chart Cameron Mackintosh’s legacy to save the West End through the revival of eight iconic London theatres.

Watch the trailer for the new West End murder mystery film See How They Run, starring Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan. The film takes place in the West End of 1950s London, as plans for a movie version of a smash-hit play come to an abrupt halt after the film’s Hollywood director is murdered.

With Girl on an Altar by Marina Carr running and Zodwa Nyoni’s The Darkest Part of the Night in rehearsals, Kiln Theatre Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham today announced the return of Zadie Smith’s The Wife of Willesden to the venue, running from 14 December to 28 January.

Film at Lincoln Center announces Human Conditions: The Films of Mike Leigh, a retrospective of the widely lauded director’s career, running from May 27-June 8. For over half a century, Mike Leigh has directed films suffused with emotion and the realities of working-class struggle. From his debut feature, Bleak Moments (1971); to his ’70s television work for the BBC; to the breakout mid-career successes of Life Is Sweet (1990), Naked (1993), and Secrets and Lies (1996); through the historical films that have marked his output more recently, like Mr. Turner (2014) and Peterloo (2018), a Mike Leigh film always has an unmistakable energy and feeling for the triumphs and tragedies of everyday life.

American Buffalo officially begins performances tonight, March 22, at the Circle in the Square Theatre. Opening night is set for April 14. Learn more about the cast bringing this show back to Broadway!

This brand new production by Pravesh Kumar with Goldy Notay as Beverley casts the attitudes to class and social standing of Mike Leigh's classic in a whole new light.

The classic play has all the set-pieces and much imitated dialogue in a revival that also underlines the persistence of the anxieties and neuroses it exposes.

Matt Di Angelo has been announced as playing Tony in Abigail's Party at Park Theatre this November, joining the previously announced cast which includes Kellie Shirley as Beverly. EastEnders fans will remember Matt and Kellie as brother and sister Dean and Carly Wicks, and Matt is also known for Strictly Come Dancing series five, where he came runner-up to Alesha Dixon.

A homegrown theatre production is coming to a unique venue in Warrington as part of this year's Contemporary Arts Festival. Not Too Tame will be presenting 'The Social' at The Parr's Bank between 9 and 12 November.