Mike Leigh News

According to Deadline, Sally Hawkins (BLUE JASMINE) and Catherine Keener have signed on to join Michael Cera and John Hawkes in FX's upcoming comedy pilot HOW AND WHY.

Off-Broadway's The New Group honors Beth Henley, playwright, author of Crimes of the Heart and The Jacksonian, and Geoff Rich, Executive Director of The New Group 2002-2013, with The 2014 Michael Mendelson Award at the company's Annual Gala, 'Bright Lights Off-Broadway.' The Gala, set to take place Monday, March 10 beginning at 6:00pm at Tribeca Rooftop (2 Desbrosses Street), features appearances by Ed Harris, Holly Hunter, Carol Kane, Amy Madigan, Bill Pullman and Jonathan Marc Sherman and performances by Stephen Bogardus, Lea DeLaria and John Tartaglia, along with cocktails, dinner, and silent and live auctions filled with an array of exciting items and one-of-a-kind experiences.

Penny Dreadful Theatre will present a brand new show about love, death and science; the world premiere and national tour of HOW TO BE IMMORTAL by Mira Dovreni. Directed by Kirsty Housley and featuring Clare Perkins, Anna-Helena McLean and John McKeever, with scientists Gareth Ackland (UCL), Anna Gutierrez-del-Arroyo (UCL), and Duncan Wilson (Manchester), the National Tour will run 28 January 2014 to ­ 23 March 2014. Press Night 29 January at 7.45pm, The Albany, Deptford, London.

Due to popular demand, extra performances of the critically acclaimed stage adaptation of Ian McEwan's The Cement Garden at VAULT Festival 2014 have been added. Tickets for seven 9pm performances on Saturday 22 February, Thursday 27 February - Saturday 1 March and Thursday 6 March - Saturday 8 March, go on sale today. FallOut Theatre's production, co-written by David Aula and Jimmy Osborne, invites audience members into the house which houses a young family's secret and reveals the tensions which arise as the characters make sense of the adult world. The production stars BAFTA-nominated actor George Mackay as Jack in his professional stage debut, and Ruby Bentall (Mike Leigh's Grief, National Theatre; Peter and Alice, Michael Grandage season at the Noel Coward Theatre) as Julie.

The Theatre Royal Bath has announced its 2014 Summer Season, comprising four productions and starring Clare Higgins, Tim Pigott-Smith, Alison Steadman and Felicity Kendal. Beginning on 18th June with Edward Albee's WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF, the season continues with KAFKA'S DICK by Alan Bennett, followed by THERESE RAQUIN by Emile Zola, and concludes on 6th September with Noel Coward's HAY FEVER.

Scott Elliott, Founding Artistic Director of The New Group and Serge Nivelle, Chairman of its Board of Directors, have announced that Adam Bernstein has been named Executive Director of the company.

The New Group continues its 2013-2014 season with the world premiere of Intimacy, a new play by Thomas Bradshaw. Directed by Scott Elliott, Intimacy features David Anzuelo, Austin Cauldwell, Ella Dershowitz, Laura Esterman, Daniel Gerroll, Dea Julien and Keith Randolph Smith. A limited Off-Broadway engagement plays January 14 - March 8 at The New Group @ Theatre Row (The Acorn Theatre / 410 West 42nd Street), with Official Opening Night set for Wednesday, January 29 at 7:00pm.

Sheffield Theatres will welcome Tom Edden as Fagin in Artistic Director Daniel Evans' production of Lionel Bart's Oliver!. The production runs from today 29 November 2013 until Saturday 25 January 2014 at the Crucible Theatre.

Michelle Williams will make her Broadway debut next season as 'Sally Bowles' in Cabaret (set to open at Studio 54 on April 24, 2014)!

The UK premiere of Claudia Dey's acclaimed play comes to The Little starring Sinead Matthews (A Time to Reap, Royal Court; The Changeling, The Glass Menagerie, Young Vic; The Master & Margarita, Complicite at Barbican and on tour; Women of Troy, The Mandate, National; The Wild Duck, Donmar), Vinette Robinson (Hamlet, Young Vic; Measure for Measure, National Theatre; Speaking Like Magpies, RSC; Tender Napalm, Southwark Playhouse; Sherlock) and Dylan Smith (Private Lives with Kim Cattrall, Toronto and Broadway; Zadie's Shoes, Finborough; Golden Swords, Shakespeare's Globe; Total Recall, 300, Eastenders).

David Anzuelo, Austin Cauldwell, Ella Dershowitz, Laura Esterman, Daniel Gerroll, Dea Julien and Keith Randolph Smith

The Almeida Theatre's five-star production of Ibsen's Ghosts, adapted and directed by Richard Eyre, will transfer to Trafalgar Studios, playing from Tuesday 17 December. Lesley Manville, Jack Lowden, Brian McCardie and Charlene McKenna will reprise their roles and are joined by Adam Kotz as Pastor Manders.

Director Richard Eyre's adaptation of Ibsen's GHOSTS, running at The Almeida Theatre now through 23 November, will transfer to Trafalgar Studios beginning 9 December 2013, according to the Daily Mail.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has today announced that double BAFTA-winning, and Oscar-winning, actor Jim Broadbent will be discussing his career, spanning more than 30 years in film and television

Casting is announced for OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR, a Theatre Royal Stratford East Production:

A Red Orchid Theatre (AROT) welcomes award-winning actor Kamal Angelo Bolden, director and long-time AROT artistic associate Shade Murray, and lighting designer Mike Durst into its storied Ensemble. Bolden, Murray and Durst are the most recent additions to the A Red Orchid Theatre Ensemble, which includes Lance Baker, Dado, Jennifer Engstrom, Kirsten Fitzgerald, Joseph Fosco, Steve Haggard, Mierka Girten, Larry Grimm, Karen Kawa, Karen Kessler, Danny McCarthy, Brett Neveu, Michael Shannon, Guy Van Swearingen, Doug Vickers, Natalie West and Craig Wright.

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!

The UK premiere of Claudia Dey's acclaimed play comes to The Little starring Sinead Matthews (A Time to Reap, Royal Court; The Changeling, The Glass Menagerie, Young Vic; The Master & Margarita, Complicite at Barbican and on tour; Women of Troy, The Mandate, National; The Wild Duck, Donmar), Vinette Robinson (Hamlet, Young Vic; Measure for Measure, National Theatre; Speaking Like Magpies, RSC; Tender Napalm, Southwark Playhouse; Sherlock) and Dylan Smith (Private Lives with Kim Cattrall, Toronto and Broadway; Zadie's Shoes, Finborough; Golden Swords, Shakespeare's Globe; Total Recall, 300, Eastenders).

Sheffield Theatres today announces that Tom Edden will play Fagin in Artistic Director Daniel Evans' production of Lionel Bart's Oliver!. The production runs from Friday 29 November 2013 until Saturday 25 January 2014 at the Crucible Theatre.

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) Artistic Director James C. Nicola has announced that Fetch Clay, Make Man, written by Will Power and directed by Des McAnuff, will begin performances tonight, August 23 at NYTW, 79 East 4 Street, between Bowery and Second Avenue. Opening night is set for Thursday, September 12 at 7pm. Fetch Clay, Make Man is scheduled to run through Sunday, October 13; tickets are on sale now.