Birth Place: ENGLAND
Exit the King at the National Theatre has a beautiful design and wonderful performances from some of the cast, but it ultimately falls flat. While Patrick Marber's new version of Eugene Ionesco's absurdist drama about a dying king has its good moments, it seems to drag on for a play that is only an hour and forty minutes long.
Somewhere in Europe the kingdom is disintegrating. It's the last day of King Berenger's life. Queen Marguerite is preparing for the end and Queen Marie is in denial. The King is 400 years old and dying, but he's clinging on for dear life...
Exit the King marks the first time Eugène Ionesco work has been performed at the National. Playing on the vast Olivier stage, this absurdist play features a cast of just six actors, an intimate staging. One of those is actress Debra Gillett, making her return to the National. With the production opening tomorrow, Debra shares how rehearsals have been going and looks ahead to how Exit the King will resonate with audiences and actors alike.
The west coast premiere of Patrick Marber's THREE DAYS IN THE COUNTRY receives a sturdy mounting by the always dependable Antaeus Theatre Company. Marber's adaptation of Ivan Turgenev's classic A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY has been smartly condensed and updated from its original five-act length to a much more manageable (and most witty and enjoyable) two-and-a-half-hour running time.
The great tragicomedy EXIT THE KING is brought to life on the Olivier stage this summer, the first time Eugene Ionesco's work has been performed at the National Theatre. Patrick Marber (Three Days in the Country, Hedda Gabler) directs his new version of Exit the King with Rhys Ifans (A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic) in the title role and Indira Varma (Man and Superman) as his first Queen.
Keith Allen, Phil Davis, Paapa Essiedu, Rupert Graves, Gary Kemp, John Simm and Maggie Steed have joined the extraordinary company of Pinter at the Pinter, the unprecedented season featuring all twenty of Harold Pinter's one-act plays, running from September 2018 to February 2019, to mark the tenth anniversary of the Nobel Prize winner's death. The plays are directed by Jamie Lloyd, Patrick Marber, Ed Stambollouian, Lyndsey Turner and Lia Williams, with design by Soutra Gilmour, lighting design by Jon Clark and Richard Howell, and sound and music by George Dennis and Ben & Max Ringham. Further casting to be announced.
The National Theatre announces new information, and recaps its upcoming season.
This is the moment! The American Theatre Wing's 72nd Annual Tony Awards, hosted by Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles, air live from Radio City Music Hall on the CBS Television Network tonight, honoring theatre professionals for distinguished achievement on Broadway.
It's only a day away! The 72nd Annual Tony Awards will air on CBS tomorrow night, June 10 at 8pm and as usual, BroadwayWorld will be your one-stop shop for all things Tonys on Tonys Day, Night and Beyond!Today is the day! The 72nd Annual Tony Awards will air on CBS tonight (...tonight, won't be just any night), June 10 at 8pm and as usual, BroadwayWorld will be your one-stop shop for all things Tonys on Tonys Day, Night and Beyond!
Full of wit, folly and heart, a tale of unrequited passion unfolds over the course of three days in the sunny Russian countryside as men and women, both young and old, learn the tender and ridiculous lessons of love. Antaeus Theatre Company presents the West Coast premiere of Three Days in the Country by Patrick Marber, a fresh, breezy update of Ivan Turgenev's classic comedy A Month in the Country. Andrew Paul directs the partner-cast ensemble for a July 12 and July 13 opening (one opening night for each cast) at the Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center in Glendale, where performances continue through Aug. 26. Low-priced previews begin July 5.
The most honorable of the honorable mentions in 2018's Tony race will likely turn out to be Travesties, Tom Stoppard's 1974 tragifarce which took top Tony honors for Best Play and Best Actor (John Wood) in 1976 and is now putting up a game bid for Best Revival, Best Actor (Tom Hollander) and Best Director (Patrick Marber).
At first glance, Travesties may seem to be a nearly impossible work to crack. Traversing literary styles and references, delving headfirst into the history of World War I and the Russian Revolution, and pitting dense intellectual arguments on the meaning and purpose of art against each other, Tom Stoppard's absurdist and avant-garde play can seem hopelessly out of reach for anyone who isn't an expert in these particular topics. But Stoppard has created a roadmap that allows his audiences to untangle the characters, plotlines, and references of Travesties as they watch, and his first clue for doing so is provided in the title of the play itself. What exactly, then, is a travesty?
Education Dramaturge Ted Sod sits down with actress Sara Topham to discuss her role in Travesties and her return to Roundabout Theatre Company.
Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) and Education at Roundabout (Jennifer DiBella, Director of Education) will present the eighth annual Student Theatre Arts Festival, hosted by Roundabout actor (Too Heavy For Your Pocket) and 2018 Lucille Lortel nominee Brandon Gill.
The Drama League (Gabriel Stelian-Shanks, Executive Artistic Director) today announced the 2018 Drama League Awards Nominees for Outstanding Production of a Play, Outstanding Revival of a Play, Outstanding Production of a Musical, Outstanding Revival of a Musical, and the much-coveted Distinguished Performance Award. The nominations were announced this morning by Tony® Award winners Harriet Harris, Julie White and Tony® Award nominee Christopher Sieber at the official announcement event at Sardi's Restaurant, which was streamed live online right here at BroadwayWorld.com.
Theatre Lab Company bring Moliere's DON JUAN to Hoxton Hall. This follows their acclaimed SALOME at Hoxton Hall in February 2017, and recent applauded production of Daphne du Maurier's JAMAICA INN at Tabard Theatre.
The Jamie Lloyd Company, Ambassador Theatre Group, Benjamin Lowy Productions, Gavin Kalin Productions and Glass Half Full Productions present an extraordinary season of Harold Pinter's one-act plays on the tenth anniversary of the Nobel Prize winner's death, performed in the theatre that bears his name.
To accompany the new season of productions, a programme of talks and events will begin with a series relating to Exit the King. Philosopher Julian Baggini will explore the concept of free will in his talk Free Will: Do We Have a Choice?, blending philosophy, neuroscience, sociology and cognitive science. Exploring Exit the King will explore the current production, focussing on the practicalities of putting the show together with insights from cast members and theatre-makers. On 6 September, actors Rhys Ifans and Indira Varma will reflect on the challenges and rewards of playing King Berenger and Queen Marguerite, a talk will explore Three Perspectives on Dying and finally Director and Adapter Patrick Marber will talk about his new production. A combined ticket will also be available for these three talks.
The Jamie Lloyd Company presents a complete season of Harold Pinter's one-act plays to celebrate the legacy of the Nobel Prize-winning British writer on the 10th anniversary of his death.
Tim Hatley/Costume and Set Design My starting point as a designer is always to read the play, and in the case of Travesties, which is a complex play, it required careful reading and thought to begin to understand the threads and layers of the writing, and talking closely with the director, Patrick Marber. It seemed to me that our production needed a strong yet simple approach to the design. The shifting of time and location is clear in the writing and did not need physical transitions to interrupt the flow. Our space is both present and memory, library and apartment, and allows for characters to appear and disappear within. The costumes are rooted strongly in the period, and their palette was developed in tandem with the development of the space. Cross references to Oscar Wilde's play, The Importance of Being Earnest, were an enjoyable anchor to designing the play.
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