William Cecil News

MARY STUART at Pioneer Theatre Company is a well-acted and thought-provoking look at two of the most powerful women in history.

Few English reigns have been quite as theatrical as that of Elizabeth I; from her fine gowns and jewellery to the youthful (or so she thought) wigs and makeup, she preserved her position as monarch by creating the characters of Gloriana and the Virgin Queen. This theatricality feeds into Ella Hickson's new play Swive, as a less familiar version of Elizabeth addresses the audience, tweaks history, and even plays with our expectations of the auditorium's surroundings.

The Stratford Festival lost one of its pioneers today. Douglas Rain died of natural causes early this morning at the age of 90 at St. Marys Memorial Hospital, just outside of Stratford, Ontario, the city in which he established his career, becoming one of the world's great classical actors.

Shakespeare's Globe is delighted to announce the full cast for the world premiere of Anders Lustgarten's The Secret Theatre in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse directed by Matthew Dunster.

With MARIA STUARDA at the Met, we're back for the second installment of Donizetti's so-called Tudor Trilogy, with ANNA BOLENA (Anne Boleyn) already off to the gallows and ROBERTO DEVEREUX (with Bette Davis and Errol Flynn, it was “Elizabeth and Essex”) still to come. It's the first time the Met is doing all three operas, with the singular soprano Sondra Radvanovsky as Anna, Maria and Elisabetta (in DEVEREUX, next month). Her Anna was grand, but her Maria was even better.

A little known painting of three Elizabethan children containing what may be the first portrait of a guinea pig has been uncovered by the National Portrait Gallery, London, during the making of its forthcoming exhibition Elizabeth I and Her People (10 October 2013 - 5 January 2014), supported by The Weiss Gallery, it was announced today.

I hoped to enjoy the World Premiere of Elizabeth: Heart of a King, now playing Austin's Vortex Theatre as it had many elements I generally gravitate towards. However, though Queen Elizabeth may be one of the most successful monarchs in history, Elizabeth: Heart of a King does not fare so well.

Tickets are on general sale for the critically acclaimed Donmar Warehouse production of Friedrich Schiller's MARY STUART, starring Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter. The critically praised new version by Peter Oswald and directed by Phyllida Lloyd, will open Sunday, April 19 on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre (235 West 44th Street). Previews will begin on Monday, March 30.

Tickets go on general sale today for the critically acclaimed Donmar Warehouse production of Friedrich Schiller's MARY STUART, starring Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter. The critically praised new version by Peter Oswald and directed by Phyllida Lloyd, will open Sunday, April 19 on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre (235 West 44th Street). Previews will begin on Monday, March 30. To order call Telecharge at 212-239-6200 or visit www.telecharge.com.

Tickets go on general sale tomorrow for the critically acclaimed Donmar Warehouse production of Friedrich Schiller's MARY STUART, starring Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter. The critically praised new version by Peter Oswald and directed by Phyllida Lloyd, will open Sunday, April 19 on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre (235 West 44th Street). Previews will begin on Monday, March 30. To order call Telecharge at 212-239-6200 or visit www.telecharge.com.

Tickets are onsale today to American Express cardholders for the critically acclaimed Donmar Warehouse production of Friedrich Schiller's MARY STUART, starring Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter. The critically praised new version by Peter Oswald and directed by Phyllida Lloyd, will open Sunday, April 19 on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre (235 West 44th Street). Previews will begin on Monday, March 30. . To order call Telecharge at 212-239-6200 or visit www.telecharge.com. General onsale begins Saturday, January 31 McTeer will be making her first Broadway appearance since her Tony Award-winning performance in A Doll's House in 1997. Walter, who won the 2005 Evening Standard Award for Best Actress for her performance, is returning to Broadway for the first time since the Royal Shakespeare Company's All's Well That Ends Well in 1983. The first Broadway production of MARY STUART in almost 40 years will be produced by Arielle Tepper Madover, Debra Black, David Binder, Scott M. Delman, Neal Street Productions, Matthew Byam Shaw and Barbara Whitman, Michael Grandage, Artistic Director of the Donmar said, 'I am thrilled we are bringing our work to Broadway again. After the success of Frost/Nixon, I am particularly delighted that American audiences will now get to experience one of the Donmar's great classical productions. Phyllida Lloyd's magnificent account of this historical drama offers audiences a chance to engage with two towering performances.'

Additional casting has been announced for the Donmar Warehouse production of MARY STUART, Friedrich Schiller's classic play in a new version by Peter Oswald, which opens April 19, 2009 at the Broadhurst Theatre (235 West 44th Street). The production, starring its acclaimed original London leads Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter and directed by Phyllida Lloyd, begins previews on March 30, 2009 for a limited run of 20 weeks only.