NT Live Screenings Return To Hammer Theatre, Kicking Off With THE BOOK OF DUST

Hammer Theatre Center announces the return of National Theatre Live (NT Live), kicking off the series with Philip Pullman's wildly compelling The Book of Dust - La Belle Sauvage, directed by Nicholas Hytnerand. This hit stage production, which was filmed in front of a live audience at London's Bridge Theatre, gives local patrons a chance to experience this West End juggernaut without leaving the Bay Area.

Set twelve years before Pullman's epic His Dark Materials trilogy, this gripping adaptation by Bryony Lavery revisits Pullman's fantastical world in which waters are rising and storms are brewing. Two young people and their dæmons, with everything at stake, find themselves at the center of a terrifying manhunt in this stunning work. In their care is a tiny child named Lyra Belacqua, and in that child lies the fate of the future. What happens as waters begin to rise around them?

The NT Live screening of The Book of Dust - La Belle Sauvage will be presented 7:00pm, Thursday, June 9 and 2:00pm, Sunday, June 12 at the Hammer Theatre Center, 101 Paseo De San Antonio, San Jose. For tickets ($20) or more information, the public may visit hammertheatre.com or call (408) 924-8501.

Launched by the British National Theatre, NT Live is the theatre's groundbreaking initiative to broadcast world-class theatre to movie screens. Each broadcast was filmed in front of a live audience in London, with cameras carefully positioned throughout the auditorium to ensure that viewers get the "best seat in the house" view of each production.

Owned by the City of San Jose and operated by San Jose State University, the Hammer Theatre Center is a state-of-the-art performance venue located in the heart of downtown San Jose at 101 Paseo De San Antonio, between 2nd and 3rd Streets. The theatre has presented an array of offerings including outstanding professional productions, community-based works, SJSU shows, and concerts, as well as dance, music, talks, film screenings-even live aerial performances with dancers suspended outside, scaling the sides of the iconic blue building. From jazz performances to mariachi extravaganzas, National Geographic Live! speaker series to National Theatre Live film screenings, Cinequest film festival presentations, ballet and modern dance shows, kid-friendly performances, live art and more, the Hammer's mission is to serve the community through artistic and educational programming that express the unique characteristics and diverse cultures of Silicon Valley.