Bookings Open For The Fugard Bioscope National Theatre Encore Season

The popular Fugard Bioscope has announced an exciting encore line up for the holidays with The National Theatre Encore Season. The line up includes productions of TWELFTH NIGHT, PETER PAN, WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD, both parts of ANGELS IN AMERICA, OBSESSION and AMADEUS.

This season of screenings is a chance to re-experience some of the most popular recorded live theatre titles of the 2017 bioscope season, featuring the best of British theatre screenings as well as some new titles from the comfort of a Fugard Theatre seat, with its full size high definition cinema screen and 7.1 Dolby Digital surround sound system. The productions are filmed live, transporting audiences directly into the heart of the action on stage.

Greg Karvellas, the resident director and general manager of the Fugard Theatre, comments:

Theatres such as the National Theatre, Bristol Old Vic and the Barbican Theatre are world leaders in the creation of theatre. We are delighted to be able to bring this magic to Cape Town audiences with The National Theatre Encore Season. We have also included some Monday night slots for additional viewing in addition to our Sunday morning screenings. Look out for further announcements soon about the programme for the 2018 Cinema Season.

TWELFTH NIGHT raises the curtain on the season on 17 December at 11:00. In a new twist on Shakespeare's classic comedy of mistaken identity, Tamsin Greig plays Malvolia. Simon Godwin (MAN AND SUPERMAN, THE BEAUX' STRATAGEM) directs this joyous production, Where music is the food of love, and nobody is quite what they seem, anything is possible.

On 23 December at 10:00, PETER PAN promises to be a delight for all the family. JM Barrie's much-loved tale of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, Wendy Tinker Bell, Tiger Lily and the vengeful Captain Hook is a riot of magic, music and make-believe. Sally Cookson (JANE EYRE, LA STRADA) directs this wondrously inventive production, a co-production with Bristol Old Vic theatre.

WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? will be screened on 7 January at 11:00. Sonia Friedman Productions presents Imelda Staunton (FOLLIES, GYPSY), Conleth Hill (GAME OF THRONES, THE PRODUCERS), Luke Treadaway (A STREET CAT NAMED BOB, THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME) and Imogen Poots (A LONG WAY DOWN, JANE EYRE) in James MacDonald's critically acclaimed production of Edward Albee's landmark play, which was broadcast from the Harold Pinter Theatre in London.

The screening on 14 January at 11:00 is David Leveaux's production of ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the play that made the young Tom Stoppard a name overnight. Daniel Radcliffe (THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN, EQUUS), Joshua McGuire (AMADEUS, HAMLET) and David Haig (BLUE/ORANGE, GUYS AND DOLLS) star in this brilliantly funny situation comedy, broadcast from The Old Vic Theatre in London.

The two parts of ANGELS IN AMERICA screen consecutive Mondays respectively, 15 and 22 January, at 19:00. This new staging of Tony Kushner's multi-award winning play is directed by Olivier and Tony Award-winning director Marianne Elliott (THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, WAR HORSE). Set in America in the mid-1980s, in the midst of the AIDS crisis and a conservative Reagan administration, New Yorkers grapple with life and death, love and sex, heaven and hell. Andrew Garfield (DEATH OF A SALESMAN, HACKSAW RIDGE) plays Prior Walter along with a cast including Denise Gough (PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS, THE DUCHESS OF MALFI), Nathan Lane (THE PRODUCERS, LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION!), James McArdle (PLATONOV, STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS) and Russell Tovey (A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, THE HISTORY BOYS).

In OBSESSION, on 21 January at 11:00, Jude Law (THE YOUNG POPE, CLOSER) stars in a new stage adaptation of Luchino Visconti's 1943 film, broadcast from the Barbican Theatre. Gino is a drifter, down-at-heel and magnetically handsome. At a roadside restaurant, he encounters husband and wife, Giuseppe and Giovanna. Irresistibly attracted to each other, Gino and Giovanna begin a fiery affair and plot to murder her husband. But in this chilling tale of passion and destruction, the crime only serves to tear them apart. Ivo Van Hove (A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, HEDDA GABLER) directs.

Finally, on 28 January at 11:00, AMADEUS beings music, power and jealousy to The Fugard Bioscope screen. Lucian Msamati (LUTHER, GAME OF THRONES) plays Salieri in Peter Shaffer's iconic play, AMADEUS filmed at the National Theatre with live orchestral accompaniment by Southbank Sinfonia. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a rowdy young prodigy, arrives in Vienna, the music capital of the world - and he's determined to make a splash. Awestruck by his genius, court composer Antonio Salieri has the power to promote his talent or destroy his name. Seized by obsessive jealousy he begins a war with Mozart, with music, and ultimately, with God.

The Fugard foyer bar is open from 10:00 on Sundays and 18:00 on Mondays, serving a range of delicious light snacks as well as the finest coffee, wine and drinks. Tickets for screenings at The Fugard Bioscope cost R100 and can be booked online through Computicket, by phone on 0861 915 8000, or in person at any Shoprite Checkers outlet. Bookings can also be made at the Fugard Theatre box office on 021 461 4554. Tickets are limited and sell out quickly so don't delay to book your seat.

The Fugard Theatre is situated in the heart of District Six, on the corner of Harrington and Caledon Streets, Cape Town. Harrington Street car park is located at the corner of Caledon and Harrington streets and is available for the use of Fugard Bioscope patrons. For further information about the National Theatre Encore Season and future announcements regarding the 2018 Cinema Season, visit The Fugard Theatre's website.

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