www.nationaltheatre.org.uk

A new play by Alan Bennett, THE HABIT OF ART, opens at the Lyttelton with Michael Gambon, Alex Jennings and Frances de la Tour leading the cast, directed by Nicholas Hytner

Katie Mitchell directs PAINS OF YOUTH by Ferdinand Bruckner, in a new version by Martin Crimp

Dr Seuss’s THE CAT IN THE HAT, adapted and directed by Katie Mitchell for 3-6 year-olds in the Cottesloe 

PAINS OF YOUTH
Cottesloe Theatre

PAINS OF YOUTH by Ferdinand Bruckner, in a new version by Martin Crimp, opens in the Cottesloe Theatre on 28 October, directed by Katie Mitchell. The production will be designed by Vicki Mortimer, with costumes by John Bright, lighting by Jon Clark, music by Paul Clark and sound by Gareth Fry. The cast includes: Sian Clifford, Laura Elphinstone, Cara Horgan, Jonah Russell, Geoffrey Streatfeild and Lydia Wilson.

Vienna, 1923. A discontented post-war generation diagnose youth to be their sickness and do their best to destroy it, in this shocking, erotically charged play by Austrian writer Ferdinand Bruckner, presented in a new version by Martin Crimp.

Promiscuous, pitiless and bored, six sexually entangled medical students restlessly wander in and out of a boarding house, cramming, drinking, taunting, spying. Freder sets about savagely experimenting with the young, pretty maid, with half an eye on his former lover Desiree, a wild, disillusioned aristocrat. Petrell abandons Marie for the ruthless underdog Irene. Marie doesn’t waste any time weeping – Desiree wants her.

Katie Mitchell’s work at the NT includes …some trace of her, Women of Troy, Attempts on her Life, Waves, The Seagull, Three Sisters, A Dream Play, Iphigenia at Aulis, Ivanov and The Oresteia. She is an Associate Director for the National Theatre.

Martin Crimp’s plays include The City, Fewer Emergencies, Face to the Wall, The Country and The Treatment for the Royal Court; Cruel and Tender (after Sophocles’ Trachiniae) at the Young Vic; and versions of Marivaux’s The False Servant and Chekhov’s The Seagull at the National.

THE HABIT OF ART
Lyttelton Theatre

THE HABIT OF ART, a new play by Alan Bennett, opens in the Lyttelton Theatre on 17 November, directed by Nicholas Hytner. The production will be designed by Bob Crowley, with lighting by Mark Henderson, music by Matthew Scott and sound by Paul Groothuis. The cast includes: Frances de la Tour, Michael Gambon, John Heffernan, Alex Jennings, Elliot Levey, Adrian Scarborough and Stephen Wight.

Benjamin Britten, sailing uncomfortably close to the wind with his new opera, Death in Venice, seeks advice from his former collaborator and friend, W H Auden. During this imagined meeting, their first for twenty-five years, they are observed and interrupted by, amongst others, their future biographer and a young man from the local bus station.

Alan Bennett’s new play is as much about the theatre as it is about poetry or music. It looks at the unsettling desires of two difficult men, and at the ethics of biography. It reflects on growing old, on creativity and inspiration, and on persisting when all passion’s spent: ultimately, on the habit of art.

THE HABIT OF ART is Alan Bennett’s fifth play for the National Theatre. His last play, The History Boys, opened at the Lyttelton in 2004, toured nationally and internationally, and played for two seasons in the West End and on Broadway. Among its many awards were the Laurence Olivier, Tony and Critics Circle Awards for Best Play, and the South Bank Show Award for Theatre.

Michael Gambon was an original member of the National Theatre company under Laurence Olivier’s direction in 1963. His last appearance at the NT was as Falstaff in Henry IV Parts 1and 2 in 2005.

Alex Jennings is an NT Associate. His recent appearances at the National include: Present Laughter, The Alchemist, Stuff Happens and His Girl Friday.

Frances de la Tour last appeared at the National in The History Boys (also on Broadway and on screen).

Since he became Director of the National in April 2003, Nicholas Hytner has directed Henry V, His Dark Materials, The History Boys, Stuff Happens, Henry IV, Southwark Fair, The Alchemist, The Man of Mode, The Rose Tattoo (with Stephen Pimlott), Rafta, Rafta… , Much Ado About Nothing, Major Barbara, England People Very Nice and Phèdre.

THE HABIT OF ART will be broadcast to cinema screens in the UK and internationally, as part of NT Live, on 22 April 2010.

THE CAT IN THE HAT
Cottesloe Theatre

Performance times: 10:30am and 1:30pm. Running time: 45 mins approx

Dr. Seuss’s THE CAT IN THE HAT opens in the Cottesloe Theatre on 16 December, directed by Katie Mitchell. The production will be designed by Vicki Mortimer, with lighting by Jon Clark and sound by Gareth Fry.

From the moment his tall, red-and-white-striped hat appears around the door, Sally and her brother know that the cat in the hat is the funniest, most mischievous cat they have ever met. With the trickiest of tricks and craziest of ideas, he is certainly fun to play with. And he turns a rainy afternoon into an amazing adventure. But what will mum find when she gets home…?

The National Theatre’s production of THE CAT IN THE HAT is a lively, engaging first theatre experience for 3 to 6-year-olds. Based on the much-loved book by Dr. Seuss, this tale will be colourfully adapted for the stage by director Katie Mitchell.

Katie Mitchell is an Associate Director for the National Theatre. Her work here includes: …some trace of her, Women of Troy, Attempts on her Life, Waves, The Seagull, Three Sisters, A Dream Play, Iphigenia at Aulis, Ivanov and The Oresteia.

Discover: THE CAT IN THE HAT family activities at the NT.
A Cat in a Hat, a fish in a pot, a collection of tricks and two Things in a box. All of these things make a bit of a mess. What will the kids do to get rid of their guests? A range of games and creative activities, suitable for children aged 3-6 accompanied by an adult, will be available in the new inflatable Discover Playspace. www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/discover

THE CAT IN THE HAT is sponsored by Neptune Investment Management.

Following its run at the NT, THE CAT IN THE HAT will play at the Maria Studio, Young Vic from 28 January to 13 March, at 10.30am and 1.30pm daily; public booking opens on 26 October. www.youngvic.org

NT LIVE: ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL and NATION

NT Live is a new initiative to broadcast live performances of plays onto cinema screens worldwide. Following the hugely successful screening of PHEDRE on 25 June, seen by almost 50,000 people in 19 countries around the globe, the next shows in the pilot season will be Marianne Elliott’s acclaimed production of Shakespeare’s ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, with Oliver Ford Davies, Clare Higgins, Conleth Hill, George Rainsford and Michelle Terry heading the cast, on Thursday 1 October; and NATION, based on a novel by Terry Pratchett, adapted by Mark Ravenhill, at a matinee performance on Saturday 30 January.

The performances are filmed in high definition, using innovative digital technologies to broadcast them via satellite to over 70 cinemas across the UK and 200 venues around the world. For a list of participating cinemas, visit www.ntlive.com

NT Live is funded in partnership with Arts Council England and NESTA, and supported internationally by Travelex. NT Live Nation is supported by The Michael Marks Charitable Trust.