July 17, 2014
Contact: Adrian Bryan-Brown / Heath Schwartz / Amy Kass
Connect with National Theatre Live on Twitter and Facebook
NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE
TO BROADCAST
A YOUNG VIC\JOSHUA ANDREWS CO-PRODUCTION
GILLIAN ANDERSON BEN FOSTER VANESSA KIRBY
IN
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS
DIRECTED BY BENEDICT ANDREWS
BROADCAST TO CINEMAS INTERNATIONALLY ON
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2014
Celebrating its 5th year bringing live theatre to cinema audiences around the world, NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE is pleased to announce an international broadcast of the Young Vic / Joshua Andrews co-production of Gillian Anderson, Ben Foster and Vanessa Kirby in Tennessee Williams’ A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, directed by Benedict Andrews. It will be broadcast live from London’s Young Vic Theatre on Tuesday, September 16, 2014. Dates will vary at venues internationally and encore screenings will follow.
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIREis National Theatre Live’s first collaboration with the Young Vic Theatre. National Theatre Live performances are broadcast via satellite to over 1100 venues in over 40 different countries around the world, live in Europe and some US cities, and time-delayed in countries further afield.
The cast of this brand new production of Tennessee Williams’ tragic masterpiece is: Gillian Anderson (as Blanche DuBois), Clare Burt, Lachele Carl, Branwell Donaghey, Otto Farrant, Ben Foster (as Stanley Kowalski), Nicholas Gecks, Troy Glasgow, Stephanie Jacob, Corey Johnson (as Harold “Mitch” Mitchell), Vanessa Kirby (as Stella Kowalski) and Claire Prempeh. The production features design by Magda Willi, costume by Victoria Behr, sound by Paul Arditti, music by Alex Baranowski and light by Jon Clark.
The profound and lyrical plays of Tennessee Williams had an immeasurable effect on American theatre; A STREETCAR NAMED DESIREis one of the most influential of all. As Blanche DuBois’ fragile world crumbles, she turns to her sister Stella for solace – but her downward spiral brings her face to face with the brutal, unforgiving Stanley Kowalski.
Gillian Anderson (Blanche DuBois) began her career in theatre but achieved international recognition for her portrayal of Special Agent Dana Scully on The X-Files. During the show’s nine seasons she won an Emmy, a Golden Globe and two SAG Awards. A Streetcar Named Desire at the Young Vic is Gillian’s fourth appearance on the London stage. In 2009 she received an Olivier nomination for her performance as Nora in A Doll’s House at the Donmar Warehouse. Prior to this she appeared in The Sweetest Swing In Baseball at the Royal Court, and made her West End debut in Michael Weller’s What The Night Is For in 2002. Her screen credits include Great Expectations, Bleak House (for which she received aBAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe nomination), Any Human Heart (also BAFTA nominated), and most recently she played DSI Stella Gibson in BBC 2’s psychological thriller, The Fall. On the big screen, her numerous credits include The Mighty, Playing By Heart, The House of Mirth (for which she won a British Independent Film Award), The Last King of Scotland, A Cock and Bull Story, Boogie Woogie and Shadow Dancer.
Ben Foster (Stanley Kowalski). A Streetcar Named Desire is his first role on the London stage. He made his Broadway debut last year in a revival of Lyle Kessler’s play Orphans, opposite Alec Baldwin and Tom Sturridge. Ben’s extensive film credits include the lead role of Lance Armstrong in Stephen Frears’ film on the infamous cyclist, due to be released in UK cinemas later this year. He made his film debut playing the lead in Barry Levinson’s film Liberty Heights. On the small screen, he played Russell Corwin in HBO’s Six Feet Under. Film audiences will have seen him most recently in Pete Berg’s hit Lone Survivor, John Krokidas’ Kill Your Darlings and David Lowery’s critically acclaimed debut Ain’t Them Bodies Saints. Other notable film credits include The Messenger, 360, Alpha Dog, Here, Contraband, X-Men: The Last Stand and 3:10 To Yuma. Ben has just finished filming Warcraft for director Duncan Jones.
Vanessa Kirby (Stella Kowalski) appeared in Benedict Andrews’ acclaimed Three Sisters at the Young Vic in 2012. Her past roles in theatre include Edward II and Women Beware Women (National Theatre), As You Like It (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and The Acid Test at the Royal Court, for which she received an Evening Standard Award nomination for Outstanding Newcomer in 2011. Vanessa was nominated in two consecutive years for the prestigious Ian Charleson Award. She played Estella in the BBC adaptation of Great Expectations, which also starred Gillian Anderson, Ray Winstone and Douglas Booth. She played Ruth Elms in the popular BBC2 series The Hour and starred in Channel 4’s Labyrinth opposite John Hurt. Past films include The Rise and Richard Curtis’ About Time. She has just finished filming Everest for director Baltasar Kormákur, and later this year cinema-goers can see her in Kill Command, John Boorman’s Queen and Country with Brendan Gleeson, and the Wachowskis’ Jupiter Ascending.
Benedict Andrews (Director) received a Critics’ Circle Best Director Award for his production of Three Sisters at the Young Vic in 2012.His past work in the UK also includes The Return of Ulysses (Young Vic/ENO), Gross und Klein starring Cate Blanchett (Barbican), Caligula (ENO) and The Eternity Man (Almeida Opera). As former resident director of Sydney Theatre Company (2001-2003), his productions there included Jean Genet’s The Maids, Martin Crimp’s Attempts on Her Life, the multi-award-winning The Season at Sarsaparilla, and a spectacular eight-hour staging of The War of the Roses. In Berlin he has directed A Streetcar Named Desire in 2009, Blackbird and Cleansed at the Schaubühne.
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE opens at the Young Vic on Monday, July 28, with previews from Wednesday, July 23 and is booking to Friday, September 19, 2014.
About NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE
Now celebrating its 5th year broadcasting live performances to cinema screens internationally, National Theatre Live has now been experienced by over 3 million people worldwide. The first season began in June 2009 with the acclaimed production of Phédre starring Helen Mirren. Recent broadcasts have included the award-winning original West End production of War Horse, NT’s 50th anniversary celebration Live from the National Theatre: 50 Years on Stage, Tom Hiddleston in Coriolanus, Benedict Cumberbatch & Jonny Lee Miller in Frankenstein directed by Danny Boyle, Rory Kinnear in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear in Shakespeare’s Othello, Shakespeare’s Macbeth with Kenneth Branagh and Alex Kingston and the record-breaking and award winning production of The Audience starring Helen Mirren as The Queen. For more information, visit www.NTLive.com.
ALL UPCOMING BROADCASTS
MEDEA by Euripides in a new version Ben Power
- Starring Olivier Award nominee Helen McCrory
- Directed by Carrie Cracknell
- Broadcast to cinemas internationally on Thursday, September 4, 2014 (with many encore dates in U.S. cities). Venues announced soon. Tickets on sale Thursday, April 17, 2014.
- Summary: Terrible things breed in broken hearts. Medea is a wife and a mother. For the sake of her husband, Jason, she’s left her home and borne two sons in exile. But when he abandons his family for a new life, Medea faces banishment and separation from her children. Cornered, she begs for one day’s grace. It’s time enough. She exacts an appalling revenge and destroys everything she holds dear. Helen McCrory takes the title role in Euripides’ powerful tragedy, in a new version by Ben Power, directed by Carrie Cracknell.
SKYLIGHT by David Hare
- Starring Academy Award nominee Carey Mulligan, Golden Globe Award winner Bill Nighy and Matthew Beard
- Directed by Stephen Daldry
- Broadcast to cinemas internationally on Thursday, October 23, 2014 (with many encore dates in U.S. cities). Venues announced soon.
- Summary: On a bitterly cold London evening, schoolteacher Kyra Hollis (Mulligan) receives an unexpected visit from her former lover, Tom Sergeant (Nighy), a successful and charismatic restaurateur whose wife has recently died. As the evening progresses, the two attempt to rekindle their once passionate relationship only to find themselves locked in a dangerous battle of opposing ideologies and mutual desires.
JOHNby Lloyd Newson
- Conceived and Directed by Lloyd Newson
- Broadcast to cinemas internationally on Tuesday, December 9, 2014 (with many encore dates in U.S. cities). The production opens at the National’s Lyttelton Theatre on October 30, 2014.
- Summary:JOHN is a new verbatim dance-theatre work conceived and directed by Lloyd Newson, Artistic Director of DV8 Physical Theatre. Newson interviewed more than 50 men, asking them frank questions initially about love and sex. One of those men was John. What emerged was a story that is both extraordinary and touching. Years of crime, drug use and struggling to survive lead John on a search in which his life converges with others, in an unexpected place, unknown by most. JOHN authentically depicts real-life stories, combining movement and spoken word. Please note: JOHN contains adult themes, strong language and nudity. Suitable for ages 18 years +.
TREASURE ISLANDbyRobert Louis Stevenson with a new adaptation by Bryony Lavery
- Directed by Polly Findlay
- Broadcast to cinemas internationally on Thursday, January 22, 2015 (with many encore dates in U.S. cities).
- Summary: It’s a dark, stormy night. The stars are out. Jim, the inn-keeper’s granddaughter, opens the door to a terrifying stranger. At the old sailor’s feet sits a huge sea-chest, full of secrets. Jim invites him in – and her dangerous voyage begins. Please note: TREASURE ISLAND is suitable for ages 10 years +.
Encore screenings are now ongoing for some of National Theatre Live’s most acclaimed recent productions. Encore dates and cinema locations are added frequently. Current encores running in the US include:
- A Small Family Business – byAlan Ayckbourn
- King Lear – starring Simon Russell Beale; directed by Sam Mendes
- War Horse – the award-winning original West End production
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – the Olivier Award winning theatrical adaptation of Mark Haddon’s award-winning novel
- Frankenstein – starring Benedict Cumberbatch & Jonny Lee Miller; directed by Danny Boyle
For listings and to learn more and purchase tickets, visit www.ntlive.com.
NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE is distributed by New York-based BY Experience, Inc. (www.byexperience.net)
# # #
