The first season of the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company promises a year of unmissable theatre.
Working in collaboration with artistic associates, director Rob Ashford and designer Christopher Oram, the acclaimed actor-director Kenneth Branagh presents an exceptional series of five plays that bring together a remarkable group of actors, led by Rob Brydon, Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi, Zoe Wanamaker, Lily James and Richard Madden.
HARLEQUINADE
By Terence Rattigan
24 October 2015 - 13 January 2016
In this rarely seen comic gem, a classical theatre company attempts to produce The Winter's Tale and Romeo and Juliet, while the intrigues and dalliances of the company members are accidently revealed with increasingly chaotic and hysterical consequences.
The behind-the-scenes world takes centre stage in Terence Rattigan's affectionate celebration of the lunatic art of putting on a play.
ZOË WANAMAKER WILL PERFORM RATTIGAN’S ONE-WOMAN PLAY, ALL ON HER OWN, PRIOR TO HARLEQUINADE EACH NIGHT, AS PART OF A NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN DOUBLE BILL.
ALL ON HER OWN
by TERENCE RATTIGAN
Cast includes ZOË WANAMAKER
In this brief but powerfully atmospheric play, a woman with a secret, alone at midnight in London has a burden to share that is at times both heart-breaking and sinister. This never-before-seen double bill celebrates the contrast in Rattigan’s astonishing range.
Harlequinade / All On Her Own Reviews:
★★★★
'This Terence Rattigan double bill is a sparkling opening to the season.
Branagh is genuinely fantastic... a great comic'
Time Out
★★★★
'Wanamaker is devastatingly good'
Whatsonstage.com
★★★★
'A terrific comic turn'
Daily Mail
★★★★
Evening Standard, The Independent, Guardian, Metro
Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company presents Plays at the Garrick, a series of plays that bring together an exciting group of actors, led by Rob Brydon, Judi Dench, Lily James and Richard Madden. Performances begin on 17 October 2015.
RED VELVET
23 January - 27 February 2016
Starring ADRIAN LESTER
The Tricycle Theatre Production of Red Velvet.
Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, 1833. Edmund Kean, the greatest actor of his generation, has collapsed on stage whilst playing Othello. A young black American actor has been asked to take over the role. But as the public riot in the streets over the abolition of slavery, how will the cast, critics and audience react to the revolution taking place in the theatre?
THE PAINKILLER
by Francis Veber
In an adaptation by Sean Foley, Designed by Alice Power
5 March 2016 – 30 April 2016
Press performance: 17 March 7pm
Two men. Two lonely hotel rooms. An adjoining door…
One of them is a killer… one of them wants to die… What could possibly go wrong?
Sean Foley directs his darkly hilarious adaptation of Francis Veberʼs classic French farce as Kenneth Branagh and Rob Brydon reprise the roles they played to great acclaim at Belfast’s Lyric Theatre in this comic tour-de-force.
ROMEO AND JULIET
By William Shakespeare
12 May 2016 – 13 August 2016
Press performance: 25 May 7pm
Reuniting the stars of his celebrated film of Cinderella, Kenneth Branagh directs Richard Madden and Lily James who play the leads in Shakespeareʼs heartbreaking tale of forbidden love.
THE ENTERTAINER
By John Osborne
20 August 2016 – 12 November 2016
Press performance: 30 August 7pm
Set against the backdrop of post-war Britain, John Osborneʼs modern classic conjures the seedy glamour of the old music halls for an explosive examination of public masks and private torment. Rob Ashford directs Kenneth Branagh as the unforgettable Archie Rice.