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Director: Jérôme Salle.
Starring: Lambert Wilson, Pierre Niney, Audrey Tautou. France 2016. 123 mins. French with English subtitles.
Explorer Jacques Cousteau’s career is re-played in Jérôme Salle’s impressively mounted biopic. Lambert Wilson (Of Gods And Men) is the charismatic and opinionated French naval captain who made oceanography and environmentalism household words with his 1960s and ’70s TV series. But for all Cousteau’s vision, entrepreneurial skill and bravery, relationships with his wife (Tautou) and sons Philippe (Niney, Frantz) and the less-favoured Jean-Michel (Benjamin Lavernhe) were anything but easy. After Philippe was killed in a plane crash Cousteau was for a time a broken man and he never he fully recovered his indomitable spirit. Spanning some 30 years, Salle’s film skilfully intersperses accounts of the Cousteau family dynamics with underwater sequences which are as impressive as any accomplished by the man himself. A film as delightful to behold as it is thoughtful.
Director: David Lowery.
Starring: Casey Affleck. Rooney Mara. USA 2017. 92 mins.
The latest film from acclaimed director David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Pete’s Dragon) is a singular exploration of legacy, loss, and the essential human longing for meaning and connection. A white-sheeted ghost (Affleck) returns to his suburban home to console his bereft wife (Mara), only to find that in his spectral state he has become unstuck in time, forced to watch passively as the life he knew and the woman he loves slowly slip away. Increasingly unmoored, the ghost embarks on a cosmic journey through memory and history, confronting life’s ineffable questions and the enormity of existence. An audacious, unforgettable meditation on the passage of time, A Ghost Story emerges ecstatic and surreal – a wholly unique experience that lingers long after the credits roll.
Contains infrequent strong language, images of dead bodies.
Director: Mark Gill. Starring: Jack Lowden, Jessica Brown Findlay. UK 2017. 94 mins.
Self-absorbed miserablist or uncompromising observer of shifting cultural values? Both may be said of Steven Morrissey, singer-songwriter and former frontman of seminal ’80s band The Smiths. This striking docu-drama contextualises his career by chronicling his troubled adolescence in 1970s Manchester – a time when he was still finding his musical mojo. Jack Lowden (Dunkirk) stars as the young Morrissey, a restless teenager struggling to escape his working-class roots, taking a string of dead-end jobs as his parents’ marriage disintegrates. Yet after meeting art student Linder (Brown Findlay), his courage and sense of purpose grow, marking the start of his journey to become the artist that he knows, deep down, he is destined to be. An evocative and often amusing portrait, England Is Mine is as compelling and at times heart-rending as Morrissey’s own back catalogue.
A beautifully realised biopic of Canadian artist Maud Lewis. Impoverished and disabled with chronic arthritis, watercolourist Maud (Hawkins) lives with her mean-spirited spinster aunt in Nova Scotia. When she accepts a job as a housekeeper for Everett (Hawke), a gruff fishmonger whose home is a tiny, one-room shack, she seems to escape one set of fetters for another. However, despite Everett’s surly selfishness, Maud perversely finds him attractive and inspiring, and he allows her to do her own painting when she’s through with the housework. With echoes of My Left Foot’s triumph over impairment and her role in Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky, Hawkins brings perky optimism to a character who eventually blossoms after one of her almost child-like paintings is bought by a Manhattan socialite (Matchett) and her relationship with Everett becomes infused with a strange tendresse.
Directors: Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi, Cris George.
Japan 2016. Japanese with English subtitles.
A god incarnate. A city doomed. Shin Godzilla is a refreshing and entertaining return to the kaiju’s creature-feature roots. One peaceful day in Japan, a strange fountain of water erupts in the bay, causing panic to spread among government officials. At first they suspect only volcanic activity, but one young executive dares to wonder if it may be something different... something alive. His worst nightmare comes to life when a massive gilled monster emerges from the deep and begins tearing through the city, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. As the government scrambles to save its citizens, a rag-tag team of volunteers cuts through a web of red tape to uncover the monster’s weakness – and its mysterious ties to a foreign superpower.
Director: Christopher Nolan.
Starring: Fionn Whitehead, Harry Styles, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy. Netherlands/UK/France/USA 2017. 106 mins.
The mass evacuation of more than 330,000 Allied troops from the beaches of Dunkirk in May 1940 was one of the most dramatic and pivotal episodes of the Second World War. In his latest feature, director Christopher Nolan (Interstellar, The Dark Knight trilogy) plunges viewers into the thick of it with what he describes as “the most visceral experiential two hours that audiences can hope for”.
Told from three points of view – land, sea and air – Dunkirk unfolds with a palpable sense of dread and tension, evoking the very human and immediate desire to survive.
With cinematography from Hoyte van Hoytema (Interstellar), a score from Hans Zimmer, and an all-star supporting cast that includes Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy and Mark Rylance, this is the must-see spectacle of the summer.
Patti Cake$ introduces Australian native Danielle Macdonald in a breakout role, as aspiring rapper Patricia Dombrowski, a.k.a. Killa P, a.k.a. Patti Cake$. Fighting an unlikely quest for glory in her downtrodden hometown in Jersey where her life is falling apart, Patti tries to reach the big time in the hip hop scene with original and affecting music. Cheered on by her grandmother (Cathy Moriarty) and only friends, Jheri (Siddharth Dhananjay) and Basterd (Mamoudou Athie), Patti also shoulders her mother"s (Bridget Everett) heartaches and misfortunes.
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Director: David Lowery.
Starring: Casey Affleck. Rooney Mara. USA 2017. 92 mins.
The latest film from acclaimed director David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Pete’s Dragon) is a singular exploration of legacy, loss, and the essential human longing for meaning and connection. A white-sheeted ghost (Affleck) returns to his suburban home to console his bereft wife (Mara), only to find that in his spectral state he has become unstuck in time, forced to watch passively as the life he knew and the woman he loves slowly slip away. Increasingly unmoored, the ghost embarks on a cosmic journey through memory and history, confronting life’s ineffable questions and the enormity of existence. An audacious, unforgettable meditation on the passage of time, A Ghost Story emerges ecstatic and surreal – a wholly unique experience that lingers long after the credits roll.
Contains infrequent strong language, images of dead bodies.
A beautifully realised biopic of Canadian artist Maud Lewis. Impoverished and disabled with chronic arthritis, watercolourist Maud (Hawkins) lives with her mean-spirited spinster aunt in Nova Scotia. When she accepts a job as a housekeeper for Everett (Hawke), a gruff fishmonger whose home is a tiny, one-room shack, she seems to escape one set of fetters for another. However, despite Everett’s surly selfishness, Maud perversely finds him attractive and inspiring, and he allows her to do her own painting when she’s through with the housework. With echoes of My Left Foot’s triumph over impairment and her role in Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky, Hawkins brings perky optimism to a character who eventually blossoms after one of her almost child-like paintings is bought by a Manhattan socialite (Matchett) and her relationship with Everett becomes infused with a strange tendresse.
One of Merchant Ivory"s undisputed masterpieces, this adaptation of E.M. Forster"s classic 1910 novel is a saga of class relations and changing times in Edwardian England. Margaret Schlegel (Emma Thompson) and her sister Helen (Helena Bonham Carter) become involved with two couples: a wealthy, conservative industrialist (Anthony Hopkins) and his wife (Vanessa Redgrave), and a working-class man (Samuel West) and his mistress (Niccola Duffet). The interwoven fates and misfortunes of these three families and the diverging trajectories of the two sisters" lives are connected to the ownership of HOWARD"S END, a beloved country home. A compelling, brilliantly acted study of one woman"s struggle to maintain her ideals and integrity in the face of Edwardian society"s moribund conformist values.
10.30Silver Screen: Aged over 60? Join the Silver Screen Club for discounted tickets and a free tea or coffee at these shows. Usual ticket prices apply to non-Members.
Director: Michael Showalter.
Starring: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Anupam Kher. USA 2017. 119 mins.
Based on the true story of the film’s writers (and real-life couple), Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani, this modern culture clash shows how Pakistan-born Kumail and his American girlfriend, Emily, have to overcome the expectations of his family and their 1,400-year-old traditions. As his parents relentlessly set him up with potential brides for an arranged marriage, Kumail navigates treacherous waters in the worlds of both dating and stand-up comedy.
Produced by Judd Apatow, The Big Sick features a sterling collection of comedy talent in front of and behind the camera, with Michael Showalter directing the hilariously insightful film that shrewdly puts the spotlight on its writer/star Kumail Nanjiani (HBO’s Silicon Valley). A revered comedian, Nanjiani shines in the lead role, bringing his singular voice to center stage. Mining his personal stories for comedy gold, he shares his experiences that are uniquely Pakistani but will resonate for everyone who has ever fallen in love.
“The Big Sick is scoring points on familiar rom-com territory, so when it suddenly morphs into a completely different film — a bracingly sophisticated one — you’ll want to cry with happiness.” - Time Out ★★★★★
Director: Christopher Nolan.
Starring: Fionn Whitehead, Harry Styles, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy. Netherlands/UK/France/USA 2017. 106 mins.
The mass evacuation of more than 330,000 Allied troops from the beaches of Dunkirk in May 1940 was one of the most dramatic and pivotal episodes of the Second World War. In his latest feature, director Christopher Nolan (Interstellar, The Dark Knight trilogy) plunges viewers into the thick of it with what he describes as “the most visceral experiential two hours that audiences can hope for”.
Told from three points of view – land, sea and air – Dunkirk unfolds with a palpable sense of dread and tension, evoking the very human and immediate desire to survive.
With cinematography from Hoyte van Hoytema (Interstellar), a score from Hans Zimmer, and an all-star supporting cast that includes Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy and Mark Rylance, this is the must-see spectacle of the summer.
After winning the lottery, a naive working-class carnival entertainer (Fassbinder in one of his most raw and astonishing performances) embarks down a tragic path as he searches for love and social betterment within an avaricious bourgeois clique of Munich’s gay community. The final scene of this biting social commentary is perhaps the most shocking in all of Fassbinder’s films.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow.
Starring: John Boyega, Algee Smith, Anthony Mackie. USA 2017. 143 mins.
Never afraid to tackle tendentious subjects, director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker) now set their sharp sights on the events of 1967 Detroit, which sparked the worst race riots in American history. The action is centred on the Algiers Motel on a sweltering hot July night, where a random shot from a starting pistol brought in the National Guard and a large number of police sharpshooters. Three black men were left dead and several more brutally beaten; a black security guard, Melvin Dismukes (John Boyega, Star Wars’ Finn), tried desperately to mediate between his white superiors and an enraged African-American community. Freighted with characteristic dramatic intensity and shot with a gritty realism, Bigelow’s latest is a timely reminder of the deep and potentially lethal divisions in American society.
Director: Steven Soderbergh.
Starring: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, Riley Keough. USA 2017. 119 mins.
Having announced his retirement from movie-making after 2013’s Side Effects, maverick director Steven Soderbergh felt compelled to re-enter the fray after reading Rebecca Blunt’s script about the ill-fated Logan brothers, Jimmy (Tatum) and Clyde (Driver), who set out to execute an elaborate robbery during the legendary Coca-Cola 600 race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Referencing his highly successful heist franchise, Soderbergh describes it as an “inversion of an Ocean’s movie” – and there are certainly some wonderfully comedic moments and wild-card twists, not least when the redneck siblings’ lack of experience leads them to spring safe-cracking supremo Joe Bang (Craig) from jail. Seth McFarlane (as a bumptious racing driver), Hilary Swank (as a suspicious cop) and Katie Holmes (as Jimmy’s antsy ex-wife) add to the very considerable fun.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow.
Starring: John Boyega, Algee Smith, Anthony Mackie. USA 2017. 143 mins.
Never afraid to tackle tendentious subjects, director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker) now set their sharp sights on the events of 1967 Detroit, which sparked the worst race riots in American history. The action is centred on the Algiers Motel on a sweltering hot July night, where a random shot from a starting pistol brought in the National Guard and a large number of police sharpshooters. Three black men were left dead and several more brutally beaten; a black security guard, Melvin Dismukes (John Boyega, Star Wars’ Finn), tried desperately to mediate between his white superiors and an enraged African-American community. Freighted with characteristic dramatic intensity and shot with a gritty realism, Bigelow’s latest is a timely reminder of the deep and potentially lethal divisions in American society.
Director: Steven Soderbergh.
Starring: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, Riley Keough. USA 2017. 119 mins.
Having announced his retirement from movie-making after 2013’s Side Effects, maverick director Steven Soderbergh felt compelled to re-enter the fray after reading Rebecca Blunt’s script about the ill-fated Logan brothers, Jimmy (Tatum) and Clyde (Driver), who set out to execute an elaborate robbery during the legendary Coca-Cola 600 race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Referencing his highly successful heist franchise, Soderbergh describes it as an “inversion of an Ocean’s movie” – and there are certainly some wonderfully comedic moments and wild-card twists, not least when the redneck siblings’ lack of experience leads them to spring safe-cracking supremo Joe Bang (Craig) from jail. Seth McFarlane (as a bumptious racing driver), Hilary Swank (as a suspicious cop) and Katie Holmes (as Jimmy’s antsy ex-wife) add to the very considerable fun.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow.
Starring: John Boyega, Algee Smith, Anthony Mackie. USA 2017. 143 mins.
Never afraid to tackle tendentious subjects, director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker) now set their sharp sights on the events of 1967 Detroit, which sparked the worst race riots in American history. The action is centred on the Algiers Motel on a sweltering hot July night, where a random shot from a starting pistol brought in the National Guard and a large number of police sharpshooters. Three black men were left dead and several more brutally beaten; a black security guard, Melvin Dismukes (John Boyega, Star Wars’ Finn), tried desperately to mediate between his white superiors and an enraged African-American community. Freighted with characteristic dramatic intensity and shot with a gritty realism, Bigelow’s latest is a timely reminder of the deep and potentially lethal divisions in American society.
Director: Steven Soderbergh.
Starring: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, Riley Keough. USA 2017. 119 mins.
Having announced his retirement from movie-making after 2013’s Side Effects, maverick director Steven Soderbergh felt compelled to re-enter the fray after reading Rebecca Blunt’s script about the ill-fated Logan brothers, Jimmy (Tatum) and Clyde (Driver), who set out to execute an elaborate robbery during the legendary Coca-Cola 600 race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Referencing his highly successful heist franchise, Soderbergh describes it as an “inversion of an Ocean’s movie” – and there are certainly some wonderfully comedic moments and wild-card twists, not least when the redneck siblings’ lack of experience leads them to spring safe-cracking supremo Joe Bang (Craig) from jail. Seth McFarlane (as a bumptious racing driver), Hilary Swank (as a suspicious cop) and Katie Holmes (as Jimmy’s antsy ex-wife) add to the very considerable fun.
Director: John Waters.
Starring: Ricki Lake, Divine, Debbie Harry, Sonny Bono, Pia Zadora. USA
1988. 92 mins.
Baltimore, 1962. The heyday of hair-dos and hair-don’ts, and teen dance crazes like The Bug, The Roach and The Mashed Potato. Overweight teen Tracy Turnblad (Lake) lands a spot on a local TV dance show, using her newfound fame to champion the cause of racial integration. But in doing so she earns the wrath of the show’s former star, Amber Von Tussle, as well as Amber’s manipulative, pro-segregation parents.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow.
Starring: John Boyega, Algee Smith, Anthony Mackie. USA 2017. 143 mins.
Never afraid to tackle tendentious subjects, director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker) now set their sharp sights on the events of 1967 Detroit, which sparked the worst race riots in American history. The action is centred on the Algiers Motel on a sweltering hot July night, where a random shot from a starting pistol brought in the National Guard and a large number of police sharpshooters. Three black men were left dead and several more brutally beaten; a black security guard, Melvin Dismukes (John Boyega, Star Wars’ Finn), tried desperately to mediate between his white superiors and an enraged African-American community. Freighted with characteristic dramatic intensity and shot with a gritty realism, Bigelow’s latest is a timely reminder of the deep and potentially lethal divisions in American society.
Director: Steven Soderbergh.
Starring: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, Riley Keough. USA 2017. 119 mins.
Having announced his retirement from movie-making after 2013’s Side Effects, maverick director Steven Soderbergh felt compelled to re-enter the fray after reading Rebecca Blunt’s script about the ill-fated Logan brothers, Jimmy (Tatum) and Clyde (Driver), who set out to execute an elaborate robbery during the legendary Coca-Cola 600 race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Referencing his highly successful heist franchise, Soderbergh describes it as an “inversion of an Ocean’s movie” – and there are certainly some wonderfully comedic moments and wild-card twists, not least when the redneck siblings’ lack of experience leads them to spring safe-cracking supremo Joe Bang (Craig) from jail. Seth McFarlane (as a bumptious racing driver), Hilary Swank (as a suspicious cop) and Katie Holmes (as Jimmy’s antsy ex-wife) add to the very considerable fun.
Sir Richard Eyre’s gritty production of Bizet’s steamy melodrama returns with mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča as the ill-fated gypsy temptress. Tenor Roberto Alagna plays her desperate lover, the soldier Don José, and Teddy Tahu Rhodes is the swaggering bullfighter, Escamillo, who comes between them. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the timeless score, which features one beloved melody after another.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow.
Starring: John Boyega, Algee Smith, Anthony Mackie. USA 2017. 143 mins.
Never afraid to tackle tendentious subjects, director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker) now set their sharp sights on the events of 1967 Detroit, which sparked the worst race riots in American history. The action is centred on the Algiers Motel on a sweltering hot July night, where a random shot from a starting pistol brought in the National Guard and a large number of police sharpshooters. Three black men were left dead and several more brutally beaten; a black security guard, Melvin Dismukes (John Boyega, Star Wars’ Finn), tried desperately to mediate between his white superiors and an enraged African-American community. Freighted with characteristic dramatic intensity and shot with a gritty realism, Bigelow’s latest is a timely reminder of the deep and potentially lethal divisions in American society.
10.30Silver Screen: Aged over 60? Join the Silver Screen Club for discounted tickets and a free tea or coffee at these shows. Usual ticket prices apply to non-Members.
Director: Steven Soderbergh.
Starring: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, Riley Keough. USA 2017. 119 mins.
Having announced his retirement from movie-making after 2013’s Side Effects, maverick director Steven Soderbergh felt compelled to re-enter the fray after reading Rebecca Blunt’s script about the ill-fated Logan brothers, Jimmy (Tatum) and Clyde (Driver), who set out to execute an elaborate robbery during the legendary Coca-Cola 600 race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Referencing his highly successful heist franchise, Soderbergh describes it as an “inversion of an Ocean’s movie” – and there are certainly some wonderfully comedic moments and wild-card twists, not least when the redneck siblings’ lack of experience leads them to spring safe-cracking supremo Joe Bang (Craig) from jail. Seth McFarlane (as a bumptious racing driver), Hilary Swank (as a suspicious cop) and Katie Holmes (as Jimmy’s antsy ex-wife) add to the very considerable fun.
Join Timmy and his friends for three fun adventures in this collection of classic Timmy Time episodes where Timmy learns the importance of friendship – whether it’s teaching Ruffy how to ride a tricycle, helping Apricot get over her fear of thunder or just waiting his turn to have a go on the brand-new go kart.
Featuring the episodes Timmy On Wheels, Timmy Goes Bang and Go Kart Timmy.
A forgotten European song contest singer, fading away in a pate factory, falls in love with a young aspiring boxer. Together they decide to attempt her comeback.
18.15Discover Tuesdays: Discover stunning cinema. Whether it's a cult classic, an art-house gem or a riveting documentary, there will always be a chance to see something different and brilliant in our weekly slot.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow.
Starring: John Boyega, Algee Smith, Anthony Mackie. USA 2017. 143 mins.
Never afraid to tackle tendentious subjects, director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker) now set their sharp sights on the events of 1967 Detroit, which sparked the worst race riots in American history. The action is centred on the Algiers Motel on a sweltering hot July night, where a random shot from a starting pistol brought in the National Guard and a large number of police sharpshooters. Three black men were left dead and several more brutally beaten; a black security guard, Melvin Dismukes (John Boyega, Star Wars’ Finn), tried desperately to mediate between his white superiors and an enraged African-American community. Freighted with characteristic dramatic intensity and shot with a gritty realism, Bigelow’s latest is a timely reminder of the deep and potentially lethal divisions in American society.
Director: Steven Soderbergh.
Starring: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, Riley Keough. USA 2017. 119 mins.
Having announced his retirement from movie-making after 2013’s Side Effects, maverick director Steven Soderbergh felt compelled to re-enter the fray after reading Rebecca Blunt’s script about the ill-fated Logan brothers, Jimmy (Tatum) and Clyde (Driver), who set out to execute an elaborate robbery during the legendary Coca-Cola 600 race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Referencing his highly successful heist franchise, Soderbergh describes it as an “inversion of an Ocean’s movie” – and there are certainly some wonderfully comedic moments and wild-card twists, not least when the redneck siblings’ lack of experience leads them to spring safe-cracking supremo Joe Bang (Craig) from jail. Seth McFarlane (as a bumptious racing driver), Hilary Swank (as a suspicious cop) and Katie Holmes (as Jimmy’s antsy ex-wife) add to the very considerable fun.
In Fassbinder’s most popular international success, Maria, an impoverished young German war widow (a radiant Hanna Shygulla) takes up with an American soldier, only for her lost husband to unexpectedly return with devastating consequences. Determined to rebuild her life, Maria’s journey to the top is a searing indictment of post-war Germany’s ‘economic miracle’.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow.
Starring: John Boyega, Algee Smith, Anthony Mackie. USA 2017. 143 mins.
Never afraid to tackle tendentious subjects, director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker) now set their sharp sights on the events of 1967 Detroit, which sparked the worst race riots in American history. The action is centred on the Algiers Motel on a sweltering hot July night, where a random shot from a starting pistol brought in the National Guard and a large number of police sharpshooters. Three black men were left dead and several more brutally beaten; a black security guard, Melvin Dismukes (John Boyega, Star Wars’ Finn), tried desperately to mediate between his white superiors and an enraged African-American community. Freighted with characteristic dramatic intensity and shot with a gritty realism, Bigelow’s latest is a timely reminder of the deep and potentially lethal divisions in American society.
Director: Steven Soderbergh.
Starring: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, Riley Keough. USA 2017. 119 mins.
Having announced his retirement from movie-making after 2013’s Side Effects, maverick director Steven Soderbergh felt compelled to re-enter the fray after reading Rebecca Blunt’s script about the ill-fated Logan brothers, Jimmy (Tatum) and Clyde (Driver), who set out to execute an elaborate robbery during the legendary Coca-Cola 600 race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Referencing his highly successful heist franchise, Soderbergh describes it as an “inversion of an Ocean’s movie” – and there are certainly some wonderfully comedic moments and wild-card twists, not least when the redneck siblings’ lack of experience leads them to spring safe-cracking supremo Joe Bang (Craig) from jail. Seth McFarlane (as a bumptious racing driver), Hilary Swank (as a suspicious cop) and Katie Holmes (as Jimmy’s antsy ex-wife) add to the very considerable fun.
10.30Silver Screen: Aged over 60? Join the Silver Screen Club for discounted tickets and a free tea or coffee at these shows. Usual ticket prices apply to non-Members.
The incredible Billie Piper (Penny Dreadful, Great Britain) returns in her Evening Standard Best Actress award-winning role. A young woman is driven to the unthinkable by her desperate desire to have a child in Simon Stone’s radical production of Lorca’s achingly powerful masterpiece. The unmissable theatre phenomenon sold out at the Young Vic and critics call it “an extraordinary theatrical triumph” (The Times) and “stunning, searing, unmissable” (Mail on Sunday). Billie Piper’s lead performance is described as “spellbinding” (The Evening Standard), “astonishing” (iNews) and “devastatingly powerful” (The Daily Telegraph). Set in contemporary London, Piper’s portrayal of a woman in her thirties desperate to conceive builds with elemental force to a staggering, shocking, climax. Please note that this broadcast does not have an interval.
★★★★★
“Brutal yet ferociously funny” - Metro
★★★★★
“Billie Piper makes a shattering Yerma in Simon Stone’s inspired reworking of Lorca” - The Observer
★★★★★
“A shatteringly powerful reinvention of a familiar classic” - The Independent
★★★★★ ‘Spellbindingly imaginative. A dazzling production.’
Radio Times
All children, except one, grow up…
Captured live at the National Theatre, a recorded performance of JM Barrie’s much-loved tale screens in cinemas this summer.
When Peter Pan, leader of the Lost Boys, loses his shadow, headstrong Wendy helps him to reattach it. In return, she is invited to Neverland, where Tinker Bell the fairy, Tiger Lily and the vengeful Captain Hook await. A riot of magic, music and make-believe ensues.
A delight for children and adults alike, Sally Cookson (NT Live: Jane Eyre) directs this wondrously inventive production, a co-production with Bristol Old Vic theatre.
Director: Dir. Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly. USA. 1952. 102 mins.
Hollywood’s troubled transition from silent to talking pictures at the end of the 1920s provided the inspiration for perhaps the greatest of movie musicals.
“The most enduring film musical to have come out of Hollywood. In all these years not a frame of it has dated; it still retains all its freshness and sparkle.”
Clive Hirschhorn, Gene Kelly: A Biography, 1984
To follow the acclaim for An American in Paris, which won him the 1951 Oscar for best picture, songwriter-turned-producer Arthur Freed charged screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green with writing a musical based around some of his own most popular early songs. The result was a nostalgic tribute to the Hollywood of a bygone era starring Gene Kelly as Don Lockwood, the swashbuckling silent star at a film studio grappling with the coming of sound.
From the iconic scene in which Lockwood, smitten with young actress Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds), dances home during a downpour singing the title song, to the extended ballet sequence featuring Cyd Charisse in a parody of the gangster film, Singin’ in the Rain represents the musical genre at its most energetic and ambitious.
A real-life international thriller, City of Ghosts exposes a new type of warfare: a battle over ideas, a fight for hearts and minds, a conflict over clicks and views. Captivating in its immediacy, it follows the journey of “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently”—a handful of anonymous activists who banded together after their homeland was taken over by ISIS in 2014. With astonishing, deeply personal access, this is the story of a brave group of citizen journalists as they face the realities of life undercover, on the run, and in exile, risking their lives to stand up against one of the greatest evils in the world today. Directed, produced, and filmed by Academy Award–nominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker Matthew Heineman (Cartel Land, 2015 Sundance Film Festival Directing Award), City of Ghosts is a singularly powerful cinematic experience that is sure to shake audiences to their core as it elevates the canon of one of the most talented and exciting documentary filmmakers working today.
New Line Cinema’s horror thriller “IT,” directed by Andrés Muschietti (“Mama”), is based on the hugely popular Stephen King novel of the same name, which has been terrifying readers for decades. When children begin to disappear in the town of Derry, Maine, a group of young kids are faced with their biggest fears when they square off against an evil clown named Pennywise, whose history of murder and violence dates back for centuries.
In aid of Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors without Borders (MSF)
7 September 2017
Join us for a unique celebration of John le Carré’s work as he discusses the full breadth of his career – from his extraordinary Cold War novels to his powerful descriptions of the arms trade and the war on terror – and reflects on the continuing story of his most famous creation, the tubby, bespectacled spy, George Smiley.
Featuring readings from his new novel A Legacy Of Spies, and a rare Q&A session, this will be an unmissable opportunity to experience the author direct and in his own words.
The event will be broadcast live to cinemas across the UK and Europe from London’s Royal Festival Hall.
In support of MSF, the leading emergency medical humanitarian aid organisation, John le Carré is donating his speaker’s fee, and the producers of the live cinema broadcast, The Ink Factory, are donating their share of the profits to the charity.
Judi and Ron Barrett’s bestselling children’s picturebook CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS is brought to life in gorgeous and innovative animation. Flint is a young inventor who tends to cause havoc with his crazy creations. When the island he lives on closes its sardine-canning factory, he hopes a device that turns water into food can save his neighbours from a constant diet of smelly fish. With the source material providing a brilliant premise, the film has great fun with the idea that any type of food can be programmed into Flint’s incredible machine and dropped from the sky - leading to ice-cream snow drifts and school-crushing pancakes. With an eclectic vocal cast, a talking monkey and an all-action finale, this is a genuinely entertaining film for all the family.
Jonas Kaufmann, the celebrated German tenor, presents his personal tribute to Italian music and culture in this special concert documentary film, MY ITALY. Featuring songs from sold-out concerts in Turin and Milan, the star tenor’s stunning performances are interwoven with short films exploring his love of Italy, all set against a backdrop of breathtaking landscapes and evocative scenes of Italian life.
Music includes popular and familiar songs like ‘Parla più piano’ from the GODFATHER soundtrack, ‘Caruso’ by Lucio Dalla and the international hit ‘Volare’, performed at the Teatro Carignano in Turin. In addition fans will be able to relive some of opera’s most famous arias from Kaufmann’s ‘An Evening with Puccini’ concert at La Scala, Milan, including ‘Lucevan le stelle’ from TOSCA and ‘Nessun Dorma’ from TURANDOT. JONAS KAUFMANN: MY ITALY is a musical and visual treat coming to cinemas from Sunday 10 September.
The hills are alive with the sound of nuns and lonely goatherds! One of the most successful screen musicals of all time, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s beloved tale is presented here in a gorgeous new digital restoration. Julie Andrews stars as the fun-loving Maria, bringing sunshine into the lives of the Von Trapp family amid the beautiful Bavarian Alps.
The incredible Billie Piper (Penny Dreadful, Great Britain) returns in her Evening Standard Best Actress award-winning role. A young woman is driven to the unthinkable by her desperate desire to have a child in Simon Stone’s radical production of Lorca’s achingly powerful masterpiece. The unmissable theatre phenomenon sold out at the Young Vic and critics call it “an extraordinary theatrical triumph” (The Times) and “stunning, searing, unmissable” (Mail on Sunday). Billie Piper’s lead performance is described as “spellbinding” (The Evening Standard), “astonishing” (iNews) and “devastatingly powerful” (The Daily Telegraph). Set in contemporary London, Piper’s portrayal of a woman in her thirties desperate to conceive builds with elemental force to a staggering, shocking, climax. Please note that this broadcast does not have an interval.
★★★★★
“Brutal yet ferociously funny” - Metro
★★★★★
“Billie Piper makes a shattering Yerma in Simon Stone’s inspired reworking of Lorca” - The Observer
★★★★★
“A shatteringly powerful reinvention of a familiar classic” - The Independent
Director: Richard Thorpe. Starring: Elvis Presley, Judy Tyler, Mickey Shaughnessy, Vaughn Taylor. USA 1957. 95 mins.
One of the best of Elvis Presley's pre-Army films, Jailhouse Rock offers us the sensual, ‘dangerous’ Elvis that won the hearts of the kids and earned the animosity of their elders. Presley plays Vince Everett, a young buck who accidentally kills a man while protecting the honour of a woman. He is thrown into prison, and following his performance in the prison show, where ol' swivel-hips score a hit, he decides to stay in showbiz after his release. He sets up his own record company but success goes to his head, and he is deserted by his flunkeys and hangers-on. Everett learns the value of friendship and slowly rebuilds his reputation and career. Seldom would Elvis be so well showcased in the future.
11.00Dementia-Friendly Screening: Open to all but especially for people with dementia and their family, friends and carers. Join us for free tea, coffee and biscuits and a chance to socialise for 30 minutes before the film. The film will start at the time stated.
A homicide detective goes undercover as a patient to investigate a psychotherapist he believes is linked to a strange double murder. As his therapy sessions continue the line between fantasy and reality begins to blur.
This strange and utterly unique new film takes us on a journey into a fractured psyche, putting a peculiarly British take on the psychological thriller.
20.30Culture Shock: Dedicated to bringing you the best in cult and genre films.
Discover Tuesdays: Discover stunning cinema. Whether it's a cult classic, an art-house gem or a riveting documentary, there will always be a chance to see something different and brilliant in our weekly slot.
45 years after Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour filmed ‘Live At Pompeii’ in the legendary Roman Amphitheatre there, he returned for two spectacular shows, part of his year-long tour in support of his No.1 album ‘Rattle That Lock’. The performances were the first-ever rock concerts for an audience in the stone Roman amphitheatre, and, for two nights only, the 2,600 strong crowd stood exactly where gladiators would have fought in the first century AD.
‘David Gilmour Live At Pompeii’ is an audio-visual spectacle, featuring lasers, pyrotechnics and a huge circular screen on which specially-created films complement selected songs, but paramount above all is the astonishing music and stellar performances from an all-star band. The show includes songs from throughout David's career, as well as many Pink Floyd classics, including 'One Of These Days', the only song that was also performed at the band’s 1971 show.
Both concerts also saw very special performances of 'The Great Gig In The Sky' from 'The Dark Side Of The Moon', which David rarely plays as a solo artist. This concert performance film includes highlights from both shows, filmed in 4k by director Gavin Elder . ‘David Gilmour Live At Pompeii’ shows an artist at the top of his artistic game, performing incredible material with his world-class band, in a unique setting, on one very special occasion.
Songs include the title tracks of his two most recent No. 1 solo albums: Rattle That Lock and On An Island, as well as other solo and Pink Floyd classics, including Wish You Were Here and Comfortably Numb.
Performed on the spectacular water stage of Lake Constance in Bregenz (Austria), George Bizet’s CARMEN is a story of passion, destiny and obsession. The French composer’s opera is most famous for its Spanish melodies, including the Flower Song, Habanera and the Toreador Song.
On 14 September, experience Carmen like never before – recorded live on the floating stage during the Bregenz Festival. As with their previous spectacular productions, you can expect the staging of this classic tale to have an extravagantly original and innovative design, with the waters of the lake being used as an extension of the stage.
This production of Carmen will be directed by Kasper Holten, Director of Opera at the Royal Opera House in London, with the set designed by the British artist Es Devlin. Her past work includes sets for such stars as Adele, Take That, U2, Pet Shop Boys and Kanye West.
Director: Stephen Frears.
Starring: Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard. UK/USA 2017. 112 mins.
The year is 1887, and the British Empire is celebrating Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. A young Indian clerk, Abdul Karim (Fazal), travels to England to present the monarch with a ceremonial coin. “Whatever you do, you must not look at Her Majesty,” he is told. But he does. And he smiles. And so begins one of the unlikeliest friendships in history. As the Queen (Dench) questions the constrictions of her long-held position, she forms a strong bond with her newest servant. Their devoted alliance provokes outrage and conspiracy within the Royal Household, but it also rejuvenates the cosseted ruler, who begins to see a changing world through new eyes. A lavish, heartfelt period drama with wit and charm, Victoria And Abdul allows us to peek beyond the portraits and imagine the hardships – and joys – of being the figurehead of the last true empire.
Director: Stephen Frears.
Starring: Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard. UK/USA 2017. 112 mins.
The year is 1887, and the British Empire is celebrating Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. A young Indian clerk, Abdul Karim (Fazal), travels to England to present the monarch with a ceremonial coin. “Whatever you do, you must not look at Her Majesty,” he is told. But he does. And he smiles. And so begins one of the unlikeliest friendships in history. As the Queen (Dench) questions the constrictions of her long-held position, she forms a strong bond with her newest servant. Their devoted alliance provokes outrage and conspiracy within the Royal Household, but it also rejuvenates the cosseted ruler, who begins to see a changing world through new eyes. A lavish, heartfelt period drama with wit and charm, Victoria And Abdul allows us to peek beyond the portraits and imagine the hardships – and joys – of being the figurehead of the last true empire.
Director: Vincente Minnelli.
Starring: Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant. USA 1951. 113 mins.
Gene Kelly plays Jerry Mulligan, a struggling American painter living in Paris
who is discovered by a wealthy heiress on the streets of Montmartre. He soon
meets and falls in love with a beautiful young dancer called Lise (Caron) who
is already engaged to a famous cabaret artist. Jerry’s friend Adam Cook
(Levant), an aspiring pianist/composer, offers a comically cynical take on
matters as complications begin to arise. Winner of six Academy Awards in
1951, including Best Picture, Vincente Minnelli's An American In Paris is
possibly the greatest achievement in movie musicals from the 1950s.
Director: Stephen Frears.
Starring: Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard. UK/USA 2017. 112 mins.
The year is 1887, and the British Empire is celebrating Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. A young Indian clerk, Abdul Karim (Fazal), travels to England to present the monarch with a ceremonial coin. “Whatever you do, you must not look at Her Majesty,” he is told. But he does. And he smiles. And so begins one of the unlikeliest friendships in history. As the Queen (Dench) questions the constrictions of her long-held position, she forms a strong bond with her newest servant. Their devoted alliance provokes outrage and conspiracy within the Royal Household, but it also rejuvenates the cosseted ruler, who begins to see a changing world through new eyes. A lavish, heartfelt period drama with wit and charm, Victoria And Abdul allows us to peek beyond the portraits and imagine the hardships – and joys – of being the figurehead of the last true empire.
10.30Silver Screen: Aged over 60? Join the Silver Screen Club for discounted tickets and a free tea or coffee at these shows. Usual ticket prices apply to non-Members.
Director: Oliver Laxe. Starring: Ahmed Hammoud, Shakib Ben Omar, Said Aagli, Ikram Anzouli, Ahmed El Othemani, Hamid Fardjad. Spain/Morocco/France/Qatar 2016. 96 mins. Arabic with English subtitles.
A caravan is escorting an elderly and dying Sheikh to Sijilmasa. His last wish is to be buried with his loved ones. But death does not wait and reaches him while crossing the rugged peaks of the Moroccan Atlas. The caravaneers, fearful of the mountain, refuse to continue transporting the corpse. Said and Ahmed, two rogues travelling with the caravan, declare they know the way to Sijilmasa and promise to take the body there. In another world, parallel and remote, Shakib is chosen to travel to the mountains where the caravan is. His assignment is clear: he has to help the accidental caravaneers to reach their destination. Oliver Laxe's second feature won the top prize in the International Critics' Week at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
18.15Discover Tuesdays: Discover stunning cinema. Whether it's a cult classic, an art-house gem or a riveting documentary, there will always be a chance to see something different and brilliant in our weekly slot.
Mozart’s glorious opera 'The Magic Flute' is brought enchantingly to life in David McVicar’s production with beautiful sets by John Macfarlane. Prince Tamino promises the Queen of the Night that he will rescue her daughter Pamina from the enchanter Sarastro. He begins his quest, accompanied by the bird-catcher Papageno – but all is not as it seems…
David McVicar’s classic production embraces both the seriousness and comedy of Mozart’s work. The audience is transported to a fantastical world of dancing animals, flying machines and dazzlingly starry skies. The setting provides a wonderful backdrop for Mozart’s kaleidoscopic score, from the Queen of the Night’s coloratura fireworks to Tamino and Pamina’s lyrical love duets and Papageno’s hearty, folksong-like arias.
As well as being a comedy 'The Magic Flute' is an expression of Mozart’s profound spiritual beliefs: Enlightenment concerns with the search for wisdom and virtue are at the heart of this enchanting tale. The Magic Flute was an instant success with audiences and Mozart’s supposed rival Salieri described it as an ‘operone’ – a great opera.
Director: Stephen Frears.
Starring: Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard. UK/USA 2017. 112 mins.
The year is 1887, and the British Empire is celebrating Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. A young Indian clerk, Abdul Karim (Fazal), travels to England to present the monarch with a ceremonial coin. “Whatever you do, you must not look at Her Majesty,” he is told. But he does. And he smiles. And so begins one of the unlikeliest friendships in history. As the Queen (Dench) questions the constrictions of her long-held position, she forms a strong bond with her newest servant. Their devoted alliance provokes outrage and conspiracy within the Royal Household, but it also rejuvenates the cosseted ruler, who begins to see a changing world through new eyes. A lavish, heartfelt period drama with wit and charm, Victoria And Abdul allows us to peek beyond the portraits and imagine the hardships – and joys – of being the figurehead of the last true empire.
King Lear (Kevin McNally) decides to divide his kingdom amongst his three daughters, but fails to anticipate the consequences of his actions. His generosity is cruelly repaid. As he comes to realise the false values by which he has lived, he finally encounters his own humanity. Broadcast live to cinemas from the iconic Shakespeare’s Globe, this brand new retelling of one of the Bard’s greatest plays will capture your heart on September 21.
Director: Stephen Frears.
Starring: Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard. UK/USA 2017. 112 mins.
The year is 1887, and the British Empire is celebrating Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. A young Indian clerk, Abdul Karim (Fazal), travels to England to present the monarch with a ceremonial coin. “Whatever you do, you must not look at Her Majesty,” he is told. But he does. And he smiles. And so begins one of the unlikeliest friendships in history. As the Queen (Dench) questions the constrictions of her long-held position, she forms a strong bond with her newest servant. Their devoted alliance provokes outrage and conspiracy within the Royal Household, but it also rejuvenates the cosseted ruler, who begins to see a changing world through new eyes. A lavish, heartfelt period drama with wit and charm, Victoria And Abdul allows us to peek beyond the portraits and imagine the hardships – and joys – of being the figurehead of the last true empire.
10.30Silver Screen: Aged over 60? Join the Silver Screen Club for discounted tickets and a free tea or coffee at these shows. Usual ticket prices apply to non-Members.
Seymour, a shy young man working for a tyrannical florist, finds a vehicle for private and public success in the form of a maneating plant from outer space. The carniverous shrub helps him to become a celebrity, gets rid of his boss and clears the way for him to woo the girl of his dreams. However, its cannibalistic eating habits become insatiable and it's up to Seymour to cut it down to size. This comedy musical is based on the stage version of the cult movie, and features a memorable cameo performance from Steve Martin as a sadistic dentist.
Director: James Mangold.
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen. USA 2017. 137 mins.
In 2029, mutants have been all but wiped out. The world-weary Logan has gone into hiding. But when a young girl with similar powers to his own appears, with a sinister organisation not far behind, he reluctantly agrees to take her to a refuge near the Canadian border. It’s a long road to safety, but one that brings deliverance for both of them.
Not since The Dark Knight has a superhero film subverted the genre code as powerfully as Logan. Director James Mangold shuns the capes and CGI for something altogether more human: a gritty, neo-Western road movie that slowly sinks its claws into the heartstrings and doesn’t let go.
In the new black-and-white cut, Logan’s noir and Western qualities shine. The monochrome visuals are fitting for a film with such a strong nostalgic undertow, and that’s why Logan Noir is a perfect companion piece to the colour release that won over audiences earlier this year.
Step is the real-life story of a girls’ high-school step team set against the backdrop of social unrest in the troubled city of Baltimore. These young women learn to laugh, love and thrive – on and off the stage – even when the world seems to work against them. Empowered by their teachers, teammates, counsellors, coaches and families, they chase their ultimate dreams – to win a step championship and to be accepted into college. This all-female school is reshaping the futures of its students’ lives: they’ve made it their goal to have every senior student graduate from college, many of whom will be the first in their family to do so. Deeply insightful and emotionally inspiring, Step embodies the true meaning of sisterhood through a story of courageous young women worth cheering for.
18.15Discover Tuesdays: Discover stunning cinema. Whether it's a cult classic, an art-house gem or a riveting documentary, there will always be a chance to see something different and brilliant in our weekly slot.
Picturehouse Docs: Bringing you the best in new and topical documentaries covering issues around the world.
EXHIBITION ON SCREEN open its fifth season with Canaletto & the Art of Venice, an immersive journey into the life and art of Venice’s famous view-painter. No artist better captures the essence and allure of Venice than Giovanni Antonio Canal, better known as Canaletto.
The remarkable group of over 200 paintings, drawings and prints on display offer unparalleled insight into the artistry of Canaletto and his contemporaries, and the city he became a master at capturing. The film also offers the chance to step inside two official royal residences - Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle – to learn more about the artist, and Joseph Smith, the man who introduced Canaletto to Britain.
Cinema-goers will embark on their very own 21st century Grand Tour, visiting the sites enjoyed by their 18th century counterparts and immortalised in Canaletto’s views - from the Rialto Bridge to the Piazza San Marco, and the Palazzo Ducale to the Church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Guided by Royal Collection Trust curators and the world’s leading experts in Venetian history, the film is not only a wonderful way to see the exhibition, but an opportunity to get closer to Canaletto and the city that inspired him.
When Rodolfo, a penniless poet, meets Mimì, a seamstress, they fall instantly in love. But their happiness is threatened when Rodolfo learns that Mimì is gravely ill.
Acclaimed director Richard Jones (Boris Godunov, Il trittico) directs a new production of Puccini’s 'La bohème'. Irresistible in its witty, passionate blend of comedy and tragedy, the opera focusses on the lives of a groupof young artists as they eke out an existence on the bohemian fringes of Paris, the capital of the 19th century. Jones brings his characteristically acute insight to this much-loved classic, visualized in Stewart Laing’s spectacular, stylized 1850s setting.
Puccini’s romantic depiction of bohemian Paris, with memorable music and a love story drawn from everyday life, has captivated audiences around the world, making La bohème one of the best-loved of all operas. It was first performed in Covent Garden in 1897 and has had more than five hundred performances there since.
EXHIBITION ON SCREEN open its fifth season with Canaletto & the Art of Venice, an immersive journey into the life and art of Venice’s famous view-painter. No artist better captures the essence and allure of Venice than Giovanni Antonio Canal, better known as Canaletto.
The remarkable group of over 200 paintings, drawings and prints on display offer unparalleled insight into the artistry of Canaletto and his contemporaries, and the city he became a master at capturing. The film also offers the chance to step inside two official royal residences - Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle – to learn more about the artist, and Joseph Smith, the man who introduced Canaletto to Britain.
Cinema-goers will embark on their very own 21st century Grand Tour, visiting the sites enjoyed by their 18th century counterparts and immortalised in Canaletto’s views - from the Rialto Bridge to the Piazza San Marco, and the Palazzo Ducale to the Church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Guided by Royal Collection Trust curators and the world’s leading experts in Venetian history, the film is not only a wonderful way to see the exhibition, but an opportunity to get closer to Canaletto and the city that inspired him.
Director: Ben Wheatley.
Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller. UK 2015. 119 mins.
J. G. Ballard’s dystopian novel about society disintegrating within a giant tower block is brought to the screen by the maverick writer-director partnership of Amy Jump and Ben Wheatley (Kill List, Sightseers).
Awarded his biggest budget yet, Wheatley ushers on board established stars and ace production designer Mark Tildesley (The Constant Gardener, 28 Days Later). Dr Robert Laing (Hiddleston), an affluent new tenant of the titular high-rise, quickly attracts the attentions of neighbour Charlotte (Miller) and then of Helen (Elisabeth Moss), who happens to be married to the socially stratified community’s resident troublemaker (Luke Evans).
As tensions build, the brutalist tower that its architect (a supremely laconic Irons) imagined would be “a crucible for change” gradually descends into anarchy in this great-looking, darkly hilarious drama.
Academy Award® nominee Benedict Cumberbatch (BBC’s Sherlock, The Imitation Game, Frankenstein at the National Theatre) takes on the title role of Shakespeare’s great tragedy.
Directed by Lyndsey Turner (Posh, Chimerica) and produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, National Theatre Live will broadcast this eagerly awaited production live to cinemas.
As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father’s death but paralysed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state.
Bellini’s masterpiece boasts one of the most famous arias in all of opera, the beautiful “Casta diva”. Directed by Sir David McVicar, this evocative new production sets the action deep in a Druid forest, where nature and ancient ritual rule. The priestess Norma is torn between loyalty to her oppressed people and love for a Roman soldier. On the eve of a Druid revolt, she must choose between two agonising betrayals – only to learn that she herself has already been betrayed. Sondra Radvanovsky as Norma and Joyce DiDonato as her rival Adalgisa lead a cast of bel canto heavyweights, with Joseph Calleja as Norma’s unfaithful lover, Pollione, and British favourite Matthew Rose returning to the Met as Norma’s father, Oroveso.
A full-throttle war play that revels in the sweat of the battlefield, Coriolanus transports us back to the emergence of the republic of Rome.
Caius Martius Coriolanus is a fearless soldier but a reluctant leader. His ambitious mother attempts to carve him a path to political power, but he struggles to change his nature and do what is required to achieve greatness. In this new city state struggling to find its feet, where the gap between rich and poor is widening every day, Coriolanus must decide who he really is and where his allegiances lie.
Rome Season Director, Angus Jackson, completes the Royal Shakespeare Company’s collection of Shakespeare’s Roman plays with a visceral production which sees Sope Dirisu (One Night in Miami, Donmar Warehouse, 2016) take on the title role.
Experience Mozart’s irresistible fantasy in all its glory! Will brave Prince Tamino rescue Princess Pamina from the clutches of the evil Sarastro, and will Papageno the foolish bird catcher learn wisdom enough to help him? The Queen of the Night’s aria, with its stratospheric high notes, is just one of the countless highlights in this tale of love and magic, mysterious secrets, and whimsical fantasy. Julie Taymor’s (The Lion King) enchanting production captures both the opera’s earthy comedy and its enlightened nobility. Met Music Director Emeritus James Levine conducts a cast of rising young stars.
Amidst a bustling market, the pirate Conrad falls in love at first sight with the beautiful Medora, the ward of the slave merchant Lankedem’s bazaar. Conrad kidnaps Medora when Lanquedem decides to sell her to the Pasha.
Inspired by Lord Byron’s epic poem and reworked by Alexei Ratmansky from Petipa’s exotic 19th century classic, this miracle of the repertoire is one of the Bolshoi’s most lavish productions. Complete with a magnificent awe-inspring shipwreck and dramatic scenery, this grand romance allows enough dancing for nearly the entire company and made especially for those who seek miracles in theatre.
At a garden party on a sunny afternoon, Alice is surprised to see her parents’ friend Lewis Carroll transform into a white rabbit. When she follows him down a rabbit hole events become curiouser and curiouser… As Alice journeys through Wonderland, she encounters countless strange creatures. She’s swept off her feet by the charming Knave of Hearts, who’s on the run for stealing the tarts. Confusion piles upon confusion. Then Alice wakes with a start. Was it all a daydream?
Christopher Wheeldon’s 'Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland' burst onto the stage in 2011 in an explosion of colour, stage magic and inventive, sophisticated choreography. Joby Talbot’s score combines contemporary soundworlds with sweeping melodies that gesture to ballet scores of the 19th century. Bob Crowley’s wildly imaginative, eye-popping designs draw on everything from puppetry to projections to make Wonderland wonderfully real.
Alice encounters a cast of extraordinary and instantly recognizable characters, from the highly strung Queen of Hearts – who performs a hilarious send-up of The Sleeping Beauty's famous Rose Adage – to a playing-card corps de ballet, a sinuous caterpillar and a tap-dancing Mad Hatter. But the ballet does not avoid the darker undercurrents of Lewis Carroll’s story: a nightmarish kitchen, an eerily disembodied Cheshire Cat and the unhinged tea party are all here in vivid detail. The delicious result shows The Royal Ballet at its best, bringing together world-class dance with enchanting family entertainment.
Grace Jones: Bloodlight & Bami - Live with Friends promises to be thrilling and enlightening evening with the inimitable icon, as she discusses her life and work with some of her closest collaborators from the worlds of music, fashion, art and film. The discussion follows an exclusive preview of Sophie Fiennes’ highly anticipated new film Grace Jones: Bloodlight And Bami.
Grace Jones: Bloodlight And Bami takes the viewer on an intimate and electrifying journey that moves between four cinematic layers – performance, family, artist and gypsy – to explore the fascinating world of a pop-culture phenomenon. Here we see the daughter, mother, sister and grandmother behind the mask, and she takes to the stage for a specially commissioned performance that showcases legendary hits like Pull Up To The Bumper and Slave To The Rhythm. Larger than life, bordering on cartoon, wild, scary and androgynous – Grace Jones plays all these parts.
Leaving the world of J-pop behind her, Mima Kirigoe begins life as an actress on a crime drama show called Double Blind. When offered a lead role in the show as a rape victim, Mima accepts in spite of her manager’s reservations. However, the backlash from fans over her career change and a strange website called ‘Mima's Room’, written by a fake Mima, begin to worry her. When a stalker appears and people involved in Double Blind begin turning up dead, with all the evidence pointing to her, Mima is thrown into a state of confusion, madness and paranoia.
Baptista struggles to marry off his tempestuous daughter Katharina, a shrew who denies that any man could possibly be her match. However when she meets Petruchio, who is as ill-tempered as she, the two forces of nature ignite an unexpected and explosive encounter.
Acclaimed choreographer Jean-Christophe Maillot brings out the wit, fast-paced athleticism and vibrancy from the Bolshoi Ballet dancers in Shakespeare’s rowdy comedy. Principals Ekaterina Krysanova and Vladislav Lantratov clash, challenge and eventually give themselves to one another in a wonderfully entertaining production that can only be seen at the Bolshoi!
Stephen Sondheim’s legendary musical is staged for the first time at the National Theatre and broadcast live to cinemas. New York, 1971. There’s a party on the stage of the Weismann Theatre. Tomorrow the iconic building will be demolished. Thirty years after their final performance, the Follies girls gather to have a few drinks, sing a few songs and lie about themselves. Tracie Bennett, Janie Dee and Imelda Staunton play the magnificent Follies in this dazzling new production. Featuring a cast of 37 and an orchestra of 21, it’s directed by Dominic Cooke (The Comedy of Errors). Winner of Academy, Tony, Grammy and Olivier awards, Sondheim’s previous work includes A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd and Sunday in the Park with George.
Take a seat at the strangest dinner party of your life. The servants have absconded; the ragout is all over the floor; there’s a bear in the garden; your fellow guests are rapidly descending into savagery; and most mysteriously of all, no one seems able to leave. British composer Thomas Adès (The Tempest) conducts the American premiere of his latest opera. Co-commissioned by the Met and sung in English, this black comedy, with shades of JG Ballard/Ben Wheatley’s High-Rise, is based on the screenplay of Luis Buñuel’s 1962 surrealist film. The cast is filled with established British names including Sally Matthews, Sophie Bevan, Alice Coote, Christine Rice, Ieystn Davies and John Tomlinson. “Inventive and audacious… a major event” (New York Times).
Widely considered Britain’s most popular artist, David Hockney is a global sensation with exhibitions in London, New York, Paris and beyond, attracting millions of visitors worldwide.
Now entering his 9th decade, Hockney shows absolutely no evidence of slowing down or losing his trademark boldness.
Featuring intimate and in-depth interviews with Hockney, this revealing film focuses on two blockbuster exhibitions held in 2012 and 2016 at the Royal Academy of Art in London.
Widely considered Britain’s most popular artist, David Hockney is a global sensation with exhibitions in London, New York, Paris and beyond, attracting millions of visitors worldwide.
Now entering his 9th decade, Hockney shows absolutely no evidence of slowing down or losing his trademark boldness.
Featuring intimate and in-depth interviews with Hockney, this revealing film focuses on two blockbuster exhibitions held in 2012 and 2016 at the Royal Academy of Art in London.
As the clock strikes midnight on Christmas Eve, Marie’s wooden nutcracker doll comes to life and transforms into a prince! Soon joined by her other toys that have also come to life, Marie and her prince embark on a dreamy unforgettable adventure.
A holiday tradition for the whole family, The Nutcracker sweeps the Bolshoi stage for two hours of enchantment and magic. Along with Tchaikovsky’s cherished score and and some of the Bolshoi’s greatest artists, The Nutcracker remains a treasure not to be missed!
Stephen Sondheim’s legendary musical is staged for the first time at the National Theatre and broadcast live to cinemas. New York, 1971. There’s a party on the stage of the Weismann Theatre. Tomorrow the iconic building will be demolished. Thirty years after their final performance, the Follies girls gather to have a few drinks, sing a few songs and lie about themselves. Tracie Bennett, Janie Dee and Imelda Staunton play the magnificent Follies in this dazzling new production. Featuring a cast of 37 and an orchestra of 21, it’s directed by Dominic Cooke (The Comedy of Errors). Winner of Academy, Tony, Grammy and Olivier awards, Sondheim’s previous work includes A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd and Sunday in the Park with George.
The young Clara creeps downstairs on Christmas Eve to play with her favourite present – a Nutcracker doll. But the mysterious magician Drosselmeyer is waiting to sweep her off on a magical adventure. After defeating the Mouse King, the Nutcracker and Clara travel through the Land of Snow to the Kingdom of Sweets, where the Sugar Plum Fairy treats them to a wonderful display of dances. Back home, Clara thinks she must have been dreaming – but doesn’t she recognize Drosselmeyer’s nephew?
Peter Wright’s nigh-on definitive production for The Royal Ballet ranks as one of the most enduring and enchanting versions of 'The Nutcracker'. With its festive period setting, dancing snowflakes and enchanting stage magic, Lev Ivanov’s 1892 ballet has become the perfect Christmas entertainment, with Tchaikovsky’s sumptuous, sugar-spun music the most recognizable of all ballet scores.
Loosely based on the story by E.T.A. Hoffmann, the ballet opens with a lively Christmas party, its Victorian setting captured in opulent detail by Julia Trevelyan Oman’s designs. Wright’s choreography ingeniously incorporates surviving fragments of the ballet’s original material, including the sublime pas de deux for the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince. But in emphasizing the relationship between Clara and the Nutcracker Prince, the production also gains a touching subtext of first love.
Rory Kinnear (The Threepenny Opera, Penny Dreadful, Othello) is Marx and Oliver Chris (Twelfth Night, Green Wing) is Engels, in this new comedy written by Richard Bean and Clive Coleman. Broadcast live from The Bridge Theatre, London, the production is directed by Nicholas Hytner and reunites the creative team behind Broadway and West End hit comedy One Man, Two Guvnors.
1850, and Europe’s most feared terrorist is hiding in Dean Street, Soho. Broke, restless and horny, the thirty-two-year-old revolutionary is a frothing combination of intellectual brilliance, invective, satiric wit, and child-like emotional illiteracy.
Creditors, spies, rival revolutionary factions and prospective seducers of his beautiful wife all circle like vultures. His writing blocked, his marriage dying, his friend Engels in despair at his wasted genius, his only hope is a job on the railway. But there’s still no one in the capital who can show you a better night on the piss than Karl Heinrich Marx.
Celebrate the end of 2017 with the Berliner Philharmoniker’s glittering New Year’s Eve Gala Concert, broadcast live from Berlin and conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, with star guest Joyce DiDonato. The internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano will perform Richard Strauss’s lavishly beautiful orchestral songs with the concert programme also including works by Dvořák, Stravinsky, Bernstein and Shostakovich. The cinema broadcast features exclusive interviews and programme insights.
The corruption of innocence is at the heart of Verdi’s potent tragedy in David McVicar’s production for The Royal Opera. Rigoletto, court jester to the libertine Duke of Mantua, is cursed by the father of one of the Duke’s victims for his irreverent laughter. When the Duke seduces Rigoletto’s daughter Gilda, it seems the curse is taking effect…
David McVicar’s production highlights the cruelty at the heart of the court of Mantua. Richly dressed courtiers engage in orgies and revelries to Verdi’s heady, spirited dances. The opera’s many musical highlights include the ebullient ‘La donna è mobile’, in which the Duke boasts of his disregard for women; Gilda’s exquisite, plangent duets with Rigoletto and the Duke; and the gorgeous Act III quartet that beautifully weaves the voices together as the story quickens to its shattering conclusion.
Giuseppe Verdi wrote in 1855 that Rigoletto was his ‘best opera’. He had had to overcome state censorship to stage it – the censors objected to its depiction of an immoral ruler – but he was vindicated by the premiere’s huge success in 1851. Rigoletto was performed 250 times in the next 10 years and has remained one of the most popular of all operas.
In Verona, Romeo and Juliet fall madly in love while their respective families, the Montagues and the Capulets, are caught in a bitter rivalry ending in heart-wrenching tragedy…
Alexei Ratmansky, former artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, stages the company’s premiere of his production with dramatic urgency and a fresh re-telling of Shakespeare’s beloved classic. His brilliant and detailed adaptation set to Prokofiev’s romantic and cinematic score, reignites the story of literature’s most celebrated star-crossed lovers like no other classical ballet choreographer today.
Puccini’s thrilling Tosca is a story of love, terror, the abuse of power, and the unquenchable longing for freedom. When an escaped political prisoner takes refuge in a church, an opera singer and a painter are drawn into a twisting plot that puts them at the mercy of the secret police and its network of torturers and spies. Rivalling the splendour of Franco Zeffirelli’s Napoleonic-era sets and costumes, Sir David McVicar’s ravishing new production offers a splendid backdrop for extraordinary singing. Kristine Opolais stars as the titular prima donna, alongside Vittorio Grigolo as her artist lover and Bryn Terfel as the villainous police chief – one of his signature roles. Andris Nelsons conducts.
EXHIBITION ON SCREEN is thrilled to present one of the most talked-about exhibitions of the year. Dedicated to the portrait work of Paul Cézanne, the exhibition opens in Paris before traveling to London and Washington.
One can’t appreciate 20th century art without understanding the significance and genius of Paul Cézanne. Featuring interviews with curators and experts from the National Portrait Gallery London, MoMA New York, National Gallery of Art Washington, and Musée d’Orsay Paris, and correspondence from the artist himself, the film takes audiences beyond the exhibition to the places Cézanne lived and worked and sheds light on an artist who is perhaps the least-known of all the impressionists – until now.
EXHIBITION ON SCREEN is thrilled to present one of the most talked-about exhibitions of the year. Dedicated to the portrait work of Paul Cézanne, the exhibition opens in Paris before traveling to London and Washington.
One can’t appreciate 20th century art without understanding the significance and genius of Paul Cézanne. Featuring interviews with curators and experts from the National Portrait Gallery London, MoMA New York, National Gallery of Art Washington, and Musée d’Orsay Paris, and correspondence from the artist himself, the film takes audiences beyond the exhibition to the places Cézanne lived and worked and sheds light on an artist who is perhaps the least-known of all the impressionists – until now.
As he arrives in Paris for the first time, the young and naive Armand is utterly captivated after meeting the ravishing and most desirable courtesan Marguerite Gautier. Their encounter gives birth to a passionate yet doomed love…
Alexandre Dumas fils’s novel comes to life on the Bolshoi stage, with prima Svetlana Zakharova as the ailing Marguerite seeking love and redemption from her life as a courtesan. The Bolshoi brings choreographer John Neumeier’s work of rare beauty and tragic depth to new emotional heights, accompanied by Chopin’s romantic piano score.
'Tosca' is one of the great evenings of opera, and from its strident opening chords conjures up a world of political instability and menace.
Jonathan Kent’s production for The Royal Opera captures the dangerous political turbulence of Rome in 1800. The Chief of Police, Scarpia – one of the most malevolent villains in opera – ruthlessly pursues and tortures enemies of the state. His dark, demonic music contrasts with the expansive melodies of the idealistic lovers, Tosca and Cavaradossi, who express their passion in sublime arias, including ‘Vissi d’arte’ and ‘E lucevan le stelle’. Giacomo Puccini’s dramatic work was a hit with audiences on its 1900 premiere and it remains one of the most performed of all operas – with its gripping plot and glorious music, it’s easy to see why.
A candle-lit church, Scarpia’s gloomy study with its hidden torture chamber and the false optimism of a Roman dawn: this handsome production throws into relief the ruthlessly taut drama, as the tension is wound up towards a fateful conclusion. Puccini’s meticulously researched score is infused with the same authentic detail, from distant cannon fire during the Act I Te Deum to tolling church bells and the sounds of a firing squad.
The poor country boy Nemorino is in love with Adina, a confident landowner, but she is way out of his league – financially and otherwise. But when he buys a “love potion” from a travelling quack, the results are rather more than he bargained for. Charmingly staged by Bartlett Sher, Donizetti’s beloved masterpiece combines deft comic timing with touching emotional depth. The production stars Matthew Polenzani, who enthralled Met audiences as Nemorino in 2013 with his moving “Una furtiva lagrima.” Rising South African soprano Pretty Yende is the spirited Adina, Davide Luciano makes his Met debut as the arrogant soldier Belcore, and Ildebrando D’Arcangelo is the potion-peddling Doctor Dulcamara. Domingo Hindoyan conducts.
'I am all the daughters of my father's house,
And all the brothers too.'
Twelfth Night is a tale of unrequited love – hilarious and heartbreaking. Two twins are separated in a shipwreck, and forced to fend for themselves in a strange land. The first twin, Viola, falls in love with Orsino, who dotes on OIivia, who falls for Viola but is idolised by Malvolio. Enter Sebastian, who is the spitting image of his twin sister...
Christopher Luscombe, Director of the ‘glorious’ (Daily Telegraph) Love’s Labour’s Lost and Much Ado About Nothing (2014 and 2016), returns to the Royal Shakespeare Company to tackle Shakespeare’s greatest comedy, a brilliantly bittersweet account of "the whirligig of time".
The world’s most popular opera returns with an exciting young cast in Franco Zeffirelli’s legendary production. Poverty-stricken poet Rodolfo and his artist friends eke out a precarious existence in bohemian Paris, alternately practising their art, laughing, quarrelling, dodging the landlord, and living it up in their local cafe. When Rodolfo meets the delicate Mimì, the pair instantly fall in love. But Mimì is ill, Rodolfo is jealous, and their romance is doomed from the start. Opera superstars Sonya Yoncheva and Michael Fabiano play the heart-breaking couple, singing two sublime Puccini favourites – “Sì, mi chiamano Mimì” and “Che gelida manina.” Zeffirelli’s stupendous onstage recreations of 19th-century Paris are sure to take your breath away.
Christopher Wheeldon, Artistic Associate of The Royal Ballet, created his adaptation of Shakespeare’s late great romance 'The Winter’s Tale' for The Royal Ballet in 2014. Building on the success of 'Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland', T'he Winter’s Tale' received ecstatic praise at its premiere, acclaimed by critics and audiences alike for its intelligent, distinctive and emotionally powerful story, told through exquisite dance. It is now widely judged to be a modern ballet classic.
The story follows the destruction of a marriage through consuming jealousy, the abandonment of a child and a seemingly hopeless love. Yet, through remorse and regret – and after a seemingly miraculous return to life – the ending is one of forgiveness and reconciliation. With powerful designs by Bob Crowley and atmospheric music by Joby Talbot, The Winter’s Tale is a masterful modern narrative ballet.
In the era of the French Revolution, Jeanne and her brother Jérôme leave Marseille for Paris in support of the revolutionary effort that is taking over the capital. While fighting for freedom, they both encounter love along the way…
Very few ballets can properly depict the Bolshoi’s overflowing energy and fiery passion as can Alexei Ratmansky’s captivating revival of Vasily Vainonen’s The Flames of Paris. With powerful virtuosity and some of the most stunning pas de deux, the Bolshoi Ballet displays an exuberance almost too enormous for the Moscow stage.
'Carmen' is the best-known work by French composer Georges Bizet, and one of the most famous operas in the entire art form – numbers such as the Habanera and the Toreador Song have permeated the popular consciousness as little else has. The opera’s heady combination of passion, sensuality and violence initially proved too much for the stage, and it was a critical failure on its 1875 premiere. Bizet died shortly after, and never learned of the spectacular success his Carmen would achieve: the opera has been performed more than five hundred times at Covent Garden alone.
This ever-popular opera is given a fresh point of view in Barrie Kosky’s highly physical production, originally created for Frankfurt Opera. The Australian director is one of the world’s most sought-after opera directors, whose Royal Opera debut with Shostakovich’s The Nose in 2016 was greeted with delight. For Carmen he has devised a far-from-traditional version, incorporating music written by Bizet for the score but not usually heard, and giving a new voice to the opera’s endlessly fascinating central character.
Against the backdrop of the Hanging Gardens, Semiramide, Queen of Babylon, defies bad omens and supernatural threats in her quest to find a worthy successor to her late husband. But she harbours more than one dark secret, and whoever gains the throne may find that he has lost more than he has won. Based on a story by Voltaire, this rarely performed tragic opera reveals The Barber of Seville composer Giaochino Rossini in a whole new light. The title role – composed for Rossini’s wife, Isabella Colbran – features some of the most demanding vocal music he ever wrote. Angela Meade takes on the challenging vocal fireworks in this revival of a production last seen at the Met 25 years ago.
Perhaps more than any other artist, Van Gogh’s life has long captured the imagination of storytellers. Delving deep into his fascinating and sometimes deeply troubled world comes this definitive, award-winning documentary directed by David Bickerstaff.
Showcasing Van Gogh’s iconic works like never before and featuring exclusive interviews with the curatorial team at the Van Gogh Museum, this EXHIBITION ON SCREEN favourite from Season 2 makes a welcome return to the big screen.
Leonard Bernstein was one of the first classical composers in America to achieve both popular and critical acclaim. He was eclectic in his sources – drawing on jazz and modernism, the traditions of Jewish music and the Broadway musical – and many of Bernstein’s scores are remarkably well suited to dance. He was particularly associated with Jerome Robbins, their credits together including Fancy Free and West Side Story. To celebrate the centenary year of the composer’s birth, The Royal Ballet has united all three of its associate choreographers to celebrate the dynamic range and danceability of Bernstein’s music.
The programme includes two world premieres by Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregor and Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon, marking each artist’s first foray into Bernstein. At the heart of the programme is the first revival of Artist in Residence Liam Scarlett’s The Age of Anxiety, created in 2014 to Bernstein’s soul-searching Second Symphony. Both symphony and ballet are inspired by W.H. Auden’s masterful modernist poem, itself written in response to the atmosphere of disillusionment and uncertainty that followed the end of World War II.
Goaded by their cynical friend Don Alfonso, soldiers Ferrando and Guglielmo decide to test their fiancées’ fidelity. Pretending to leave with their regiment, they return in disguise and pay court to each other’s lover. Will the young women succumb to the charms of these two handsome ‘foreigners’? A co-production with English National Opera, this clever vision of the battle of the sexes is set in a carnivalesque environment inspired by 1950s Coney Island. The cast features Amanda Majeski and Serena Malfi as the sisters put to the test, with Broadway star Kelli O’Hara as their feisty maid, Ben Bliss and Adam Plachetka as their fiancés, and Christopher Maltman as Don Alfonso. David Robertson conducts Mozart’s delightful score.
Verdi’s life-long love affair with Shakespeare’s works began with Macbeth, a play he considered to be ‘one of the greatest creations of man’. With his librettist, Francesco Maria Piave, Verdi set out to create ‘something out of the ordinary’. Their success is borne out in every bar of a score that sees Verdi at his most theatrical: it bristles with demonic energy.
The warrior Macbeth fights on the side of the King of Scotland – but when a coven of witches prophesy that he shall become king himself, a ruthless ambition drives Macbeth and his wife to horrific acts.Murder makes Macbeth king, and intrigue and butchery are the hallmarks of his brief, doomed reign. The witches make another prediction, which also comes true: Macbeth and his lady lose their lives, and justice is restored.
Phyllida Lloyd’s 2002 production for The Royal Opera is richly hued, shot through with black, red and gold. The witches – imagined by designer Anthony Ward as strange, scarlet-turbaned creatures – are ever-present agents of fate. Lloyd depicts the Macbeths’ childlessness as the dark sadness lurking behind their terrible deeds. The Royal Opera’s production uses Verdi’s 1865 Paris revision of the opera, which includes Lady Macbeth’s riveting aria ‘La luce langue’.
When Giselle learns that her beloved Albrecht is promised to another woman, she dies of a broken heart in his arms. While Albrecht grieves, she returns from the dead as a Wili, a vengeful spirit meant to make unfaithful men dance until death…
Prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova personifies this ultimate ballerina role in the classical repertoire, alongside the sensational Sergei Polunin as Albrecht, in this chilling, yet luminous ballet that continues to captivate audiences for over 150 years at the Bolshoi.
James Levine and Plácido Domingo add yet another chapter to their legendary Met collaboration with this rarely performed Verdi gem, a heart-wrenching tragedy based on Friedrich Schiller’s novel Intrigue and Love. The young maiden Luisa loves Rodolfo, unaware that he is actually the son of the local lord. An unscrupulous rival for her affections tells her father of Rodolfo’s true identity, turning the old man against him. Jealousy, suspicion, and betrayal tear the lovers apart, but Luisa remains loyal to her father to the last. In the first Met performances of the opera in more than ten years, Sonya Yoncheva sings the title role opposite Piotr Beczała as Rodolfo, with Domingo as Luisa’s stern-yet-loving father.
A fairy godmother, a glass slipper, an opulent ball, an enchanted forest, and a Prince Charming who loves her – did all that really happen, or was it just a dream? Long-suffering Cendrillon lives a life of drudgery with her good-natured father and his imperious wife, until fate, romance, and a touch of fairy magic intervene. For the first time ever, Massenet’s sumptuous version of the Cinderella story comes to the Met in this imaginative storybook production directed by Laurent Pelly. Superstar Joyce DiDonato sings the title role, alongside British mezzo-soprano Alice Coote in the trouser role of Prince Charming, Kathleen Kim as the Fairy Godmother, and Stephanie Blythe as the archetypal wicked stepmother.
Manon’s brother Lescaut is offering her to the highest bidder when she meets Des Grieux and falls in love. They elope to Paris, but when Monsieur G.M. offers Manon a life of luxury as his mistress she can’t resist. With the Lescauts’ encouragement Des Grieux cheats at cards in an attempt to win Monsieur G.M.’s fortune. They are caught. Manon is arrested as a prostitute and deported to New Orleans, followed by Des Grieux. On the run, Manon dies from exhaustion.
Kenneth MacMillan’s source for Manon was the 18th-century French novel already adapted for opera by Massenet and Puccini. The premiere was given on 7 March 1974, with the lead roles danced by Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell. The ballet quickly became a staple of The Royal Ballet’s repertory, and a touchstone of adult, dramatic dance.
MacMillan found new sympathy with the capricious Manon and her struggle to escape poverty. Designs by his regular collaborator Nicholas Georgiadis reflect this, depicting a world of lavish splendour polluted by miserable destitution. MacMillan’s spectacular ensemble scenes for the whole Company create vivid, complex portraits of the distinct societies of Paris and New Orleans. But it is Manon and Des Grieux’s impassioned pas de deux – recalling the intensity of MacMillan’s earlier Romeo and Juliet – that drive this tragic story, and make Manon one of MacMillan’s most powerful dramas.
“My head is bursting – I want to paint it all.” Award-winning director Phil Grabsky presents a fresh new look at arguably the world’s favourite artist, Claude Monet, using the painter’s own words.
Based on letters and other private writings, I, Claude Monet provides new insight into the man who not only painted the picture that gave birth to Impressionism, but who was perhaps the most influential and successful painter of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
In spite of this, and perhaps because of it, Monet’s life is a gripping tale of a man who, behind his sun-dazzled canvases, suffered from bouts of depression, loneliness and even suicidal thoughts. Then, as his art developed and his love of nature led to the glories of his garden at Giverny, his letters reveal his humour, insight and love of life.
Swanhilda notices her fiancee Franz is infatuated with the beautiful Coppélia who sits reading on her balcony each day. Nearly breaking up the two sweethearts, Coppelia is not what she seems and Swanhilda decides to teach Franz a lesson…
The Bolshoi’s unique version of Coppélia exhibits a fascinating reconstruction of the original 19th century choreography of this ebullient comedy involving a feisty heroine, a boyish fiancee with a wandering eye, and an old dollmaker. The company’s stunning corps de ballet shines in the divertissements and famous “dance of the hours,” and its principals abound in youthful energy and irresistible humor in this effervescent production.
'Swan Lake' has had a special role in the repertory of The Royal Ballet since 1934. This Season The Royal Ballet creates a new production with additional choreography by Artist in Residence Liam Scarlett. While remaining faithful to the Petipa-Ivanov text, Scarlett will bring fresh eyes to the staging of this classic ballet, in collaboration with his long-term designer John Macfarlane.
Prince Siegfried chances upon a fl ock of swans while out hunting. When one of the swans turns into a beautiful woman, Odette, he is enraptured. But she is under a spell that holds her captive, allowing her to regain her human form only at night.
'Swan Lake' was Tchaikovsky’s first ballet score. Given its status today as arguably the best loved and most admired of all classical ballets, it is perhaps surprising that at its premiere in 1877 Swan Lake was poorly received. It is thanks to the 1895 production by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov that Swan Lake has become part of not only ballet consciousness but also wider popular culture. That success is secured not only by the sublime, symphonic sweep of Tchaikovsky’s score, but also by the striking choreographic contrasts between Petipa’s royal palace scenes and the lyric lakeside scenes created by Ivanov.
On 14 November 1987, a promising conductor called Simon Rattle made his Berliner Philharmoniker debut with Gustav Mahler’s Sixth Symphony. Looking back, Rattle says, “I felt that I was finding my voice on that day.” Mahler’s multifaceted work is again on the programme when Sir Simon appears for the last time as chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Sir Simon Rattle’s Farewell Concert will be broadcast live to cinemas on 20 June 2018, with exclusive interviews and programme insights featured as part of this historic event.
