Play: Kurt & Sid at Trafalgar Studios

Kurt & Sid, starring Danny Dyer and Shaun Evans. From 9 September - 03 October 2009 at the Trafalgar Studios, London.

Roy Smiles witty and beautifully poignant new play explores exactly what it means to dice with death when being alive proves to be all too painful and peace seems elusive…

April 1994. A man sits alone in an attic extension on the cusp of becoming a Seattle suicide statistic. This man is no ‘number and name’ to be reported in a local newspaper. He is an icon, albeit a reluctant one. The frontman of Nirvana. is about to pull the trigger of the gun in his hand and join the leagues of rock star deaths down the ages. Without invitation, Kurt has the curious company of a man purporting to be the Sex Pistol’s Sid Vicious, Kurt’s hero.

Whether he is a ghost, a figment of Kurt’s imagination, an hallucination, a dream, or a Punk impersonator remains to be seen as the two musicians, trade quips and quotes about the emptiness of fame, a mutual understanding of drug addiction and self-destruction.

Where
Trafalgar Studios
Whitehall, London, SW1A 2DY

When
Weds 9 September - Saturday 3 October

Play: The Shawshank Redemption at Wyndham's Theatre

Based on the 1982 Stephen King novella, The Shawshank Redemption tells the story of Andy Dufresne, who is sentenced to life in Shawshank Prison after being convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. Stripped of his freedom, Andy is forced to endure a spirit-crushing routine, but with his quiet strength and inner courage there is one thing Andy never loses: hope.

Andy Dufresne is convicted of murdering his wife and his lover and is sent to the notorious Shawshank Prison to serve two life sentences.

Stripped of his life, family and freedom, Andy is forced to endure a spirit-crushing routine. But with his quiet strength and inner courage, there is one thing that Andy never loses - and that is hope.

This unforgettable story of courage, friendship and daring to hope stars Kevin Anderson (Sleeping with the Enemy, member of the acclaimed Steppenwolf Theater Company) and Reg E. Cathey (from cult US television The Wire).

Where
Wyndham's Theatre
32-36 Charing Cross Road
Leicester Square, London, WC2H 0DA

When
4 September 2009 onwards

Play: Speaking in tongues, Duke of York's Theatre

In the highly charged thriller SPEAKING IN TONGUES, the basis for the film Lantana, the seemingly random confessions of a group of strangers are pieced together by a detective investigating the disappearance of a leading psychiatrist. A powerful study of infidelity and interwoven lives, the play stars John Simm (Life on Mars, State of Play), returning to the stage to lead an exciting cast including Ian Hart (The Virgin Queen, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone), Lucy Cohu (The Queen's Sister, Torchwood) and Kerry Fox (An Angel at my Table, Shallow Grave).

SPEAKING IN TONGUES will have its West End premiere at the Duke of York's Theatre. Writer Andrew Bovell's previous work includes Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom, When The Rain Stops Falling at the Almeida Theatre and his own adaptation of SPEAKING IN TONGUES into the internationally acclaimed film Lantana.



Where
Duke of York's Theatre
St. Martin’s Lane, London WC2N 4BG

When
From 18 September to 12 December.

www.speakingintonguestheplay.com

Hamlet

The King of Denmark is dead.

Consumed with grief, Prince Hamlet determines to avenge his father’s apparent murder, with devastating consequences for his family and the kingdom.

Kenneth Branagh directs Jude Law as Hamlet in Shakespeare’s iconic revenge tragedy.

Jude Law is to tackle the most challenging stage role for a young male actor: Hamlet.

Law will pit himself against some of the great interpreters of the part, including Daniel Day-Lewis and David Warner, under the direction of Kenneth Branagh in a production by the Donmar Warehouse.

The production will not be staged at the pocket-size Donmar, which has a capacity of 250. Instead, Hamlet will be part of a season of plays that the Donmar will present at the much larger Wyndham's Theatre, a few streets away in London's West End.

Hamlet

Saturday July 11, 2009 at 2:30pm

Wyndhams Theatre
Charing Cross Road
London, England WC2H 0DA