Brief Encounter has announced it has extended its run for the final time to Sunday 16 November, when the production will close.
After Brief Encounter’s successful run at the Cinema Haymarket, the Kneehigh production will begin a UK tour in February. Producer David Pugh said he was “…delighted and amazed at the astounding success of the Kneehigh production of Brief Encounter. It was a daunting and some people said plain silly idea to adapt one of London’s oldest cinemas back into a theatre, but it has proved to be a most inspired and exciting achievement. What started as a 12-week run has been extended and extended, which means the Kneehigh Theatre Company will have played over 350 performances, and they are now due a well-earned rest before the UK tour opens on 13 February 2009 at the Royal Theatre, Northampton.”
Directed by Emma Rice, Brief Encounter opened earlier this year on 17 February and promised to take audiences back to the age of romance and the silver screen from the moment they entered the theatre. Blending the scripts from the 1945 film starring Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard with Noël Coward’s play Still Life, the production switches between film and theatre to tell the story of three couples and their tempestuous and often heart-breaking stories.
Brief Encounter stars Tristan Sturrock, Naomi Frederick, Tamzin Griffin, Dorothy Atkinson, Stuart McLoughlin, Andy Williams, Adam Pleeth and Alex Vann, and features original music from Kneehigh Theatre’s Stu Barker.
CM