London Theatre News Today: Wednesday 5 May

New production photos from Six

New episodes featuring leading names of stage and screen announced for National Theatre’s Life in Stages interview series

The National Theatre today announces three new episodes as part of its recently launched interview series Life in Stages featuring conversations with leading names in British Theatre. The new episodes will be available to watch for free on the National Theatre’s YouTube channel on Thursday evenings at 7pm BST.   

The fourth episode of the series which will air on Thursday 13 May will see award-winning actors Bill Nighy, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Andrew Lincoln, 20 years on from starring together in Joe Penhall’s critically acclaimed Blue/Orange at the National Theatre (2000) and in much-loved film Love Actually (2003), reunited to discuss and reflect on their extensive acting careers.  

On 20 May the fifth episode will feature a conversation between director and National Theatre Associate Dominic Cooke together with award-winning actor Sophie Okonedo. The sixth episode will be broadcast on 27 May featuring actor, writer and newly appointed Deputy Artistic Director of the National Theatre Clint Dyer and writer, recording artist and spoken word performer Kae Tempest.  

These conversations were pre-recorded on the empty Lyttelton stage at the National Theatre and see renowned figures from across the theatre industry reflect on their illustrious professional careers and share personal anecdotes, stories and memories along the way.  

The first three episodes featured conversations between Rufus Norris and Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley and Josh O’Connor, and Meera Syal and Adrian Lester, and are all available to catch up on now for free on the NT’s YouTube channel.  

First Community Play from the Lyric Hammersmith, celebrating stories of West London

Announced today, Heart Of Hammersmith will be the first ever large-scale community play in the Lyric Hammersmith’s 125-year history to take over the main house this summer.

Written and created by Nicholai La Barrie with the Lyric Community Company, the intergenerational play will be directed by Eva Sampson with Alex Hurst and will bring together a cast of more than 40 people from West London including 17 young members.

Running from 12 – 14 August, all tickets are £10.

As part of the Lyric Community Company, the Lyric is now seeking adults from West London to perform in the production in August. There will be a mix of speaking and non-speaking roles and no previous acting experience is required. Adults aged 25+ who live in West London and are passionate about the community are invited to apply via the Lyric website www.lyric.co.uk by 10am on Monday 24 May. Expenses for all in person engagement will be provided for by the Lyric.

Residents and workers across Hammersmith & Fulham are being invited to share their memories of the area in Your Hammersmith Story which will see selected stories featured in a new podcast from the Lyric.

Rob Lehmann, Director of Young Lyric said: “We’ve loved hearing from our community members for Heart of Hammersmith, and now we want to invite residents and workers from Hammersmith & Fulham to share their memories with us as part of Your Hammersmith Story to celebrate the history, people and places of our home borough. What does Hammersmith mean to you? It could be a story from your first visit, a special occasion, celebrating a local hero, your favourite places to visit, anecdotes from your time here, you name it.”

To share your story, see www.lyric.co.uk for further information.

Rose Theatre to reopen

On 27 June, the Rose is reopening to the public with a series of summer shows and events, including:

• The International Youth Arts Festival by Creative Youth from 1 July 2021
• Theatre Royal Bath’s Copenhagen by Michael Frayn, directed by Emma Howlett and starring Philip Arditti, Haydn Gwynne and Malcolm Sinclair, playing 20 – 24 July 2021
• Rhum and Clay Theatre Company’s The War of The Worlds from 28 July – 1 August 2021
• Additional performances announced for Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s Zog in August
• A Shakespeare in the Sun Festival and the return of our popular Summer Schools programme as part of our learning and participation branch, Rose Participate.

Rose Chief Executive Robert O’Dowd said:

“I am very pleased to be able to confirm our summer reopening plans today, following what has been an extraordinarily difficult year for theatre. All of us at the Rose look forward to welcoming back artists and audiences.”

Visit the Rose website here.