A new production of classic fairytale Beauty And The Beast will be staged by the National Theatre this Christmas, suitable for children aged eight and older.
Beauty And The Beast, which runs from 24 November to 5 January (press night 1 December) will be the second children’s Christmas show in the National’s Cottesloe theatre to be directed by Katie Mitchell, whose production of Dr Seuss’s The Cat In The Hat played last festive season.
National Theatre Associate Director Mitchell is best known for her radical takes on classic plays including The Seagull, Three Sisters, Women Of Troy and Waves.
Mitchell is collaborating with the same creative team as The Cat In The Hat for this production of Beauty And The Beast, which promises a lively mix of music, magic and puppets.
This version of the French fairytale has new text by playwright Lucy Kirkwood and music by Paul Clark, with a cast that includes Mark Arends and Justin Salinger – who also appeared in The Cat In The Hat – Sian Clifford, Kate Duchêne, Kristin Hutchinson and Sean Jackson.
Beauty And The Beast joins a National Theatre autumn/winter line-up that also includes Hamlet, which begins performances in the Olivier theatre next week, Season’s Greetings, directed by Marianne Elliott in the Lyttelton theatre from 1 December, and Peter Hall’s production of Twelfth Night, which plays from 11 January.
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