‘The first time I held a prism and turned it to the light it did what the Impressionists struggled a lifetime to do; it embraced the light, split the light; it seemed to understand the very secret of light.’

Hampstead Theatre presents the world premiere of Terry Johnson’s delightfully witty and poignant new play Prism, based on the extraordinary life of double Oscar-winning cinematic master Jack Cardiff. Robert Lindsay returns to Hampstead Theatre (How I Got That Story, 1981) as Jack, ‘the man who made women look beautiful’, and will be joined by Claire Skinner, Rebecca Night and Barnaby Kay.

Legendary cinematographer Jack Cardiff has retired to the sleepy village of Denham, Buckinghamshire. His days of hard work – and play – on some of the most famous sets in the world are now long behind him, as are his secret liaisons with some of the most famous women in the world… Surrounded by memorabilia from a lifetime of ‘painting with light’, the writing of an autobiography should be an easy matter – were it not that Jack would now rather live in the past
than remember it.

The commissioning of Prism was funded by NEXT DECADE, a joint Hampstead Theatre/AKO Foundation
initiative.

Hampstead Theatre is grateful to Lin and Ken Craig who have generously supported this production.