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Back to News & Press Sonia Friedman, the formidable producer, says that despite the recession, business in Theatreland is booming Wednesday, 30 December 2009 It is a struggle to see the similarities between the ditzy, Chihuahua-carrying, all-things-pink loving shopaholic heroine of Legally Blonde, and Sonia Friedman, the powerhouse producer who is bringing the musical adaptation of the 2001 Hollywood film starring Reese Witherspoon to the West End. But Friedman, one of the world's most successful theatre producers, admits with mild embarrassment that the story of Elle Woods, a homecoming queen dumped by her boyfriend for someone more "serious", who cures her heartbreak by hitting the books at Harvard Law School, struck a deep chord with her when she first saw the show on Broadway. "I was feeling particularly gloomy and depressed that day, and at the interval I just felt like someone had given me an injection of adrenaline," she says. "As a woman, I just fell for it and I loved its message. On a more profound level, though it's difficult to talk about this without sounding pretentious, I sort of identified with Elle. It's embarrassing, but I did. Because Elle is a great role model for women. She shows that there's nothing wrong with wearing pretty clothes and lipstick, while still being a strong woman. "This story about a girl who is assumed can't have a career because she likes wearing a pink tracksuit appealed to me." Britain's theatre-goers seem to agree. During its preview run, Legally Blonde, The Musical attracted a "Beatlemania-like atmosphere" among its predominantly female audiences. It has since been hailed as a recession-bucking success, taking a reported £2million in advance ticket sales. The frothy, feel-good show is a major departure from the critically-acclaimed but less obviously commercial productions that Friedman usually takes on. Her recent productions include Shakespeare's Othello, Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, Harold Pinter's No-Man's Land, and The Norman Conquests by Alan Ayckbourn. Legally Blonde, The Musical seems to jar with such a heavyweight back catalogue. Sitting at a desk in the offices of Sonia Friedman Productions above the reknowned Duke of York's in the heart of Theatreland, Friedman explains her unusual choice. "As a woman working in a man's world - and it is a man's world, without question, whatever man tells you it's not - I wanted to do it. For years, women have had to mould themselves into the style of what a man imagines a tough woman to be, and I started my career thinking I should wear a suit and carry a briefcase." Today, Friedman's uniform is jeans and knee-high leather boots. From 1989 to 1993, Friedman was a producer at the National Theatre, where she says sexism was rife. "People said I only got the job because I was pretty, I only got the job because I wore a mini skirt - all this s***." She rolls her eyes recalling an incident when her outfit for a meeting at the Arts Council raised eyebrows among her colleagues. "I was wearing a pair of PVC trousers - I was very young and they were very trendy at the time, honestly," she laughs. "But a man came up to me and said: 'You can't wear that, they won't take you seriously.' "So I went along with the PVC trousers on anyway. The meeting went fine, and I got exactly what I wanted from it. Nobody mentioned my trousers." She concedes that little has changed. "I still get it now. I am accused all the time of having affairs with men who are very powerful and successful in this business. If I am working with them, it is apparently not because I'm good at my job, but because I'm having an affair with them. "Only last week someone took me to one side and said: 'I think you should know there's a rumour about you and so-and-so.' Sadly, I'm as single as you can be. I don't even know whether it's men or women who start these rumours - it almost doesn't matter - but being one of the few women in this industry, it comes at me a lot." Friedman manages to keep remarkably cool on such a sensitive subject. "I hate it," she says shrugging resignedly. "Thankfully, I'm talking to another woman, because if I was talking to a man I could not have this conversation. If a woman talks about working in a man's world, we come across as feminists, and I'm most definitely not a feminist. I'm just a woman doing a job. "I actually get annoyed when I'm described as 'one of the top female producers'. I don't want to be one of the top female producers, I want to be one of the top producers." Friedman is without doubt exactly that, and despite the recession, business in theatreland is booming. She is encouraged by the recent success of "big-issue plays" like the sell-out run of Enron at the Royal Court, and David Hare's The Power of Yes at the National, which have stood shoulder to shoulder in sales with the safe-bet, feelgood musicals. Jerusalem, Jez Butterworth's comic take on Britain's broken society was another hit at the Royal Court earlier this year, which Friedman will take to the West End in January. "I think people are very interested in the state of the nation, and where we are at the moment," she says. "Jerusalem is an example of an epic piece about who we are, the break down of society, the rural world we live in and all those big ideas. "We are all trying to search for answers as to the mess we're in. The confusion of the wars, why we're doing it, what's going on. I think we're looking to our art to give us some answers. We [theatre] can do that very well, without being didactic or lecturing. It can really make us think about why we are where we are, and we don't have our politicians doing that for us. "In times of certainty - call them the 'Thatcher years' - where it was very definite what was going on, whether you agreed with it or not, there was less powerful theatre around. But it's in times of uncertainty that artists rise up and emerge and start to ask the questions. Right now, people haven't got a clue what is going on, I know I don't, and I am certainly looking to writers to try and help me." Performance was always in Friedman's blood. Her father, Leonard Friedman, a Jewish violinist born to Russian immigrant parents, was one of the most eminent musicians of his day, and her mother Clair an equally talented concert pianist. Her sister Maria is an award-winning stage singer, her brother Richard is a violinist, and her younger half-brother Ben is a playwright. Only one sister, Sarah, a scientist, has not followed in the Friedmans performing footsteps. "I grew up in north London in a very bohemian household. We woke up to lots of music and chaos," she recalls, adding that she was even the star of her very own show at just six years old. "I would come into the living room and say in a squeaky voice, 'Welcome to the Sonia Friedman show', and my family would come on and sing and do readings." Home now for Friedman, 44, is a converted pub in Stepney Green, east London which she has spent six years lovingly renovating. "I'm the happiest I've ever been, because my pub is full of my family," she says. "My brother, sister, brother-in-law and nephew are all living there at the moment. We're on the piano the whole time, and it's like being back in my childhood. I can get home from work after a very tense day of being an adult, and pretend to be a little girl again." After cutting her teeth at the National Theatre, where much to her delight, Harold Pinter once asked her to write a "pause" into a prop script, Friedman set up Out of Joint theatre company with the Royal Court's former artistic director, Max Stafford-Clark. In 2002, she founded Sonia Friedman Productions, a subsidiary of the Ambassadors Theatre Group, the largest theatre owner in the world. Like an ever-increasing number of West End shows, Legally Blonde, The Musical will be led by a cast of television and pop stars including Sheridan Smith and Jill Halfpenny, actresses best known for their roles in Gavin and Stacey and EastEnders. Duncan James, a former member of the boy band Blue, will play the male lead. Has the West End, perhaps, become too obsessed with the film and television "star" draws at the expense of lesser-known but more capable actors? "What you have to think about is does it compromise the work?" says Friedman. "Has it raised the bar so high that audiences are expecting a 'star' to be in everything? Does that star have the experience? And very often they do but sometimes they don't," she says. "Film stars who can who can act really well and who have stage craft are few and far between. "I read today that Abi Titmuss is playing Lady Macbeth," she continues, raising a sceptical eyebrow. "I wouldn't do that. The fact is Abi Titmuss has been cast because they know that's a sensational idea." Despite having just opened two shows on Broadway - A Little Night Music starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury, and A View from the Bridge with Scarlett Johansson - Friedman has no fewer than 56 projects on her "to-do list", including developing a musical adaptation of the film Shakespeare in Love. Gathering up her Bichon Frise, Teddy, who has been snoozing on the sofa beside me, Friedman laughs when I point out that with her penchant for pocket-size show dogs, she does indeed share a passion with Legally Blonde's heroine, Elle. For such a tough and outspoken businesswoman, I tell her Teddy seems a rather fluffy accessory. In response, she picks up a piece of paper from her desk on which she has scribbled a recent quote from the American senator, Diane Feinstein. It reads: "Toughness doesn't have to come in a pinstripe suit." Source: Daily Telegraph, 24th December 2009 - full article here . Up Up

Back to Productions GHOSTS This production began on 17th December 2014 and closed on 22nd March 2015. A production that does full justice to this thrilling, harrowing play. Daily Telegraph Helene Alving has spent her life suspended in an emotional void after the death of her cruel but outwardly charming husband. She is determined to escape the ghosts of her past by telling her son, Oswald, the truth about his father. But on his return from his life as a painter in France, Oswald reveals how he has already inherited the legacy of his father’s dissolute life. A masterpiece of compassion... Richard Eyre's new version has glories too many to list. The Times The Almeida Theatre’s five-star production of Ibsen’s GHOSTS , adapted and directed by Richard Eyre , will transfer to Trafalgar Studios, playing from Tuesday 17 December. Richard Eyre was announced as Best Director for Ghosts at this year's Evening Standard Theatre Awards. Lesley Manville was announced as Best Leading Actress for Ghosts in this year's Critic's Circle Awards. Almeida Theatre and Sonia Friedman Productions present “GHOSTS ”. ...by far and away the best production I have ever seen at the theatre. Sunday Telegraph CAST LESLEY MANVILLE – Helen Alving ADAM KOTZ – Pastor Manders JACK LOWDEN – Oswald Alving BRIAN MCCARDIE – Jacob Engstrand CHARLENE MCKENNA – Regina Engstrand CREATIVES Adapted by RICHARD EYRE HENRIK IBSEN – Playwright RUCHARD EYRE – Director TIM HATLEY – Designer PETER MUMFORD – Lighting Designer JOHN LEONARD – Sound Designer CARA BECKINSALE CDG – Casting

Back to Productions TRAVESTIES – BROADWAY This production first began performances on 29th March and closed on 17th June 2018. ★★★★ A glorious one of a kind… this beautifully acted comical-intellectual collage keeps delivering The Times ★★★★ Tomfoolery with a pinch of panache: a dazzling revival Daily Mail Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes , Artistic Director/CEO) – in association with Chocolate Factory Productions and Sonia Friedman Productions – present the first Broadway revival of Tom Stoppard ’s Tony Award-winning play Travesties , direct from its hit, sold-out productions at London’s Menier Chocolate Factory (David Babani , Artistic Director) and the West End. Tony nominee Patrick Marber returns to direct the London production’s acclaimed star Tom Hollander as “Henry Carr.” ★★★★ Tom Hollander shines in Tom Stoppard's wild ride of a comedy Time Out CAST TOM HOLLANDER – Henry Carr PETER MCDONALD – James Joyce SETH NUMRICH – Tristan Tzara NICHOLAS WOODESON – Lenin SCARLETT STRALLEN – Gwendolen SARA TOPHAM – Cecily OPAL ALLADIN – Nadya PATRICK KERR – Bennett CREATIVES TOM STOPPARD – Playwright PATRICK MARBER – Director TIM HATELY – Set and Costume Designer NEIL AUSTIN – Lighting Designer ADAM CORK – Sound Designer and Original Music POLLY BENNETT – Movement

Back to News & Press Kings Charles III transfers to the Wyndham's Theatre Thursday, 22 May 2014 Tim Pigott-Smith will once again play Charles. The cast also includes Richard Goulding,Nyasha Hatendi, Adam James, Margot Leicester, Tom Robertson, Nicholas Rowe, Tafline Steen and Lydia Wilson. Further casting is to be announced. The Queen is dead: after a lifetime of waiting, the prince ascends the throne. A future of power. But how to rule? Mike Bartlett's controversial play explores the people underneath the crowns, the unwritten rules of our democracy, and the conscience of Britain's most famous family. The production is playing to sell-out crowds at the Almeida Theatre until 31 May, and has received international critical acclaim. Directed by the Almeida Theatre’s artistic director Rupert Goold, King Charles III is designed by Tom Scutt, composed by Jocelyn Pook, with lighting by Jon Clark and sound by Paul Arditti. King Charles III will be the fourth production to transfer from the Almeida Theatre to the West End with co-producer Sonia Friedman Productions, within the last year. Chimerica played to sell-out audiences at the Harold Pinter Theatre and won five Olivier Awards including Best New Play, Richard Eyre’s Ghosts played at the Trafalgar Studios from last December winning three Olivier Awards including Best Revival and Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan’s critically acclaimed production of 1984, currently playing at the Playhouse Theatre, has just extended its run by five weeks until 23 August due to unprecedented demand. King Charles III is produced in the West End by Sonia Friedman Productions, Stuart Thompson Productions and the Almeida Theatre. Tickets for King Charles III at the Wyndham’s Theatre will go on sale exclusively through the Almeida box office on 28 May and on general sale on 6 June Up Up

Back to News & Press NT Live broadcast of Hamlet is highest grossing event cinema opening of 2015 Friday, 16 October 2015 Rentrak are reporting that HAMLET was the top grossing box office in UK and Ireland on 15 October and, although so far having only played for one evening, is currently standing at number 3 on the week. Sales currently stand at £1.7 million with many venues still to report and encore screenings planned from 22 October. The production, directed by Lyndsey Turner and produced by Sonia Friedman Productions was broadcast live to 87% of UK cinemas and thousands more around the world direct from the stage of the Barbican Theatre in London. The cast also includes Leo Bill (Horatio), Siân Brooke (Ophelia), Anastasia Hille (Gertrude), Ciarán Hinds (Claudius), Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Laertes) Karl Johnson (Ghost, Gravedigger) and Jim Norton (Polonius). Prior to the broadcast Benedict Cumberbatch said “It feels truly thrilling to be opening up our theatre production of Hamlet to the wider reach of a National Theatre Live audience. The idea that people who can't get to the theatre, for whatever reason, can join us for one night in cinemas around the country - and indeed the world - is extraordinary. Each screening will doubtless have its own atmosphere, but wherever you’re watching, thanks to the brilliance of the National Theatre Live team, you’ll be right at the heart of the action, in the best seat in the house” As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father’s death but paralysed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state. Benedict Cumberbatch is an international multi-award winning theatre, television and film actor. His recent stage credits for the National Theatre include After the Dance and alternating the Creature and Dr Frankenstein, in Danny Boyle's production of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein for which he won the Olivier, Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Best Actor awards. He is currently best known for playing the title role in the BBC’s Sherlock and will be seen next year as Richard III in The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses. His film work includes Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Star Trek into Darkness, 12 Years a Slave, The Fifth Estate, August: Osage County and the role of Smaug in The Hobbit trilogy. Cumberbatch has been nominated for BAFTA, Golden Globe and Academy Awards for his role playing Alan Turing in The Imitation Game. Lyndsey Turner’s directing credits include Fathers and Sons and Philadelphia, Here I Come! for the Donmar Warehouse, Machinal for the Roundabout Theatre, Chimerica at the Almeida and in the West End, Posh for the Royal Court and in the West End, There Is A War and Edgar and Annabel for the National Theatre, Alice and The Way Of The World for Sheffield Theatres and Our Private Life, Contractions, A Miracle for the Royal Court. Turner was recently appointed as an Associate Director for the National Theatre where she directed Light Shining in Buckinghamshire in April. Sonia Friedman Productions, is a West End and Broadway production company responsible for some of the most successful theatre productions in London and New York. Since 1990, SFP has developed, initiated and produced over 140 new productions and has won numerous Olivier and Tony Awards, winning 6 at this year’s Olivier Awards - including Best New Musical and Best New Play - and a record-breaking 14 at last year’s Olivier Awards, including the quartet of Best New Musical, Best New Play, Best Revival of a Musical and Best Revival of a Play. West End and Broadway productions include the UK premiere of The Book of Mormon, Farinelli and the King, Sunny Afternoon, Bend It Like Beckham, The Nether, The River, Electra, King Charles III, Shakespeare in Love, 1984, Ghosts, Mojo, Chimerica, Merrily We Roll Along, Old Times, Twelfth Night and Richard III, A Chorus of Disapproval, The Sunshine Boys, Hay Fever, Absent Friends, Top Girls, Betrayal, Much Ado About Nothing, Clybourne Park, The Children’s Hour, A Flea in Her Ear, La Bête, All My Sons, Private Lives, Jerusalem, A Little Night Music, Legally Blonde, Othello, Arcadia, The Mountaintop, The Norman Conquests, A View from the Bridge and La Cage aux Folles. Forthcoming productions include Jim Broadbent in A Christmas Carol, Funny Girl at the Menier Chocolate Factory and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (in association with Playground Entertainment’s Colin Callender and JK Rowling). For a full list of SFP’s theatre credits, please visit soniafriedman.com. The full cast of HAMLET is: Barry Aird (Soldier), Eddie Arnold (Danish Captain, Servant), Leo Bill (Horatio), Siân Brooke (Ophelia), Nigel Carrington (Servant, Cornelius), Ruairi Conaghan (Player King), Benedict Cumberbatch (Hamlet), Rudi Dharmalingam (Guildenstern), Colin Haigh (Priest, Messenger), Paul Ham (Official), Diveen Henry (Player Queen, Messenger), Anastasia Hille (Gertrude), Ciarán Hinds (Claudius), Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Laertes), Karl Johnson (Ghost of Hamlet’s father), Jim Norton (Polonius), Amaka Okafor (Official), Dan Parr (Barnardo), Jan Shepherd (Courtier), Morag Siller (Voltemand), Matthew Steer (Rosencrantz), Sergo Vares (Fortinbras) and Dwane Walcott (Marcellus). Set designs are by Es Devlin with costume designs by Katrina Lindsay, video by Luke Halls, lighting by Jane Cox, music by Jon Hopkins, sound by Christopher Shutt, movement by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and fights by Bret Yount. Up Up

Back to News & Press Sonia Friedman: Everyone was looking to me, so I took the decision Tuesday, 16 March 2021 Sonia Friedman said, ‘In March 2020, I had 19 productions either running or about to go into rehearsals around the world. On March 6, I wrote in a notebook: “Prepare for a shutdown of six, eight or 12 weeks. Discuss ramifications of a 12-week shutdown with theatre owners and mitigating actions.” That’s what the thinking was. At 5pm on the 16th, the public was told not to go to the theatre, but there was no mandate to shut us down. There was about 10 minutes of “What am I meant to do?” Everyone was looking to me, so I took the decision. I sent each of my associate producers to the theatres and said ‘Tell them we can’t continue’. I then had to start dismantling dozens of productions. It was a while before the enormity of it hit me. It was very distressing and I don’t quite know why I didn’t have a breakdown but I was close to it. It took me about 15 weeks to go back to the West End. I stood outside Leopoldstadt at the Wyndham’s, having passed Harry Potter on the way. The scale of the loss was so immense, I thought: ‘How do we come back from this?’” I’m still asking that question.’ Full article can be read here . Up Up

Back to News & Press To Kill A Mockingbird opens in the West End to critical acclaim and immediately extends due to public demand Friday, 1 April 2022 Barry Diller and Sonia Friedman today announce the extension of the critically acclaimed West End production of Harper Lee ’s To Kill a Mockingbird – a new play by Aaron Sorkin – with the production now running at the Gielgud Theatre until 19 November, 2022. Bartlett Sher directs a cast of over thirty - Rafe Spall (Atticus Finch), Harry Attwell (Mr Cunningham/Boo Radley), Amanda Boxer (Mrs Henry Dubose), Poppy Lee Friar (Mayella Ewell), John Hastings (Bailiff), Simon Hepworth (Mr Roscoe/Dr Reynolds), Laura Howard (Miss Stephanie/Dill’s Mother), Lloyd Hutchinson (Link Deas), Gwyneth Keyworth (Scout Finch), Tom Mannion (Sheriff Heck Tate), David Moorst (Dill Harris), Pamela Nomvete (Calpurnia), Jim Norton (Judge Taylor), Patrick O’Kane (Bob Ewell), Jude Owusu (Tom Robinson), Harry Redding (Jem Finch), David Sturzaker (Horace Gilmer) and Natasha Williams (Mrs Dubose’s Maid), with Helen Belbin , Laurence Belcher , Paul Birchard , Ryan Ellsworth , Rebecca Hayes , Danny Hetherington , Matthew Jure , Anna Munden, Tiwai Muza, Oyin Orija and Itoya Osagiede making up the ensemble and understudies, with Candida Caldicot on organ and Frank Dawkins on guitar. To Kill a Mockingbird is running the All Rise ticket scheme in an exclusive partnership with TodayTix , offering £15 seats for every performance across the run. The initiative provides access at affordable prices to as wide an audience as possible. More than 1,400 tickets will be released each month. So far more than 2,000 tickets have been sold via the scheme with a further 10,000 being made available through to November starting from next week. In addition to the All Rise initiative, there is an opportunity to purchase £15 tickets via Today Tix daily rush – where a limited number of additional seats will be available on each performance day via the app. The TodayTix app can be downloaded onto iOs or Android devices for free via the app store; or you can access online via TodayTix.com. Set in Maycomb, Alabama in 1934, To Kill a Mockingbird has provided American literature with some of its most indelible characters: lawyer Atticus Finch, the tragically wronged Tom Robinson, Atticus’ daughter Scout, her brother Jem, their housekeeper and caretaker Calpurnia and the reclusive Arthur “Boo” Radley. For the past six decades and for every generation, this story, its characters and portrait of small-town America have helped to, and continue to, inspire conversation and change. Harper Lee’s enduring story of racial injustice and childhood innocence has sold more than 45 million copies of the novel worldwide. 2020 marked the 60th anniversary of its publication. Sher and the original Broadway creative team - Miriam Buether (Set), Ann Roth (Costume), Jennifer Tipton (Lighting), Scott Lehrer (Sound), Adam Guettel (Original Score), Kimberly Grigsby (Music Supervision) and Campbell Young Associates (Hair & Wigs) – are joined by Serena Hill as Casting Director, Hazel Holder as Voice & Dialect Coach, Titas Halder as Associate Director, Rasheka Christie-Carter as Assistant Director, Tavia Rivée Jefferson as Cultural Coordinator, and Candida Caldicot as Musical Director. For latest news sign up at www.tokillamockingbird.co.uk . Up Up

Back to News & Press The Ferryman wins Best New Play at the 2018 Critics' Circle Awards Tuesday, 30 January 2018 We are thrilled to announce that The Ferryman has been awarded Best New Play at the 2018 Critics’ Circle Awards. Andrew Scott was also honoured with an award for Best Shakespearean performance, for his incredible lead performance in Hamlet. Following unanimous critical acclaim and widespread demand for tickets, Jez Butterworth ’s epic play is booking to 19 May 2018 at the Gielgud Theatre . Directed by Sam Mendes , the play premiered at the Royal Court, becoming the fastest-selling show in the theatre’s history. Andrew Scott was also awarded Best Shakesperean Performance at this year’s Critics’ Circle Awards for his beautiful and stunning performance in Hamlet , both at the Almeida and then the Harold Pinter Theatre. Up Up

Back to News & Press New Image Released for Uncle Vanya Monday, 18 November 2019 Uncle Vanya will run for sixteen weeks at the Harold Pinter Theatre from 14th January 2020 with Opening Night on Thursday 23rd January 2020. Tickets are on sale now. Toby Jones will star in the title role of Uncle Vanya alongside Richard Armitage as Astrov. Rosalind Eleazar (The Personal History of David Copperfield, Deep Water, The Starry Messenger ) will play Yelena, with Aimee Lou Wood (Sex Education, Downstate ) as Sonya, the Emmy Award-winning Anna Calder-Marshall (LOVE, Evening at the Talk House, Male of the Species ) as Nana, the Olivier and Tony-award nominated Dearbhla Molloy (The Ferryman, Dancing at Lughnasa, Juno and the Paycock ) as Grandmaman, Peter Wight (The Birthday Party, Hamlet, The Red Lion ) as Telegin and Olivier Award-nominated Ciarán Hinds (Translations, Game of Thrones, Girl from the North Country ) as Professor Serebryakov. In the heat of summer, Sonya (Aimee Lou Wood ) and her Uncle Vanya (Toby Jones ) while away their days on a crumbling estate deep in the countryside, visited occasionally only by the local doctor Astrov (Richard Armitage ). However, when Sonya’s father Professor Serebryakov (Ciarán Hinds ) suddenly returns with his restless, alluring, new wife Yelena (Rosalind Eleazar ) declaring his intention to sell the house, the polite facades crumble and long repressed feelings start to emerge with devastating consequences. Olivier Award-winner Conor McPherson ’s stunning new adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s masterpiece, Uncle Vanya, is a portrayal of life at the turn of the 20th century, full of tumultuous frustration, dark humour and hidden passions. Critically acclaimed director Ian Rickson returns to Chekhov for the first time since his landmark production of The Seagull in 2007, reuniting with BAFTA and Olivier Award-winner Toby Jones (The Birthday Party ) alongside Richard Armitage , who returns to the UK stage six years after his Olivier Award-nominated performance in The Crucible . Uncle Vanya is the eleventh collaboration between Ian Rickson and Sonia Friedman Productions , with previous productions including Rosmersholm, Jerusalem, The River, Betrayal and The Children’s Hour . Uncle Vanya is designed by Rae Smith , with lighting by Bruno Poet , music by Stephen Warbeck , sound by Ian Dickinson and casting by Amy Ball CDG . Up Up

Back to Productions ARCADIA – BROADWAY This production began performances on 26th February and closed on 19th June 2011. See it you should. ‘Arcadia’ is propelled by genuine, panting passion. A terrific play. The New York Times ARCADIA is set in April 1809 in a stately home in Derbyshire. Thomasina, a gifted pupil, proposes a startling theory, beyond her comprehension. All around her, the adults, including her tutor Septimus, are preoccupied with secret desires, illicit passions and professional rivalries. Two hundred years later, academic adversaries Hannah and Bernard (Lia Williams and Billy Crudup) are piecing together puzzling clues, curiously recalling those events of 1809, in their quest for an increasingly elusive truth. A ravishing revival. Variety ARCADIA , Tom Stoppard ’s “dazzling masterpiece, a piece of theatrical heaven” (The Daily Telegraph), returns to New York this spring for a limited engagement in an acclaimed new production directed by five-time Tony Award nominee David Leveaux. One of the best plays of my theatergoing life. The New Yorker CAST MARGARET COLIN – Lady Croom BILLY CRUDUP – Bernard Nightingale RAÚL ESPARZA – Valentine Coverly GLENN FLESHLER – Captain Brice GRACE GUMMER – Chloë Coverly EDWARD JAMES HYLAND – Jellaby BYRON JENNINGS – Richard Noakes BEL POWLEY – Thomasina Coverly TOM RILEY – Septimus Hodge NOAH ROBBINS – Gus Coverly/Augustus Coverly DAVID TURNER – Ezra Chater LIA WILLIAMS – Hannah Jarvis CREATIVES TOM STOPPARD – Playwright CORIN BUCKERIDGE – Music DAVID LEVEAUX – Director JODI MOCCIA – Choreographer HILDEGARD BECHTLER – Set Designer GREGORY GALE – Costume Designer DONALD HOLDER – Lighting Designer DAVID VAN TIEGHEM – Sound Designer NAOMI DONNE – Make-Up Designer DAVID BRIAN BROWN – Hair Designer

Back to News & Press West End transfer for Headlong and Almeida Theatre's five star co-production of Lucy Kirkwood's Chimerica Thursday, 13 June 2013 Directed by Lyndsey Turner, Chimerica received its world premiere last month at the Almeida Theatre where it has subsequently been acclaimed by critics and audiences alike. Set designs are by Es Devlin with costumes by Christina Cunningham, lighting by Tim Lutkin, sound by Carolyn Downing and video design by Finn Ross. Chimerica will be produced in the West End by Sonia Friedman Productions, Bob Bartner/Norman Tulchin and Jean Doumanian. The cast includes Stephen Campbell Moore, Benedict Wong, Claudie Blakley, Elizabeth Chan, Vera Chok, Karl Collins, Trevor Cooper, Nancy Crane, Sean Gilder, Sarah Lam and Andrew Leung all of whom will reprise their roles in the West End. Final casting will be announced shortly. Tiananmen Square, 1989. As tanks roll through Beijing and soldiers hammer on his hotel door, Joe – a young American photojournalist – captures a piece of history. When a cryptic message is left in a Beijing newspaper more than 20 years later, Joe is driven to discover the truth behind the unknown hero he captured on film. Who was he? What happened to him? And could he still be alive? Stephen Campbell Moore’s (Joe) theatre credits include Berenice at the Donmar Warehouse, Clybourne Park for the Royal Court, All My Sons at the Apollo Theatre and The History Boys for the National Theatre. Amongst his television credits are The Wrong Mans, Hunted, Lark Rise to Candleford, Ashes to Ashes and Hustle. His film work includes Complicit, A Short Stay in Switzerland, Sea Wolf, The History Boys and Bright Young Things. Benedict Wong (Zhang Lin) was recently seen in Hampstead Theatre’s production of #aiww: The Arrest of Ai Weiwei. Previously he played Laertes in the critically acclaimed Hamlet at the Young Vic opposite Michael Sheen. His many film credits include Prometheus, The Lady, Dirty Pretty Things, Moon, Sunshine, Hummingbird and Kick Ass 2. Wong’s TV credits include Run, Top Boy and The Wrong Mans. Claudie Blakley (Tessa) recently played Lady Macbeth at Sheffield Crucible where she was also seen in Lear. Her other theatre credits include The Lady from the Sea at the Almeida Theatre. She has performed at the National Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, the Young Vic, Royal Court and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her television credits include New Tricks, Lark Rise to Candleford and Cranford Chronicles. Her film credits include Bright Star, Pride and Prejudice and Gosford Park. Elizabeth Chan’s (Liuli) theatre credits include Inside Out and Monkey for Polka Theatre, The Wheel for the National Theatre of Scotland, Greenland for the National Theatre and Nicholas Nickleby for the Lyric Hammersmith. Her television credits include Black Mirror: Going Dark and Silent Witness. Vera Chok’s (Michelle /Mary Chang) theatre credits include Tonseisha – The Man Who Abandoned the World at the Barbican PitLab, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight for New Perspectives UK tour, The Death of Tintagell for saltpeter and When The Lights Went Out for Tara Arts UK tour. Her screen credits include Panic and Random 11. Karl Collins (David/Peter/Paul/Officer) was seen on stage at the Tricycle Theatre in One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show. His other theatre credits include Category B and Fabulation also for the Tricycle Theatre and Riff Raff for the Arcola Theatre. Amongst his television credits are Black Mirror, Death in Paradise, Metrosexuality and The Bill. His film credits include The Unloved, Life and Lyrics and Greenwich Mean Time. Trevor Cooper (Frank) has been seen at the Almeida Theatre in The Late Henry Moss, playing the title role, as well as roles in Awake and Sing, Measure for Measure and House of Games. His other theatre credits include Heartbreak House for Chichester Festival Theatre, King Lear for the Tobacco Factory, Arcadia at the Duke of York's and The Lieutenant of Innishmore for the Royal Shakespeare Company. His television credits include Vikings, Spooks, Inspector George Gently, Outnumbered, The History of Mr Polly and Trial and Retribution. On film his credits include Somerstown, Happy-Go-Lucky, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, The Gangs of New York and Vanity Fair. Nancy Crane’s (Martha/Doreen/Maria Dubiecki) more recent theatre credits include The Children’s Hour at the Comedy Theatre, Design for Living at the Old Vic and Now or Later for the Royal Court. Her television credits include Nixon’s The One, Upstairs, Downstairs and Cambridge Spies. On film her credits include The Special Relationship and The Road to Guantanamo. Sean Gilder (Mel Stanwyck) has previously been seen in Enemies and The Earthly Paradise at the Almeida Theatre, Little Malcolm and his Struggle Against the Eunuchs for Hampstead Theatre, All’s Well That Ends Well for the Royal Exchange Theatre and Our Boys for the Donmar Warehouse. His extensive television credits include Inspector George Gently, The Shadow Line, Shameless, State of Play and New Tricks. On film his credits include Selfish Giant, King Arthur and Gangs of New York. Sarah Lam’s (Feng Meihui/Ming Xiaoli) more recent theatre credits include Factors Unforeseen for the Orange Tree and Mail Order Bride for the Theatre Royal Northampton. She has previously been seen in productions at the National Theatre and the Royal Court. On television her credits include No Problem!, Angels and Brookside. On film her credits include Hamlet and China Connection. Andrew Leung’s (Young Zhang Lin/Benny) theatre credits include #aiww: The Arrest of Ai Weiweiat Hampstead Theatre, Minaturists 33 and A Leap of Faith for the Arcola Theatre, Man in the Middle for Theatre 503 and Romeo and Juliet, Uncle Vanya and All My Sons for East 15. His television credits include Phone Shop and Ahead of the Class. On film his credits include Comes a Bright Day and The List. Lucy Kirkwood’s plays are The Small Hours, co–written with Ed Hime for Hampstead Theatre, Beauty and The Beast for the National Theatre, Bloody Wimmin for the Tricycle’s Women, Power and Politics season, It Felt Empty When the Heart Went at First But It is Alright Now for Clean Break Theatre Company at the Arcola, Guns or Butter for The Union Theatre Terror Festival, Psychogeography and Tinderbox for the Bush Theatre an Grady Hot Potato for Bedlam Theatre. Kirkwood adapted Hedda Gabler for the Gate Theatre and has written for C4’s Skins. Her play NSFW opened at the Royal Court in 2012, directed by Simon Godwin. Lyndsey Turner’s Royal Court production of Posh completed its run in the West End in August 2012 and her production of Philadelphia, Here I Come! ran at the Donmar Warehouse last year. Turner’s other productions for the Royal Court includes Contractions, A Miracle and Our Private Life. She is Associate Director at Sheffield Theatres where her work includes Alice and The Way of the World. Her other theatre credits include Edgar And Annabel and There Is A War for the National Theatre, Joseph K and Nocturnal for the Gate, My Romantic History for Traverse, Bush, Sheffield Theatres and The Lesson for the Arcola. Headlong is one of the UK's leading theatre companies, dedicated to new ways of making theatre, collaborating with the most exciting and adventurous theatre artists in the country and providing them with the time, resources and creative support to allow them to make their most challenging work. Previous work include The Effect and Earthquakes in London at the National Theatre, DECADE at St Katharine Docks and the multi award-winning ENRON at the Royal Court, in the West End and on Broadway. The Almeida Theatre is a 325 seat theatre in the heart of Islington, North London, producing a diverse range of British and international drama with some of the world's best artists, and has developed a reputation as a local theatre with world profile. Almeida Projects links the theatre's work with their local community and the annual Almeida Festival celebrates the best of new and international theatre bringing fresh voices to the Almeida stage. Aspen is the Almeida’s Principal Partner, and their support ensures continued bold programming and artistic endeavour. Chimerica is a Headlong and Almeida Theatre co-production produced in the West End by Sonia Friedman Productions, Bob Bartner/Norman Tulchin and Jean Doumanian. Up Up

Back to Productions WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF – DIGITAL This production was captured live for cinemas from the Harold Pinter Theatre, London. ★★★★ Imelda Staunton is at her magnificent best. A first-rate revival of an astonishing play. The Guardian Sonia Friedman Productions present Imelda Staunton (Gypsy, Vera Drake, the Harry Potter films), Conleth Hill (Game Of Thrones, The Producers), Luke Treadaway (A Street Cat Named Bob, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, The Hollow Crown) and Imogen Poots (A Long Way Down, Jane Eyre) in James Macdonald ’s critically acclaimed, 5 star production of Edward Albee ’s landmark play, captured live for cinemas from the Harold Pinter Theatre, London. ★★★★ James Macdonald’s blistering production. Intoxicatingly good. Imelda Staunton and Conleth Hill are superb. Financial Times In the early hours of the morning on the campus of an American college, Martha, much to her husband George’s displeasure, has invited the new professor Nick and his wife Honey to their home for some after-party drinks. As the alcohol flows and dawn approaches, the young couple are drawn into George and Martha’s toxic games until the evening reaches its climax in a moment of devastating truth-telling. ★★★★ A fierce revival. Conleth Hill is superb. Exquisite. Evening Standard CAST IMOGEN POOTS – Honey CONLETH HILL – George IMELDA STAUNTON – Martha LUKE TREADWAY – Nick KIRSTY WARK – Self: Introduction JAMES MACDONALD – Self: Production director CREATIVES EDWARD ALBEE – Writer JAMES MACDONALD – Director TIM VAN SOMEREN – Co-Director SONIA FRIEDMAN – Producer THOMAS SWAYNE – Associate Producer TOM PYE – Production and Costume Design IMOGEN KNIGHT – Choreography