Back to News & Press Sonia Friedman joins Ian Rickson as a featured guest on his What I Love podcast Thursday, 5 November 2020 After discussing the devastation and uncertainty the pandemic has wrought on the theatre world, including the premature closure of their production of Uncle Vanya , they consider Sonia's choices: the song ‘The Golden Days’ written for and performed by her sister Maria Friedman, which illuminates memories of their family history; the psychological insight of Disney-Pixar film ‘Inside Out'; and Kathleen Raine’s rich and meditative poem ‘Change’. ‘What I Love’ is created and hosted by Ian Rickson. The theme music is by PJ Harvey. This episode was recorded by James Hingley at the Palace Theatre, London. Photography by Helen Murray. Series Producer Ben Walker. Executive Producer Robert Delamere. Produced for Storyglass by Sarah Murray. Listen here . Works discussed: ‘The Golden Days’ by Maria Friedman (Carlton Sounds Records) ‘Inside Out’ – dir. Pete Docter; prod. Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios ‘Change’ by Kathleen Raine, first published by the Temenos Review Up Up

Back to Productions MILLIONS Produced by arrangement with Sonia Friedman Productions and Franco Productions. Created by a team of Tony Award winners, MILLIONS is an imaginative and unpredictable adventure with a book by Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone, The Prom ) and an extraordinary score by Adam Guettel (Floyd Collins, The Light in the Piazza, Days of Wine and Roses ), with direction by Bartlett Sher (South Pacific, Fiddler on the Roof, To Kill a Mockingbird ). With soaring music and a story full of surprises, MILLIONS is a modern-day fable that will enchant and entertain the entire family. For more information, click here . A million dollars is a windfall. A family is a fortune. Inspired by Frank Cottrell Boyce’s beloved novel and film, MILLIONS is a hilarious and heartwarming new musical about two brothers, their newly-widowed father, a train robber, and (possibly) a miracle. Damien and Anthony are dealing with the loss of their mother in very different ways. So, when a duffel bag of cash falls out of the sky, Damien thinks it’s a miracle from his mom, sent to test their goodness. But Anthony knows the truth. CAST Casting to be announced. CREATIVES BOB MARTIN – Book ADAM GUETTEL – Score BARTLETT SHER – Director Further creatives to be announced.

Back to News & Press Twelfth Night & Richard III recoup on Broadway Thursday, 9 January 2014 “Most wonderful!” The all-male Shakespeare’s Globe repertory productions of William Shakespeare’s TWELFTH NIGHT and RICHARD III have recouped their $3.1 million capitalization costs this week, officially entering the hit column. The productions, which opened on Broadway on November 10, 2013 to ecstatic and universal critical praise, have been playing to capacity crowds at Broadway’s Belasco Theatre (111 West 44th Street), where they have broken the house record several times. The quick recoupment of Twelfth Night and Richard III on Broadway is particularly noteworthy with the productions’ ticket access policy, where 250 seats at every performance have been sold for $25. The 250 seats per performance make up almost a quarter of the Belasco’s capacity of 1,051, and include seating in all levels of the theatre: orchestra, mezzanine, balcony, boxes and on stage. Approximately 36,000 $25 tickets will have been sold throughout the 18-week limited engagement. “Theatre should be available to all audiences.” the producers commented. “We’re especially heartened that we have been able to sell almost a quarter of every house for $25, providing a way for all theatergoers to see and enjoy these productions, while still managing to recoup our production costs and turn a profit.” Twelfth Night and Richard III, which are directed by Tim Carroll and designed by Jenny Tiramani, with music by Claire van Kampen, play a limited engagement through February 16, 2014. For a schedule of performances and more information, please visit www.shakespearebroadway.com. 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

Back to News & Press Mark Rylance to make Bristol Old Vic debut in Semmelweis Thursday, 14 November 2019 Semmelweis was a radical creative of the medical profession whose rejection of received wisdom dared him to look at the world differently and held the potential to save countless lives. Based on an original idea from Mark Rylance , Semmelweis is written by Stephen Brown in collaboration with Tom Morris and Mark Rylance . It is presented in association with Sonia Friedman Productions , the National Theatre and Shakespeare Road . It takes someone difficult to change the world. Confronted by the terrible death toll of childbed fever, maverick Doctor Semmelweis makes a discovery that could save hundreds of thousands of new mothers. But when the medical establishment questions his methods, rejects his theory and doubts his sanity, the controversial surgeon finds that being a genius is not enough. Haunted by the ghosts of the women he could not save, can he convince a corrupt institution to see the truth? This powerful World Premiere is based on an original idea from Mark Rylance (Jerusalem, Wolf Hall, Bridge of Spies ), developed with writer Stephen Brown (Occupational Hazards ) and director Tom Morris (War Horse, Touching the Void ). Rylance is internationally known for his long association with Shakespeare’s Globe, and his many performances in the West End, on Broadway and on screen. He will play the role of Semmelweis in his Bristol Old Vic debut. Up Up

Back to Productions JERUSALEM – BROADWAY This production began performances on 1st April and opened on 21st April. The strictly limited 20-week engagement closed on 23rd August 2011. Mark Rylance has had an extraordinary season on Broadway. His performance in Jerusalem is AMAZING. He is this larger-than-life Falstaffian figure who really dominates the stage. You should not miss Jerusalem, it's that special of a performance! The New York Times There's no denying the writing's lyrical power, and Ian Rickson's London production – now mixing a few American actors with the British ones – has a punch-in-the-gut virtuosity New York Post Tony and Olivier Award-winning star Mark Rylance (La Bête, Boeing-Boeing) will recreate his wildly acclaimed, multi-award-winning performance as Johnny ‘Rooster’ Byron on Broadway in the Royal Court Theatre production of Jez Butterworth ’s universally heralded new play, JERUSALEM . The production, directed by Ian Rickson , will also star Mackenzie Crook (The Seagull, “The Office”) as Ginger and most of the original Royal Court cast, with full casting to be announced at a later date. JERUSALEM will then transfer once again to the West End, previewing at the Apollo Theatre from 8 October 2011, with press night on 17 October, booking until 14 January 2012. Sonia Friedman Productions , Stuart Thompson , Scott Rudin , Roger Berlind , Royal Court Theatre Productions , Beverly Bartner/ Alice Tulchin , Dede Harris/ Rupert Gavin , Broadway Across America , Jon B/ Platt , 1001 Nights/ Stephanie P. McClelland , Carole L. Haber/ Richard Willis , Jacki Barlia Florin/ Adam Blanshay present the Royal Court Theatre production of “JERUSALEM ”. Mark Rylance triumphs again on Broadway Associated Press CAST MARK RYLANCE – Johnny "Rooster" Byron MACKENZIE CROOK – Ginger JOHN GALLAGHER, JR – Lee JAY SULLIVAN – Lee/Frank Wgitworth (19 Jul – 21 Aug) MAX BAKER – Wesley ALAN DAVID – The Professor AIMEÉ-FFION EDWARDS – Phaedra AIDEN EYRICK – Marky (Alternate) GERALDINE HUGHES – Dawn DANNY KIRRANE – Davey CHARLOTTE MILLS – Tanya SARAH MOYLE – Ms. Fawcett MARK PAGE – Marky (Alternate) MOLLY RANSON – Pea HARVEY ROBINSON – Mr. Parsons BARRY SLOANE – Troy Whitworth RICHARD SHORT – Danny Whitworth JAMES RIODAN – Frank Whitworth (19 Jul – 21 Aug) CREATIVES JEZ BUTTERWORTH – Playwright STEPHEN WARBECK – Composer IAN RICKSON – Director ULTZ – Set/Costume Designer MIMI JORDAN SHERIN – Lighting Designer IAN DICKINSON – Sound Designer

Back to News & Press London Theatre: Superproducer Sonia Friedman on building a theatre empire Wednesday, 2 July 2025 Original article by Matt Wolf. Find full article here . Five days before Sonia Friedman pitched up in London for an interview, she was seated among the New York audience at the 78th annual Tony Awards. She was in attendance as the lead producer on several contenders for Broadway’s highest honour, including the New York transfer of her West End hit Stranger Things: The First Shadow , the Broadway transfer of Jez Butterworth’s latest, The Hills of California and the dazzling if decidedly offbeat seven-time-nominated musical Dead Outlaw , which closed on 29 June. "I'm very, very proud of Dead Outlaw ," Friedman says from her Covent Garden office, one of her beloved bichon dogs, Daisy, in the background. "It's a tough sell commercially but I love it because it's unconventional. It's so wildly original, beautiful, and bizarre, and of course it feeds into everything I love about storytelling, which is that it's utterly surprising. You have no idea where it will go next." Hotfooting it back to London – “I’ve been basically commuting to New York since January” – she has been busy shepherding into the West End last year’s Tony-winning sensation, the epic play Stereophonic , which garnered more Tony nominations (13) than any Broadway play ever and won three, starting, once again, with Best Play. "If you pierce the zeitgeist in New York, your play can be, like Stereophonic , a phenomenon: it can explode and become unstoppable," she says. "Shows like Stereophonic are great, and so the challenge, maybe, is that everything has to be as great as that." In other words, she is setting her own bar very high. The evening before our interview, Friedman had been at a gala performance of the 3-hour, 15-minute transfer from Broadway to the Duke of York’s – every minute of it riveting – so you entirely understand when she claims the following afternoon to be tired, before giving tirelessly of herself in conversation across 80 minutes. We might still be talking were she not busy presiding over what since its 2002 inception has become the most dynamic and diverse — and most important — commercial producing entity in the English-language theatre. Over 300 productions, 67 Olivier Awards. The stats are dizzying. What defines a Sonia Friedman show? “I have to say, it’s impossible to define taste: how can you?” she says. “Only I can taste what I taste.” But before long she is enumerating a passion for “musicals, both new and revivals, Shakespeare, Pinter, Stoppard, classics, and obviously new work right at the centre of it” – wherever, in other words, she comes across material that “makes me tingle, genuinely” and that catches her offguard. That can mean Leopoldstadt one minute, Emma Corrin in Anna X the next. Born into a family of musicians (her instrument was the cello), Friedman talks about latching on to “the rhythms” of material she admires “where something just goes through my body. And if I start imagining it in 3D while I’m reading it, that’s the crucial one. It’s about being in the present with the work.” The odd misfire inevitably notwithstanding, her shows more often than not score. I count quite a few of her productions among high points of my own playgoing, including Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem , for which Olivier, Tony, and Academy Award winner Mark Rylance won the second of his three Tonys in 2011. The first was for his Broadway debut three years earlier in the Friedman-produced Boeing Boeing : "New York really loves discovering a great actor. Of course they love a movie star, but what they love more than anything is finding the next star and lifting them up. Nobody knew who Mark was when he first went to Broadway with Boeing Boeing and look at him now." Friedman loves to promote and nurture talent: actors like Rylance or Patsy Ferran, to name just two, or directors like Robert Icke, whose recent, Olivier-winning Oedipus , with Lesley Manville and Mark Strong, will no doubt return her to the Tony race next June following its Broadway transfer this autumn. It can’t be easy sustaining both this quality of work and the volume, which in November finds the long-awaited Paddington the Musical opening at the Savoy, not long after Friedman transfers to the Noël Coward Theatre the director Max Webster’s National Theatre revival of The Importance of Being Earnest, with Olly Alexander taking over the role of Algernon Moncrieff from Ncuti Gatwa. “We run things from a position of art first,” she says of her company, which couples a 50-strong staff in Covent Garden with a satellite office of two in New York. “I’ve always been art-led: the art comes first and then the business model after. It’s never been about what’s going to make me money – ever ever ever.” You sense a deep-rooted interest in the thrill of the chase: “I don’t know why, but I’m fascinated by challenges. I’m built that way, my brain is built that way: if it’s easy, I’m not interested.” The result allows hugely ambitious, outsized ventures like Stranger Things and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – plays conceived on the scale of musicals – to co-exist with West End transfers of Benedict Lombe’s glorious two-hander Shifters , and, a particular passion project for Friedman, the transfer from the Almeida to the Harold Pinter Theatre of writer-director Eline Arbo’s all-female The Years . This adaptation of Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux’s memoir was, says Friedman, “sort of a summation of my life and my career. It sounds very grand but with that play it was like, ‘there I am; that’s me.’ So much of my work is about taste and instinct and what I feel audiences are going to respond to, but rarely have I done work that’s about me.” She went along as a punter to see it at the Almeida and was “so blown away emotionally that I almost had to be carried out. I said, ‘I have to do this, I have to make this one happen for me’ and hoped that others felt the same.” They did, the show recouped, and Friedman is now looking at an onward life for it in New York. Broadway shows are prohibitively pricey – musicals budgeted in the tens of millions require weekly running costs close to $1 million – and an impassioned Friedman speaks of an unsustainable model of New York producing “grinding on”, allowing only the occasional play (Stereophonic , for one) to break away from the pack. Increasingly, too many shows bow within too short a March-April window, so as to qualify for that elusive Tony: “You have 25 shows opening within the same five-week period. It’s more and more intense and harder and harder to gain traction, which is an almost impossible way to create work.” The appeal, of course, remains the singular excitement and buzz of the New York theatre, however risky, set against a London ecosystem where recoupment is far more frequent and where the gathering synergy between the subsidised and commercial sectors, she says, is here to stay. “I do think in this new world with arts funding cut to smithereens that the commercial and the subsidised are going to have to have a much closer relationship going forward: much more transparent and open given how much we’re feeding off one another.” Having worked early on at the National and then co-founded the Out of Joint touring company with the Royal Court grandee Max Stafford-Clark, Friedman talks of owing her career to Britain’s vanishing tradition of theatrical subsidy. In the near future, Friedman is excited about a revolutionary new Earnest that, in her view, follows the Royal Court’s time-honoured paradigm of treating a new play like a classic and a classic like a new play: “I saw it and thought, this is absolutely revelatory, freshly minted. Max has done an incredible job of reinventing Wilde for today.” With a score by Tom Fletcher and book by Jessica Swale, Paddington , meanwhile, tells a resonant, timely tale of what its producer calls “an outsider who’s been told London will welcome them but who then comes to London and finds it harder than he thought it was going to be, but through his innate goodness, kindness, and innocence causes people around him to change. He’s a good bear, a kind bear, and he only sees the good in others.” She admits to being as excited about Paddington as she was about Harry Potter , adding: "The way we are doing the bear is a giant secret but everyone who sees the bear for the first time bursts into tears. It's taken six years to develop the bear, and the show has been incubated for eight years with utter love and devotion." “It’s going to be funny and entertaining, and the music’s amazing and the set’s extraordinary. But at its heart,” says Friedman, “is a show about how we can all be better.” Think of it as an expression of optimism for the future from a producer who, you strongly feel, wants only the best. Up Up

Back to News & Press Date Night or Family Outing? Here's why going to the theatre might make you closer to a loved one Friday, 24 November 2017 But as well as laughing, cheering and maybe even crying along with other audience members, did you know that a theatre performance can actually make your heart beat at the same time as those around you? Not just with the people you know, it can even happen with complete strangers. Well, new research, conducted by neuroscientists from University College London in association with Encore Tickets found just that. Researchers monitored the heart rates and skin response of selected audience members at a live theatre performance of Dreamgirls , the Tony and Olivier Award-winning musical. The researchers found that as well as responding emotionally to the performance as individuals, the audience actually responded in unison through their heart beats, with their pulses speeding up and slowing down at the same rate as each other. Dr Joseph Devlin, Head of Experimental Psychology at University College London, says: “Usually, a group of individuals will each have their own heart rates and rhythms, with little relationship to each other. But during experiences with heightened levels of emotion, people’s heart beats can become synchronised, which in itself is astounding. Devlin adds “Experiencing the live theatre performance was extraordinary enough to overcome group differences and produce a common physiological experience in the audience members.” Scientists have found that when an environment makes people synchronise their bodies with each other, it can cause them to bond and in turn like each other more.So, could going to the theatre bring you closer to your family or help your date like you more? Well, research shows that romantic couples and highly effective teammates synchronise their hearts so that they beat in time with each other. Their coordination has been linked to team performance, trust, empathy and liking of each other. This suggests that the unified response seen during the live theatre performance can help to break down social differences and bring people together. In theory, going to the theatre can connect individuals on a deeper, subconscious level.A new study for Encore Tickets, the UK’s leading independent ticket provider, found that almost half of people (46 per cent) enjoy the theatre experience because of the atmosphere that comes with being in the audience, and almost two thirds (59 per cent) of people feel emotionally affected by a live performance. Heart rate synchronicity has been researched for a number of years, and previous studies have shown the same kind of synchronicity among other live experiences. For example, people watching fire walking, synchronise their heartbeats in time with the firewalkers themselves. But that’s not all, the synchronicity increased the more closely the walker and watcher were related by family or marriage. Similar findings were made by University College London when it comes to the theatre. The study found that participants who knew each other continued to synchronise throughout the interval, whilst the other members of the audience fell out of sync without the performance to connect them. Dr Joseph Devlin says, “This clearly demonstrates that despite the social group differences, the performance was a strong enough influence to cause physiological synchrony, engaging the audience as a whole.” This follows previous findings drawn from research by UCL in association with Encore Tickets, which found that experiencing a live theatre performance could stimulate your cardiovascular system to the same extent as a 28 minute workout. Up Up

Back to News & Press The Nether transfers to the West End Thursday, 16 October 2014 Sonia Friedman Productions, Scott M Delman and Tulchin Bartner Productions present the West End transfer of Jennifer Haley’s critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning The Nether. In a Headlong and Royal Court Theatre co-production directed by Jeremy Herrin, The Nether previews at the Duke of York’s Theatre from 30 January 2015, opens on 23 February and is booking for 12 weeks only to 25 April 2015. Original cast members Amanda Hale (Morris), Stanley Townsend (Sims) and Ivanno Jeremiah (Woodnut) are joined by Zoe Brough and Isabella Pappas who will alternate the role of Iris as they did at the Royal Court. Final casting will be announced shortly. Set designs are by Es Devlin, with costume designs by Christina Cunningham, lighting by Paul Pyant, compositions by Nick Powell, sound by Ian Dickinson and video design by Luke Halls. With 100 tickets at each performance at £20.50 and Royal Court pricing throughout the preview period, public booking for The Nether opens on 22 October 2014. The Nether offers complete freedom – a new virtual wonderland providing total sensory immersion. Just log in, choose an identity and indulge your every desire. An intricate crime drama and a haunting thriller set in the year 2050, The Nether follows an investigation into the complicated, disturbing morality of identity in the digital world, and explores the consequences of making dreams a reality. The Nether, winner of the 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, opened at the Royal Court Theatre in July this year where it played to sell-out audiences. Haley’s play received its world premiere in Spring 2013 produced by the Center Theatre Group at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles and won her an Ovation Award for Best Original Play and an L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award for Writing. Jennifer Haley’s other writing includes Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom, which premiered at the Actors Theatre of Louisville at the 2008 Humana Festival, Breadcrumbs for the Contemporary American Theatre Festival and Sustainable Living written in the 2011-2012 CTG Writers’ Workshop and featured at the Ojai Playwrights Conference. Her play Froggy is in development with The Banff Centre and American Conservatory Theater. Haley’s plays have been developed at the Sundance Theatre Lab, the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, the Lark Play Development Center, PlayPenn, Page 73 and the MacDowell Colony. She is a member of New Dramatists in New York City and lives in Los Angeles where she founded a writing collective called the Playwrights Union. The Nether was the first play Jeremy Herrin directed for Headlong as Artistic Director. Previously he was Deputy Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre from 2009 until 2012 where his credits included No Quarter, Hero, Haunted Child, The Heretic, Kin, Spur of the Moment, Off the Endz, The Priory, Tusk Tusk, The Vertical Hour and That Face. Herrin directed the world premieres of Hilary Mantel’s Man Booker prize-winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies in two parts for the Royal Shakespeare Company – the productions transferred to the West End in May 2014 and will open on Broadway in March next year. His other recent credits include Another Country, Uncle Vanya and South Downs for Chichester Festival Theatre all of which transferred to the West End, This House for the National Theatre, Absent Friends at the Harold Pinter Theatre and The Tempest and Much Ado About Nothing for Shakespeare’s Globe. Herrin’s production of David Hare’s The Absence of War will open at Sheffield Theatres in February 2015 prior to a UK tour. Amanda Hale can currently be seen on stage in Jagged Edge’s production of Uncle Vanya at the St James Theatre. Her previous theatre credits include Wastwater and The City for the Royal Court, King Lear and Elektra for Headlong and the Young Vic, Eldorado at the Arcola, The Domino Heart at the Finborough, The House of Bernarda Alba for the Almeida Theatre, Our Class for the National Theatre, The Importance of Being Earnest for Oxford Playhouse, After Dido for the Young Vic and Pornography for Birmingham Rep/Traverse Theatre. Her extensive television credits include Dates, The White Queen, Ripper Street, Rev, Being Human, Spooks, Richard is My Boyfriend and Persuasion. Her film credits include The Invisible Woman, The Look of Love and Bright Star. Ivanno Jeremiah’s theatre credits include Truth and Reconciliation for the Royal Court, Julius Caesar for the Royal Shakespeare Company, As You Like It for the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Welcome Home at the Pleasance and the international tour of The Suit. His television credits include Humans, The Hollow Crown, The Jury II and Injustice. On film his credits include Julius Caesar, Papadopoulos & Sons and The Veteran. Stanley Townsend’s theatre credits include Tribes, The Alice Trilogy, Shining City, Under the Blue Sky and The Weir all for the Royal Court, King Lear, Phèdre, Gethsemane, Happy Now, Remember This and Guys and Dolls all for the National Theatre, Broken Glass at the Tricycle and in the West End and A View from a Bridge at the Lyceum, Edinburgh. His extensive television credits include the recent series of 24: Die Another Day opposite Kiefer Sutherland, as well as Quirke, The Shadow Line, Ripper Street, Toast, Sherlock Holmes, Ashes to Ashes, Hustle, Spooks, Fleming, Mad Dogs , Whistleblower, New Worlds, The Virgin Queen, Fresh Meat and Appropriate Adult. On film his credits include The Voices, One Chance, Happy Go Lucky and The Libertine. Zoe Brough and Isabella Pappas made their professional stage debuts in The Nether at the Royal Court Theatre. Up Up

Back to News & Press Evening Standard nominations announced Monday, 22 November 2010 Nominations included David Suchet (All My Sons) for Best Actor, Sheridan Smith (Legally Blonde) for Best Actress, Legally Blonde for Best Musical and Howard Davies (All My Sons) for Best Director. The Royal Court Theatre production of Clybourne Park, which is to be transferred to the West End by SFP, was also nominated for Best Play with Sophie Thompson receiving a nomination for Best Actress for her performance. Up Up

Back to News & Press Toby Jones, Stephen Mangan and Zoë Wanamaker to star in Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party Monday, 11 September 2017 Stanley Webber (Toby Jones ) is the only lodger at Meg (Zoë Wanamaker ) and Petey Boles’ sleepy seaside boarding house. The unsettling arrival of enigmatic strangers Goldberg (Stephen Mangan ) and McCann disrupts the humdrum lives of the inhabitants and their friend Lulu, and mundanity soon becomes menace when a seemingly innocent birthday party turns into a disturbing nightmare. Truth and alliances hastily shift in Pinter's brilliantly mysterious dark-comic masterpiece about the absurd terrors of the everyday. Following critically-acclaimed productions of Betrayal and Old Times , Ian Rickson returns to direct a new production of Harold Pinter ’s landmark play, The Birthday Party . Starring in this comedy of menace are trio of Olivier Award winners, Golden Globe Award-nominated Toby Jones (The Girl, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Infamous ), Tony Award-nominated Stephen Mangan (The Norman Conquests , Jeeves and Wooster , Episodes ) and Tony Award-nominated Zoë Wanamaker CBE (Electra , Passion Play , My Family ). This will be the seventh Harold Pinter play that Sonia Friedman has produced, three of which have been directed by Ian Rickson , who also directed Pinter himself in his last performance as an actor in Krapp’s Last Tape . It is also the ninth production directed by Ian Rickson that Sonia Friedman has produced. Ian Rickson said: “I knew Harold from when I ran the Royal Court and he was a great mentor to me. Doing The Birthday Party is particularly thrilling because as with the best first major plays - like first albums, and first novels - it has the intense DNA of the writer’s inner life; their yearnings, their obsessions, their longings. There’s something about The Birthday Party in particular that’s so raw and committed - it has this kind of anarchic, punk spirit and I’m just so excited about directing it. ” British Actor TOBY JONES is known for his roles both in the theatre and on screen. Earlier this year Toby finished filming both French comedy film Naked Normandy for Philippe le Gay, and next year’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom . Toby has a further four films out later this year including - Universal Pictures’ crime drama The Snowman , psychological indie thriller, Kaleidoscope , Lionsgate’s World War One drama Journey’s End and Michael Haneke’s Palme d’Or nominated film, Happy End . Toby will also reprise his BAFTA-nominated role later this year in the third season of the award-winning comedy series Detectorists , written by and co-starring Mackenzie Crook. Toby's other works include ‎Infamous, where Toby played ‘Truman Capote’ for which he won Best British Actor at the London Film Critics Circle Awards. In 2011, Toby starred in the Oscar-nominated adaptation of John le Carre’s classic crime novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and the year after, Toby garnered huge critical acclaim for his performance as Alfred Hitchcock in the HBO/BBC television movie The Girl, for which he received a BAFTA, Golden Globe and Emmy nomination. That year also saw Toby play the lead in Peter Strickland’s multi award-winning film Berberian Sound Studio . In 2014, Toby starred as the lead in the BBC Two BAFTA winning drama Marvellous, and the following year in Matteo Garrone’s fantasy horror, Tale Of Tales . Further credits include: Atomic Blonde , Sherlock , Dad’s Army , The Secret Agent , The Witness For The Prosecution, Morgan , Wayward Pines , Capital , The Man Who Knew Infinity , The Hunger Games series, the Harry Potter series, Captain America: The First Avenger , Captain America: The Winter Soldier , Leave to Remain , Andrew Kotting’s By Ourselves , My Week With Marilyn , The Adventures Of Tintin, Frost/Nixon , W and The Painted Veil . Theatre credits include: Circle Mirror Transformation, The Painter, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Parlour Song, Dumb Waiter and Other Pinter Pieces, Measure for Measure ( with Complicite), The Play What I Wrote ( winner: Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor). STEPHEN MANGAN is a stage, film, television and voice actor. After graduating from Cambridge University and then RADA, Stephen began his acting career in the theatre. In 2008 he starred in The Norman Conquests at The Old Vic and then on Broadway. Stephen was nominated for a Tony Award and the play won Best Revival. Other theatre credits include: Birthday , The People Are Friendly (Royal Court Theatre), Jeeves and Wooster (Duke of York’s Theatre), Hayfever (Savoy Theatre), Midsummer Night’s Dream (RSC) and Rules For Living (National Theatre). Stephen has an extensive list of television credits. He plays the lead role of Sean Lincoln in the comedy series Episodes , opposite Tamsin Greig and Matt LeBlanc; Series 5 is to be broadcast next year. Next year he can also be seen starring in the new comedy series Bliss for Sky Atlantic, Hang Ups for Channel 4 and Abi Morgan’s new BBC1/AMC drama The Split . Previous TV credits include the BAFTA-winning British sitcom Green Wing, Free Agents , Dirk Gently , in which he played the title role, Houdini & Doyle . Stephen’s film credits include Breathe , Billy Elliot , Birthday , Postman Pat: The Movie (Voice), Rush , Beyond the Pole , Confetti The multi-award-winning ZOE WANAMKER CBE is one of the most acclaimed actresses of her generation, with a career that spans both stage and screen. She is a four-time Tony Award nominee, and a nine-time Olivier Award nominee, winning the Best Actress Award twice for Electra and Once In A Lifetime . Her career has taken her from the RSC to the National Theatre via Broadway, the Royal Court, the West End and the Donmar Warehouse. Her varied television career has included the much-loved BBC sitcom My Family , along with Poirot and Mr. Selfridge . She received a BAFTA nomination for her role in the film Wilde , with other film credits including Harry Potter and My Week With Marilyn . Zoë will be appearing in the Sky/Amazon collaboration ‘Britannia’ (2017) as Queen Antedia and in Girlfriends for ITV. Her film credits include: My Week With Marilyn, It’s a Wonderful Afterlife, Five Children and It, Harry Potter, Swept from the Sea, Wilde , The Raggedy Rawney, The Hunger, Inside the Third Reich, The Last 10 Days of Hitler. Television includes: Girlfriends, Inside No. 9, Babs, Britannia, Mr Selfridge, Poirot, Wodehouse in Exile, The Man, My Family, Old Curiosity Shop, Johnny and the Bomb, Waste of Shame, Dr Who, Miss Marple, The Cappuccino Years, David Copperfield, Leprechaun, Gormanghast, A Dance to the Music of Time, The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd, The English Wife, Countless Alice, Memento Mori, The Blackheath Poisonings, Love Hurts and Prime Suspect. IAN RICKSON Ian was Artistic Director at the Royal Court from 1998 to 2006, during which time he directed Krapp’s Last Tape, The Winterling, Alice Trilogy, The Sweetest Swing in Baseball, Fallout, The Night Heron, Boy Gets Girl, Mouth to Mouth (also in the West End), Dublin Carol, The Weir (also in the West End and on Broadway), The Lights, Pale Horse and Mojo (also at the Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago), Ashes & Sand, Some Voices and Killers. His last production for the Royal Court, The Seagull , transferred to Broadway. Other theatre includes Against (The Almeida), The Goat (West End), The Nest (Lyric, Belfast and Young Vic), Evening At The Talkhouse (NT), The Red Lion ((NT), The River (Broadway), Electra (Old Vic), Mojo ( West End), Old Times (West End), The River (Royal Court), Hamlet (Young Vic), Jerusalem (Royal Court, West End and Broadway), Betrayal (Comedy Theatre), The Children’s Hour (Comedy Theatre), The Hothouse and The Day I Stood Still (NT), Parlour Song (Almeida), Hedda Gabler (Roundabout Theatre, New York), The House of Yes (Gate) and Me & My Friend (Chichester Festival Theatre). Film includes: Fallout, Krapp’s Last Tape and The Clear Road Ahead . Radio; In Therapy (Radio 4). HAROLD PINTER CH CBE Harold Pinter was born in London in 1930. He lived with Antonia Fraser from 1975 until his death on Christmas Eve 2008. (They were married in 1980). After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the Central School of Speech and Drama, he worked as an actor under the stage name David Baron. Following his success as a playwright, he continued to act under his own name, on stage and screen. He last acted in 2006 when he appeared in Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape at the Royal Court Theatre, directed by Ian Rickson.He wrote twenty-nine plays including The Birthday Party , The Dumb Waiter , A Slight Ache , The Hothouse , The Caretaker , The Collection , The Lover , The Homecoming , Old Times , No Man’s Land , Betrayal , A Kind of Alaska , One For The Road , The New World Order , Moonlight and Ashes to Ashes . Sketches include The Black and White , Request Stop , That’s your Trouble , Night , Precisely , Apart From That, and the recently rediscovered Umbrellas . He directed twenty-seven theatre productions, including James Joyce's Exiles , David Mamet's Oleanna , seven plays by Simon Gray (one of which was Butley in 1971 which he directed the film of three years later) and many of his own plays including his last, Celebration , paired with his first, The Room at the Almeida Theatre, London in the spring of 2000. He wrote twenty-one screenplays including The Pumpkin Eater , The Servant , The Go-Between , The French Lieutenant's Woman and Sleuth . In 2005 he received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Other awards include the Companion of Honour for services to Literature, the Legion D’Honneur, the European Theatre Prize the Laurence Olivier Award and the Moliere D'Honneur for lifetime achievement. In 1999 he was made a Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature. Harold Pinter was awarded eighteen honorary degrees. The production will be designed by the Quay Brothers , with lighting by Hugh Vanstone , sound by Simon Baker , music by Stephen Warbeck and casting by Amy Ball . Up Up

Back to News & Press Over 2000 stage seats and a further final week now on sale for Richard Iii and Twelfth Night at The Apollo Theatre Thursday, 19 April 2012 Tim Carroll’s productions, using original Shakespearian practices and lit by over 100 on-stage candles, transfer to the West End for a 14-week limited run from 2 November 2012 – 10 February 2013, following their sell-out seasons at the Globe. In addition to the on-stage seats there are also 6,000 extra seats throughout the house now on sale for the entirety of the run. Mark Rylance returns to the Apollo Theatre to play the title role of Richard III and Olivia in Twelfth Night. He is joined by Stephen Fry as Malvolio in Twelfth Night. Designs are by Jenny Tiramani and music is by Claire van Kampen who along with Tim Carroll were the creative team behind the Globe’s original 2002 version of Twelfth Night. David Plater will design the lighting for the transfer. Sonia Friedman Productions in association with Shakespeare Road, 1001 Nights, Bob Bartner & Norman Tulchin and Rupert Gavin present Shakespeare’s Globe productions of Richard III and Twelfth Night, Associate Producer Adam Blanshay. Press day is Saturday 17 November 2012 with Richard III at 1.30pm and Twelfth Night at 7pm. Richard III The full cast for Richard III is Samuel Barnett (Queen Elizabeth), Liam Brennan (Clarence and the Lord Mayor), Paul Chahidi (Hastings and Tyrrell), John Paul Connolly (First Murderer and Ratcliff), Ian Drysdale (Scrivener/Rivers/Blunt), Peter Hamilton Dyer (Brakenbury and Catesby), Johnny Flynn (Lady Anne and Grey), James Garnon (Richmond and Duchess of York), Colin Hurley (King Edward IV and Stanley) and Roger Lloyd Pack (Duke of Buckingham), Mark Rylance (Richard III), Jethro Skinner (Second Murderer and Messenger) and Ben Thompson (Dorset and Bishop of Ely). Richard Duke of Gloucester (Mark Rylance) is determined that he should wear the crown of England. He has already despatched one king and that king’s son; now all that stand in his way are two credulous brothers and two helpless nephews – the Princes in the Tower. And woe betide those – the women he wrongs, the henchmen he betrays – who dare to raise a voice against him. Monstrous, but theatrically electric, Richard is Shakespeare’s most charismatic, self-delighting villain, revelling at every moment in his homicidal, hypocritical journey to absolute power. Richard III is performed in an all-male Original Practices production, exploring clothing, music, dance and settings circa 1593. Twelfth Night The full cast for Twelfth Night is Samuel Barnett (Sebastian), Liam Brennan (Orsino), Paul Chahidi, (Maria), John Paul Connolly (Antonio), Ian Drysdale (Priest and Valentine), Peter Hamilton Dyer (Feste), Johnny Flynn (Viola), Stephen Fry (Malvolio), James Garnon (Fabian), Colin Hurley (Sir Toby Belch), Roger Lloyd Pack (Sir Andrew Aguecheek), Mark Rylance (Olivia), Jethro Skinner (Captain and Officer) and Ben Thompson (Curio). In the household of Olivia (Mark Rylance), two campaigns are being quietly waged – one by the lovelorn Duke Orsino against the heart of the indifferent Olivia; the other by an alliance of servants and hangers-on against the high-handedness of her steward, the pompous Malvolio (Stephen Fry). When Orsino engages the cross-dressed Viola to plead with Olivia on his behalf, a bittersweet chain of events follows. Filled with a cast of unforgettable characters, Twelfth Night combines cruelty with high comedy and the pangs of unrequited love with some of the subtlest poetry and most exquisite songs Shakespeare ever wrote. This revival of the Globe’s 2002 award-winning Twelfth Night will be performed in an all-male Original Practices production, exploring clothing, music, dance and settings circa 1601. Up Up