Network
National Theatre, 4th November to 24th March
Another month, another production by Ivo van Hove—this time of Sidney Lumet’s Oscar-winning 1976 film Network, a dystopian media satire written by Paddy Chayefsky, newly adapted by Lee Hall. The main attraction is Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston in the role of a TV anchor-man sliding into dementia and meltdown. It’s a controversial project for the NT, with outside producers parachuting in Cranston, supported by Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey) in Faye Dunaway’s role. But if anyone can make a play about a film about television without resorting to glib use of video, van Hove can.
Jubilee
Royal Exchange, Manchester, 2nd to 18th November
Another film adapdation this time of Jubliee, Derek Jarman’s 1978 punk movie. It was as wild and outrageous as it was imaginative, with Elizabeth I time-travelling to hear Anarchy in the UK and a murderous girl gang listening to New Wave music. One of the girls was Toyah Willcox, now returning to the scene of the crime as Gloriana in Chris Goode’s stage adaptation celebrating the film’s rebellious spirit.
The Suppliant Women
Young Vic, 13th to 25th November
David Greig’s adaptation of Aeschylus for the Actors Touring Company was a huge hit at the Edinburgh Lyceum last autumn and returns for a UK and international tour. The 50 daughters of Danaus, who are fleeing forced marriages to their Egyptian cousins, are played by 50 local women at each tour date, supporting five professional actors. They are risking all in a single boat from North Africa to Greece, just 2,500 years after the desperate Danaids made the same journey.
National Theatre, 4th November to 24th March
Another month, another production by Ivo van Hove—this time of Sidney Lumet’s Oscar-winning 1976 film Network, a dystopian media satire written by Paddy Chayefsky, newly adapted by Lee Hall. The main attraction is Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston in the role of a TV anchor-man sliding into dementia and meltdown. It’s a controversial project for the NT, with outside producers parachuting in Cranston, supported by Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey) in Faye Dunaway’s role. But if anyone can make a play about a film about television without resorting to glib use of video, van Hove can.
Jubilee
Royal Exchange, Manchester, 2nd to 18th November
Another film adapdation this time of Jubliee, Derek Jarman’s 1978 punk movie. It was as wild and outrageous as it was imaginative, with Elizabeth I time-travelling to hear Anarchy in the UK and a murderous girl gang listening to New Wave music. One of the girls was Toyah Willcox, now returning to the scene of the crime as Gloriana in Chris Goode’s stage adaptation celebrating the film’s rebellious spirit.
The Suppliant Women
Young Vic, 13th to 25th November
David Greig’s adaptation of Aeschylus for the Actors Touring Company was a huge hit at the Edinburgh Lyceum last autumn and returns for a UK and international tour. The 50 daughters of Danaus, who are fleeing forced marriages to their Egyptian cousins, are played by 50 local women at each tour date, supporting five professional actors. They are risking all in a single boat from North Africa to Greece, just 2,500 years after the desperate Danaids made the same journey.
