The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 26.198 Monday, 20 April 2015
From: Hardy Cook <
Date: April 20, 2015 at 11:02:01 AM EDT
Subject: Kenneth Branagh Starting London Theater Company
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/19/kenneth-branagh-starting-london-theater-company/?_r=0
Kenneth Branagh Starting London Theater Company
By Roslyn Sulcas
April 19, 2015 10:55 AM
LONDON — Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo. Kenneth Branagh, whose movie “Cinderella” opened last month, has formed his own theater company, and will put on a season of plays at the Garrick Theater in the West End here, starting in October.
The Kenneth Branagh Theater Company, which will be resident at the Garrick for a year, will include Judi Dench, Rob Brydon and the “Cinderella” stars Richard Madden and Lily James, who will play the title roles in “Romeo and Juliet.” The season will open with Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” in October, featuring Ms. Dench as Paulina and Mr. Branagh as Leontes. Subsequent productions include Terence Rattigan’s rarely seen “Harlequinade,” a comedy about a theater company trying to perform “Romeo and Juliet” and “The Winter’s Tale.” Sean Foley, who will direct Francis Veber’s “The Painkiller,” and Rob Ashford, who will direct John Osborne’s “The Entertainer,” featuring Mr. Branagh, are part of the company’s creative team, as is Christopher Oram.
Mr. Branagh told the BBC that “the idea of a theatrical home is very appealing to me,” but that he wanted to avoid “getting tied in or tied up for a very long period of time in a single place.”