UK National Theatre: January - April 2007

Deborah Warner directs Fiona Shaw in Samuel Beckett's Happy Days, The Man of Mode by George Etherege is directed by Nicholas Hytner, Richard Eyre directs a new play by Nicholas Wright, The Reporter, The Travelex £10 Season extends to the Lyttelton for Martin Crimp's Attempts on her Life, revived by Katie Mitchell; and Sizwe Banzi is Dead from South Africa, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, an NT Education mobile production, opens at the Cottesloe after a UK tour.

HAPPY DAYS: Lyttelton Theatre: Previews from 18 January, press night 24 January, in repertoire until 1 March

Samuel Beckett's Happy Days will be directed by Deborah Warner, with Fiona Shaw as Winnie, running in the Lyttelton for 31 performances only from 18 January (press night: 24 January). The production will have set designs by Tom Pye, lighting by Jean Kalman, music by Mel Mercier and sound by Christopher Shutt.

Blazing light, scorched grass. Buried to above her waist and woken by a piercing bell, Winnie chatters away as she rummages in a bag, brushes her teeth, pulls out and kisses a revolver. Her husband, Willie, responds now and then, reads from an old paper, studies a pornographic postcard. A second bell signals the end of another happy day.

Written in 1960, Samuel Beckett's extraordinary play opened the Lyttelton Theatre in 1976.

Fiona Shaw and Deborah Warner's work together includes: Richard II, The Good Person of Sichuan, The Powerbook (all at the National), Medea (West End & Broadway), Electra (RSC), Hedda Gabler (Abbey Theatre & West End) and The Waste Land (international tour).

Fiona Shaw's theatre work also includes Machinal, The Way of the World and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie at the NT.

In addition to the productions mentioned above, Deborah Warner directed King Lear for the National; her recent work includes La Voix Humaine (Opera North), Julius Caesar (Barbican & world tour), St John Passion (ENO), The Turn of the Screw (ROH) and the devised installation pieces The Tower Project (LIFT) and The Angel Project (Perth and Lincoln Center Festival).

THE MAN OF MODE: Olivier Theatre: Previews from 29 January, press night 6 February, continuing in repertoire

Nicholas Hytner will direct George Etherege's The Man of Mode, opening in the Olivier Theatre on 6 February. The cast includes Amber Agah, Hayley Atwell, Nancy Carroll, Tom Hardy, Shelley King, Rory Kinnear and Amit Shah.

Dorimant, who can generally charm any woman in town back to his apartment, can't persuade Belinda into his bed until he's promised to dump Loveit, his current mistress. Mission accomplished, he turns his sights on Harriet, who is rich enough to solve his financial problems but smart enough not to play his game.

George Etherege's glittering masterwork of Restoration Comedy is set in a London obsessed with having it all, and takes a steely look at young people driven by the need to have the latest clothes, the latest gossip and each other's bodies.

Hayley Atwell (Belinda) recently appeared on television in The Line of Beauty; forthcoming film projects include Mansfield Park and the Untitled Woody Allen Summer Project. Her theatre work includes Women Beware Women at the RSC. Nancy Carroll (Loveit) was last seen at the National in The Voysey Inheritance and The False Servant, and recently appeared in See How They Run in the West End.

Tom Hardy (Dorimant) won the Evening Standard award for Most Promising Newcomer for his role in Festen (Almeida); his screen work includes The Virgin Queen, Marie Antoinette and Black Hawk Down. Rory Kinnear (Sir Fopling Flutter) appeared in Southwark Fair at the NT; his theatre work also includes Mary Stuart (Donmar), Festen (Almeida) and Laertes in Hamlet (Old Vic).

Since he became Director of the National in April 2003, Nicholas Hytner has directed Henry V, His Dark Materials, The History Boys, Stuff Happens, Henry IV, Southwark Fair and The Alchemist.

The Man of Mode will be designed by Vicki Mortimer, with lighting by Neil Austin, music by Grant Olding and sound by Paul Groothuis.

THE REPORTER: Cottesloe Theatre: Previews from 14 February, press night 21 February, continuing in repertoire

A new play by Nicholas Wright, THE REPORTER, will be directed by Richard Eyre, opening in the Cottesloe on 21 February. The cast includes Ben Chaplin, Paul Ritter and Angela Thorne.

Based on the remarkable life of the star BBC correspondent James Mossman during his last years, 1963 to 1971, The Reporter searches for the truth behind his bewildering suicide. What lies beneath the surface? Or is the surface ultimately all there is?

Nicholas Wright's recent work at the National includes Vincent in Brixton (also directed by Richard Eyre, and subsequently seen on Broadway), and his adaptations of His Dark Materials, Three Sisters and Thérèse Raquin. His other plays include Cressida (Almeida/West End) and Mrs Klein (National/West End).

Ben Chaplin makes his NT debut as James Mossman; his theatre work includes This Is How It Goes and The Glass Menagerie (Donmar), and The Retreat from Moscow (Broadway). His extensive film and TV work includes The Remains of the Day, Washington Square, The Thin Red Line and Stage Beauty.

Richard Eyre was Director of the National from 1988 - 1997. His recent work includes Hedda Gabler (Almeida & West End), which won Olivier Awards for Best Director and Best Revival; Mary Poppins (West End and Broadway); and the films Iris, Stage Beauty and the forthcoming Notes on a Scandal.

The Reporter will be designed by Rob Howell, with lighting by Peter Mumford, sound by Rich Walsh and video design by Jon Driscoll.

ATTEMPTS ON HER LIFE: TRAVELEX £10 SEASON, Lyttelton Theatre: Previews from 8 March, press night 14 March, continuing in repertoire

Katie Mitchell directs ATTEMPTS ON HER LIFE: 17 scenarios for the theatre by Martin Crimp, opening in the Lyttelton Theatre on 14 March, as part of the Travelex £10 Season. The production will be designed by Vicki Mortimer, with lighting by Paule Constable, music by Paul Clark and sound by Gareth Fry. The cast includes Kate Duchêne, Michael Gould and Jacqueline Kington.

Martin Crimp's '17 scenarios for the theatre', shocking and hilarious by turns, are a roller-coaster of late 20th century obsessions. From pornography and ethnic violence, to terrorism and unprotected sex, its strange array of nameless characters attempt to invent the perfect story to encapsulate our time.

Since its Royal Court premiere 10 years ago, Attempts on her Life has been translated into more than 20 languages. This is its first major UK revival.

Martin Crimp's plays include Fewer Emergencies, Face to the Wall, The Country and The Treatment for the Royal Court; Cruel and Tender (after Sophocles' Trachiniae) at the Young Vic; and versions of Marivaux's The False Servant and Chekhov's The Seagull at the National.

Katie Mitchell's work at the National includes Waves, Martin Crimp's version of The Seagull, Three Sisters, A Dream Play, Iphigenia at Aulis, Ivanov and The Oresteia. She is an NT Associate and an Associate Director of the Royal Court Theatre.

SIZWE BANZI IS DEAD: TRAVELEX £10 SEASON, Lyttelton Theatre: Previews 19 & 20 March, press night 21 March, in repertoire until 4 April

SIZWE BANZI IS DEAD by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona, visits the Lyttelton Theatre from the Baxter Theatre Centre, South Africa. More than 30 years on from the first performance and subsequent tour of South Africa, the UK and USA, this watershed play - created at a time when collaboration between black and white theatre practitioners was the exception rather than the rule - comes to the NT for a limited run from 19 March to 4 April, as part of the Travelex £10 Season.

John Kani and Winston Ntshona recreate the roles they originated for the 1972 production, when they worked with playwright Athol Fugard to create this gripping drama. They were last seen at the NT in 2000 in The Island (which they also co-wrote with Athol Fugard).

Sizwe Banzi is Dead brings an irresistible comic energy to its examination of friendship, hope and the nature of identity, as one man struggles to survive under apartheid.

Previous plays by Athol Fugard seen at the National include A Lesson from Aloes, Master Harold"¦and the Boys, The Road to Mecca, A Place with the Pigs and My Children! My Africa!

Aubrey Sekhabi, who directs this production, is Artistic Director of the State Theatre in Pretoria. The lighting designer is Mannie Manim.

THE CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE: Cottesloe & UK tour: NT Education Mobile production; on tour Jan-March, in rep at the Cottesloe March - April.: Press nights: 17 January (Brighton), 8 March (Cottesloe)

An NT Education mobile production of THE CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE by Bertolt Brecht, in a version by Frank McGuinness, will have a limited run in the Cottesloe Theatre from 7 March, following a UK tour. Sean Holmes directs Brecht's morality masterpiece, in collaboration with the theatre collective, Filter - renowned for their unique fusion of music, movement and video imagery. The production is designed by Anthony Lamble, with lighting by Paule Constable, video design by Lorna Heavey, and music/sound design by Chris Branch, Tom Haines and Tim Phillips. The cast includes Leo Chadburn, Oliver Dimsdale, Thusitha Jayasundera, John Lloyd Fillingham, Ferdy Roberts, Gemma Saunders, Mo Sesay, Nicolas Tennant (as Azdak) and Cath Whitefield (as Grusha).

A servant girl sacrifices everything to protect a child abandoned in the heat of civil war. Order restored, she is made to confront the boy's biological mother in a legal contest over who deserves to keep him. The comical judge calls on an ancient tradition - the chalk circle - to resolve the dispute. Who wins?

Sean Holmes directed Translations and The Mentalists for the NT; his RSC productions include Julius Caesar, A New Way To Please You, Richard III and The Roman Actor. Other work includes The Price (West End & UK tour).

THE CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE will visit: Canterbury, Gulbenkian Theatre (9-13 January); Brighton Corn Exchange (16-20 January); Norwich Playhouse (23-27 January); Dundee Rep Theatre (30 January-3 February); Liverpool Everyman (6-10 February); Aberystwyth Arts Centre (13-14 February); Brecon, Theatr Brycheiniog (16-17 February); Coventry, Warwick Arts Centre (20-24 February); Bristol Old Vic (27 February-3 March).

The Caucasian Chalk Circle is supported by The Dorset Foundation.

PRODUCTION AND CASTING UPDATES

THERESE RAQUIN: Charlotte Emmerson plays the title role in Zola's Thérèse Raquin, directed by Marianne Elliott and opening at the Lyttelton on 13 November. The full cast is: Timothy Allsop, Judith Coke, Michael Culkin, Ben Daniels (as Laurent), Charlotte Emmerson (as Thérèse), Mark Hadfield, Rendah Heywood, Chris Johnston, Patrick Kennedy (as Camille), Emma Lowndes and Judy Parfitt (as Madame Raquin).

WAVES: The company for WAVES, a work devised by Katie Mitchell and the Company from the text of Virginia Woolf's novel, The Waves, is: Kate Duchêne, Michael Gould, Anastasia Hille, Kristin Hutchinson, Sean Jackson, Liz Kettle, Paul Ready and Jonah Russell. The multi-media production opens at the Cottesloe on 16 November.

CORAM BOY: The cast for Melly Still's production of CORAM BOY, returning to the Olivier after its original sell-out run with a press night on 7 December, is: Clare Burt, Bertie Carvel, Abby Ford, Ruth Gemmell, Rebecca Johnson, Debbie Korley, Inika Leigh Wright, Stuart McLoughlin, Sharon Maharaj, Jenni Maitland, Katherine Manners, Tim McMullan, Deeivya Meir, Justine Mitchell, William Scott-Masson, Adam Shipway, Hannah Storey, Nicholas Tizzard, Al Weaver and Kelly Williams.

Waves and Coram Boy are sponsored by Accenture, supporters of Innovation at the National Theatre.

THE HISTORY BOYS: The National Theatre production of THE HISTORY BOYS, Alan Bennett's multi-award-winning play, will open at Wyndham's Theatre on 21 December (with a press night on 3 January). The 17-week West End engagement follows the production's second UK tour; prior to that were two sell-out seasons at the National Theatre, an international tour to Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia, and a sell-out season on Broadway. The production is directed by Nicholas Hytner and recreated by Simon Cox.

Stephen Moore plays Hector, with Isla Blair as Mrs Lintott, William Chubb as the Headmaster and Orlando Wells as Irwin. The boys are played by Owain Arthur, Ben Barnes (Dakin), Philip Correia (Rudge), Marc Elliott, Thomas Morrison (Scripps), Akemnji Ndifornyen, David Poynor and Steven Webb (Posner); the cast also includes Ben Allen, Tina Gray, Derek Howard, Duncan Patrick and Stephen Uppal.

The History Boys will be produced by the National Theatre and National Angels.

THE SEAFARER: Following its run in the Cottesloe, Conor McPherson's play THE SEAFARER will tour with its original cast (Ron Cook, Conleth Hill, Karl Johnson, Michael McElhatton and Jim Norton), visiting: Theatre Royal, Brighton (6-10 February); Theatre Royal, Bath (13-17 February); Cambridge Arts Centre (20-24 February); Warwick Arts Centre (27 February-3 March); The Lowry, Salford Quays (6-10 March); and Theatre Royal, Newcastle (13-17 March).

Simon Armitage: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: 23 January, Cottesloe: Simon Armitage introduces a reading from his major new version of one of the earliest great stories in English literature. Originally composed by an anonymous poet around 1400, it tells of Gawain's wintery quest for the mysterious green knight on a green horse.

Virginia Woolf: 2 February, Cottesloe: Academic Gillian Beer, biographer Hermione Lee and film-maker Sally Potter discuss the work of one of the most distinctive and innovative writers of the twentieth century.

Emile Zola: 7 February, Lyttelton: Leading Zola authorities Susan Harrow and Russell Cousins examine this towering literary figure of the nineteenth century, and look at how different media have embraced his work.

Kenneth Tynan: Theatre Writings: 13 February, Lyttelton: Prior to his appointment as the National's first Literary Manager, Kenneth Tynan was one of the most influential theatre critics of his age. His biographer, Dominic Shellard, introduces a new selection of his reviews and articles, including pieces on Miller, Osborne, Coward and Eliot, and on topics such as censorship, Broadway and the National Theatre.

Charlotte Emmerson and Judy Parfitt on Thérèse Raquin: 19 February, Lyttelton: The actors battling it out nightly as Zola's passionate heroine and her oppressive mother-in-law, talk about bringing this gripping thriller to the stage.

Nicholas Wright on The Reporter: 23 February, Cottesloe: The playwright discusses his new play and how real-life events inspired his enthralling detective story.

Deborah Warner and Fiona Shaw on Happy Days: 27 February, Lyttelton: Deborah Warner and Fiona Shaw talk about their prolific and popular theatre partnership, as they return to the National with Samuel Beckett's masterpiece, thirty years after its last appearance in the Lyttelton.

Nicholas Hytner on The Man of Mode: 6 March, Olivier: The National's Director discusses his contemporary twist on Etherege's glittering comedy of manners.

Taking Stock: The Theatre of Max Stafford-Clark: 16 March, Cottesloe: Max Stafford-Clark has been at the cutting edge of British theatre for over thirty years. The influential director and founder of Out of Joint, talks about the evolution of nine of his most famous productions, including Cloud Nine, Our Country's Good and Some Explicit Polaroids.

Sean Holmes on The Caucasian Chalk Circle: 21 March, Cottesloe: The director is joined by members of Filter Theatre Company to discuss their version of Brecht's morality play as the NT Education's Mobile tour arrives in the Cottesloe.

John Kani and Winston Ntshona on Sizwe Banzi is Dead: 26 March, Lyttelton: As the legendary theatrical partners John Kani and Winston Ntshona return to the National, they talk about the remarkable history of the play and their long-standing collaboration.

FREE EXHIBITIONS

Climates - Photographs by Nuri Bilge Ceylan: 22 January - 3 March: Ceylan's acclaimed film Climates, winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes and the Time Out Critics' Choice at the London Film Festival, opens in Britain on 9 February. Taken over the past four years whilst scouting for locations, these wide screen photographic landscapes and portraits of Turkey and its people are stunningly beautiful, and relate to the film in both style and geography.

London Blues - Photographs by Nobby Clark: 6 February - 24 March: Nobby Clark is well known to NT audiences for his theatre photographs. This is a more personal project, the result of carrying a small camera around the streets of London for over 40 years, "taking photos of my town - its people, buildings, the river"¦it changes every day. London is my Landscape."

Stages Calling: Ruphin Coudyzer's Production Photographs from the Market Theatre: 6 March - 5 April: Belgian-born photographer Ruphin Coudyzer captured images of local protest theatre and Shakespearean classics at Johannesburg's Market Theatre, revealing a pictorial story of part of South Africa's journey to democracy. Presented in association with Vanessa Cooke, the Market Theatre and Wimbledon College of Art.

By www.nationaltheatre.org.uk