The Little Art Theatre, which completed a half-million dollar renovation in 2013, will present productions from London’s National Theatre beginning this month. National Theatre Live is a groundbreaking project that broadcasts the best of British theatre from the London stage to cinemas around the world. Each broadcast is filmed in front of a live audience in the theatre, with cameras positioned throughout the auditorium to ensure that cinema audiences get the “best seat in the house” view of each production.
Shakespeare’s Coriolanus will open the series, with screenings on Saturday, February 22, at 2 p.m. and Wednesday, February 26, at 7 p.m. The hit production War Horse will be shown on March 22 and 26, followed by King Lear on May 24 and 28 and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time on May 31 and June 4.
Coriolanus, Shakespeare’s searing tragedy of political manipulation and revenge, stars Tom Hiddleston (The Avengers, War Horse, Thor) in the title role and Mark Gatiss (BBC’s Sherlock) as Menenius. Variety offered this praise: “Making enthralling theater out of one of Shakespeare’s best-known titles is one thing. It’s an achievement of an altogether higher order to take the austerely forbidding ‘Coriolanus’—an argumentative tragedy discussing the demands of politics and the power of the people—and turn it into a theatrical triumph. But that’s exactly what [director] Josie Rourke has done. Thanks to an ideally dovetailed ensemble led by a scorching Tom Hiddleston, tension builds, fills the theater and never flags throughout an all-consuming evening.” Coriolanus has a running time of 180 minutes.
Tickets for the National Theatre Live presentations are $20 for everyone and are available in advance online at www.littleart.com (under the Calendar tab) and at the door. The Little Art Theatre is located at 247 Xenia Avenue in downtown Yellow Springs, Ohio. Information and directions are available at www.littleart.com or by calling 937-767-7671.
