‘The first time I held a prism and turned it to the light it did what the Impressionists struggled lifetime to do; it embraced the light, split the light; it seemed to understand the very secret of light.’
Hampstead Theatre presents the world premiere of Terry Johnson’s delightfully witty and poignant new play Prism, based on the extraordinary life of double Oscar-winning cinematic master Jack Cardiff. Robert Lindsay returns to Hampstead Theatre (How I Got That Story, 1981) as Jack, ‘the man who made women look beautiful’, and will be joined by Claire Skinner, Rebecca Night and Barnaby Kay.
Legendary cinematographer Jack Cardiff has retired to the sleepy village of Denham, Buckinghamshire. His days of hard work – and play – on some of the most famous sets in the world are now long behind him, as are his secret liaisons with some of the most famous women in the world… Surrounded by memorabilia from a lifetime of ‘painting with light’, the writing of an autobiography should be an easy matter – were it not that Jack would now rather live in the past than remember it.
PRISM
Written and Directed by Terry Johnson
Starring Robert Lindsay and Claire Skinner
6 September – 14 October
Also coming up this Autumn at Hampstead Theatre:
THE SLAVES OF SOLITUDE
By Nicholas Wright
Adapted from the novel by Patrick Hamilton
Directed by Jonathan Kent
20 October – 25 November
‘Have I shocked you? Have I bruised the delicate feelings of the English Miss? Miss Missed-herchance.
Miss Missed-her-man. Miss Prim. Miss Prude’
Hampstead Theatre presents the world premiere of Nicholas Wright’s The Slaves of Solitude
directed by Jonathan Kent. Adapted from Patrick Hamilton’s much-loved story, this new play
weaves a fascinating blend of dark hilarity and melancholy in a story about an improbable
heroine in wartime Britain.
1943, Henley-on-Thames. Miss Roach is forced by the war to flee London for the Rosamund Tea
Rooms boarding house, which is as grey and lonely as its residents. From the safety of these new
quarters, her war now consists of a thousand petty humiliations, of which the most burdensome
is sharing her daily life with the unbearable Mr. Thwaites.
But a breath of fresh air arrives in the form of a handsome American Lieutenant and things start
to look distinctly brighter… Until, that is, a seeming friend moves into the room adjacent to
Miss Roach’s, upsetting the precariously balanced ecosystem of the house…
CELL MATES
By Simon Gray
Directed by Edward Hall
30 November – 20 January
‘Spies betray people. That’s what we do. It becomes a – a habit. Difficult to break – even when
it’s not – not strictly necessary’
Hampstead Theatre presents Simon Gray’s deftly funny play Cell Mates which has been
unperformed since 1995. Directed by Artistic Director Edward Hall, this absorbing drama
explores how personal freedom is an illusion and even friendship must have carefully
circumscribed limits in a world where deception is a reflex response.
Wormwood Scrubs Prison, London, 1961. One of Britain’s most notorious double agents, George
Blake, is serving a 42 year sentence – that is, until he strikes up an unlikely friendship with Irish
petty criminal, Sean Bourke. Both men are eccentric outsiders, and each sees the possibility of
escape – and not just from prison – through the other. But once on the outside, can their mutual
dependence survive the mounting pressures they face from MI5, from the KGB – and indeed
from themselves?
