The Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company has staged seven plays at the Garrick over the past eleven months featuring a total of 64 actors wearing some 286 costumes and 36 wigs. Eighteen cast members made their West End debuts in the acclaimed productions, playing opposite actors such as Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi, Zoë Wanamaker, Lily James, Richard Madden, Adrian Lester, Rob Brydon and Meera Syal.
The Plays at the Garrick season has now sold more than 30,000 theatre tickets for just £15, which included seats in the front row of the stalls via the Today Tix mobile and online lottery. Around the world, over 340,000 people have seen the Branagh Theatre Live broadcasts of Romeo and Juliet starring Derek Jacobi, Lily James and Richard Madden in July 2016 and The Winter’s Tale with Kenneth Branagh opposite Judi Dench in November 2015.
Set against the backdrop of post-war Britain, John Osborneʼs The Entertainer conjures the seedy glamour of the old music halls for an examination of public masks and private torment. Rob Ashford directs Kenneth Branagh as Archie Rice alongside Phil Dunster as Graham, Gawn Grainger as Billy Rice, Jonah Hauer-King as Frank Rice, Crispin Letts as Brother Bill, Sophie McShera as Jean Rice and Greta Scacchi as Phoebe Rice. Further casting also includes Lauren Alexandra, Yasmin Harrison, Pip Jordan and Kate Tydman as dancers.
The cinema broadcast of The Entertainer is directed by Benjamin Caron, who also directed the broadcasts of The Winter’s Tale and Romeo and Juliet, and recently collaborated with Kenneth Branagh on the final series of Wallander (BBC). Caron has also directed two episodes of the greatly anticipated new Netflix series The Crown by Peter Morgan.
The Plays at the Garrick season for the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company featured productions of The Winter’s Tale, Harlequinade / All On Her Own, Red Velvet, The Painkiller, Romeo and Juliet and The Entertainer.
Participating cinemas and screening dates can be found at branaghtheatrelive.com
TodayTix run a £15 Front Row Mobile Lottery via the TodayTix App for all productions of the Plays at the Garrick season. The Front Row Lottery will open from midnight for performances that day and close four hours prior to the chosen performance. Customers who share their entry via Twitter or Facebook will gain an additional entry into the Lottery. Every entrant has the potential of three entries per performance.
Photo: Johan Persson
