THE THREEPENNY OPERA Travelex £15 Tickets, Olivier Theatre Previews from 18 May, press night 26 May, booking until 31 August with further performances to be announced.

THE THREEPENNY OPERA by and in a new adaptation by will be directed by , opening in the Olivier Theatre on 26 May as part of the £15 Travelex season. The cast includes at Macheath, as Mrs Peachum and as Polly Peachum alongside Hammed Animashaun, Sarah Amankwah, Toyin Ayeden-Alase, Jamie Beddard, Rebecca Brewer, Andrew Buckley, Ricky Butt, Mark Carroll, Matt Cross, Peter de Jersey, Nick Holder, George Ikediashi. Debbie Kurup, Conor Neaves, , Dominic Tighe and Wendy Somerville. The production will be designed by Vicki Mortimer, with musical direction by David Shrubsole, choreography by Imogen Knight, lighting by Paule Constable, sound by Paul Arditti and fight direction by Rachel Bown Williams and Ruth Cooper of RC-ANNIE Ltd.

London scrubs up for the coronation. The thieves are on the make, the whores on the pull, the police cutting deals to keep it all out of sight. Mr and Mrs Peachum are looking forward to a bumper day in the beggary business but their daughter didn’t come home last night. Mack the Knife is back in town.

A landmark of 20th century musical theatre THE THREEPENNY OPERA comes to the NT in a bold new production which will contain filthy language and immoral behaviour.

Rufus Norris became Director of the National Theatre in 2015; his NT productions are wonder.land, Everyman, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, The Amen Corner, Table, London Road, Death and the King's Horseman and Market Boy. His other work includes; Feast, Vernon God Little and Tintin for the ; the Olivier Award-winning Cabaret in the West End and on tour; Les Liaisons Dangereuses on Broadway; Festen at the Almeida, West End and New York; and Doctor Dee at the Festival in 2011 and ENO in 2012. Screen work includes Broken, which won the British Independent Film Award for Best Film, and the film of London Road.

Simon Stephens’ plays include Birdland, Wastwater, Motortown, Country Music, Herons, and Bluebird (Royal Court); Blindsided (Manchester Royal Exchange); Seawall (National Theatre/Paines Plough); Three Kingdoms (Lyric/NO99 Theatre, /Munich Playhouse, Germany); A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky (Lyric Hammersmith); Marine Parade (with Mark Eitzel, Brighton Festival); The Trial of Ubu (Hampstead/ Toneelgroep, ); T5 and Heaven (Traverse); Punk Rock (Lyric / Manchester Royal Exchange); Sea Wall (Bush/ Traverse); Harper Regan (National); Pornography (Tricycle/Traverse/Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hanover); On the Shore of the Wide World (National/Manchester Royal Exchange – Olivier Award for Best New Play); Port (National Theatre/Manchester Royal Exchange) and Carmen Disruption (Deutsche Schauspielhaus, Hamburg). Adaptations include A Doll’s House and I Am the Wind (Young Vic).

Rory Kinnear’s appearances at the NT include Iago in Othello (for which he won an Olivier Award ), The Last of the Haussmans, the title role in Hamlet (Olivier Award nomination), Burnt by the Sun (Olivier Award nomination), The Revenger’s Tragedy, Philistines, The Man of Mode (Olivier Award and Winner of the 2007 Ian Charleson Award) and Southwark Fair. He won the Evening Standard Best Actor Award (alongside Adrian Lester) for Othello and Hamlet at the NT and Measure for Measure at the Almeida. His film appearances include the three most recent Bond films, The Imitation Game and Broken (BIFA Award, Best Supporting Actor).

Press night: Thursday 26 May Contact: Martin Shippen on 020 7452 3233 / [email protected]

Notes to Editors 1. The Threepenny Opera is performed by Sarah Amankwah, Hammed Animashaun, Toyin Ayedun-Alase, Jamie Beddard, Rebecca Brewer, Andrew Buckley, Ricky Butt, Mark Carroll, Rosalie Craig, Matt Cross, Haydn Gwynne, Nick Holder, George Ikediashi, Peter de Jersey, Rory Kinnear, Debbie Kurup, Conor Neaves, Sharon Small, Wendy Somerville and Dominic Tighe. The production is directed by Rufus Norris, with design by Vicki Mortimer, Musical Direction by David Shrubshole, Choreography by Imogen Knight, lighting design by Paule Constable and Sound Design by Paul Arditti. 2. The Threepenny Opera currently runs from 18 May to 31 August and further performances will be added. 3. Platform discussions include ‘Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill in Collaboration’ on 8 June, Rufus Norris and Simon Stephens on 13 June and Rory Kinnear on 27 June. 4. Captioned performances will take place on 30 June and 10 August at 7.30pm and 2 July at 2pm. A pre-show Touch Tour will take place on 27 August at midday, with Audio Described performances on 26 August at 7.30pm and 27 August at 2pm.

The National Theatre is dedicated to making the very best theatre and sharing it with as many people as possible. We produce productions on the South Bank in London each year, ranging from re-imagined classics to modern masterpieces and new work by contemporary writers and theatre-makers. The National’s work is seen on tour throughout the UK, in London’s West End, internationally (including on Broadway) and in collaborations and co-productions with regional theatres.

In 2014-15 the NT:

 Staged 25 productions and gave 3,380 performances in the UK and internationally  Reached audiences of 4.1 million worldwide  Had a larger audience on tour in the UK than on the South Bank- 46% of the UK audience of 2.9 million were outside of London  Broadcast, via the NT Live programme, to over 2,000 cinemas in 50 countries around the world.

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