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In 2018 we had 19,940 screenings around the world.

Enjoy the show Cast in order of appearance Creative Team We hope you enjoy your National Theatre Please do let us know what you think Live screening. We make every attempt to through our channels listed below or Daphne Stillington Kitty Archer Director replicate the theatre experience as closely approach the cinema manager to share Miss Erikson / Lady Saltburn Liza Sadovy Set and Costume Rob Howell as possible for your enjoyment. your thoughts. Fred Joshua Hill Co-lighting Tim Lutkin Monica Reed Sophie Thompson and Hugh Vanstone Garry Essendine Sound Simon Baker Liz Essendine Casting Jessica Ronane CDG Connect with us Roland Maule Luke Thallon Associate Director Joe Murphy Helen Lyppiatt Suzie Toase Morris Dixon Abdul Salis Explore Never miss out Broadcast Team Joe Lyppiatt Enzo Cilenti Go behind the scenes of Present Laughter Get the latest news from on our website and learn more about how straight Director for Screen Marcus Viner our broadcasts happen. to your inbox. Technical Producers Julia Nelson and Christopher C. Bretnall ntlive.com ntlive.com/signup Lighting Constultant Gemma O’Sullivan Sound Supervisor Conrad Fletcher Script Supervisor Annie McDougall Join in Feedback Use #PresentLaughter and be Share your thoughts by taking our a part of the conversation online. short online survey and enter into a prize draw to win £100. /ntlive ntlive.com/feedback Running time: @ntlive 3 hours, with one 20 minute interval. Noël Coward, ‘the original pop star’ Coming soon Find the next broadcast or screening near you at ntlive.com An excerpt from Matthew Warchus’ programme piece on directing Present Laughter.

I’ve heard Coward described as ‘the original the subject of fame and celebrity is when Fierce with a pen and notorious in combat, pop star’. This seemed particularly relevant you look carefully at it. It tells you a lot of Cyrano almost has it all - if only he could to his depiction of Garry Essendine, the complicated things about human beings. win the heart of his true love Roxane. famous matinee idol who is the central We often refer, maybe legitimately but also There’s just one big problem: he has a character of this play. judgementally, to the ego and narcissism of nose as huge as his heart. We are all used to observing in the news the star, but what about the strange intense James McAvoy (X-Men, Atonement) returns the chaotic (sometimes tragic) lives of neediness of the fans? What is that form by Edmond Rostand, to the stage in an inventive new adaptation major pop stars as they navigate (or fail to of love and desire all about? in a new version by Martin Crimp brought to life with linguistic ingenuity to navigate) between the extraordinary highs a Jamie Lloyd Company production There’s no doubt that Coward was very celebrate Cyrano’s powerful and resonant and lows of their celebrity lives. But do we interested in all this as he tried to deal with resistance against overwhelming odds. pause to properly consider that this lifestyle his own celebrity and the unavoidable Broadcast live 20 February is itself a form of trauma...partly self-inflicted identity crisis which accompanies fame. and partly inflicted by the intense adulation Not only are most of the characters in this of fans? play driven by an intense need for Garry I love the brilliantly true Coward quote to do or be something or other, but Garry Rural Suffolk, 1759. As the country waits for Halley’s comet, a young woman is ‘Extraordinary how potent cheap music is’ Essendine’s own surname is of course sentenced to hang for a heinous murder. and it’s equally extraordinary how potent an anagram of ‘neediness’. She claims to be pregnant, but is she by Lucy Kirkwood telling the truth or simply trying to escape a National Theatre production the noose? A jury of 12 matrons must National Theatre Live decide her fate, and only a midwife Broadcast live 21 May seems prepared to defend her. The Old Vic aims to be surprising, National Theatre Live distributes Maxine Peake plays the midwife and unpredictable, ground-breaking, world-class theatre straight from stages Ria Zmitrowicz plays the defendant in this rule-breaking, independent, accessible across the United Kingdom to cinema bold and gripping production, directed and uplifting. screens around the world. by James Macdonald.

Today, Artistic Director Matthew Warchus Working with the best of British is building on over 200 years of creative theatre companies and producers, adventure. We produce and present five to we simultaneously broadcast live theatre seven diverse productions every Season, to cinemas in the UK, Europe and enhanced by a vibrant programme of sometimes North America, as well as One Voice monologues, Voices Off talks, capturing the live performance for Lates and day-time events for families. Off encore screenings in other territories. stage we engage with over 10,000 people a year from across the UK through our Our live broadcasts and screenings award-winning education, social mobility, have been seen by over 9.5 million people employability and community work. in 2,500 cinemas in 65 countries since we launched in 2009. oldvictheatre.com facebook/OldVicTheatre ntlive.com @oldvictheatre facebook/nationaltheatrelive First produced by H.M Tennant and John C Wilson at the Grand Theatre on 20 September 1942 and in the West End of @ntlive London at the 29 April 1943. Present Laughter © NC Aventales AG 1942 | Copyright agent: Alan Brodie Representation Ltd | alanbrodie.com