All About My Mother is a passionate hymn to the strength and spirit of women; a kaleidoscopic drama embracing motherhood, love and desire; a homage to the great Hollywood movies.

Following the tragic death of her beloved son, Manuela goes to Barcelona in search of his father. But before she can exorcise her guilt she gets caught up in the lives of three women: Agrado, a long-lost transvestite friend, Rosa, a young nun in search of love and Huma Rojo, the famous actress that Manuela’s son so admired. As Manuela’s life begins to have meaning once more, her son’s father returns and the journey of discovery and forgiveness comes full circle.

Samuel Adamson's new play brings the multi-award winning film of All About My Mother to the stage. The screen version won international acclaim and an Oscar for Pedro Almodóvar. In a career spanning 30 years his other films have included Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Talk to Her and Volver. Adamson's other work includes Southwark Fair and a version of Pillars of the Community, both at the National Theare.

Director Tom Cairns' recent productions include Aristocrats at the National, Phaedre at the Donmar and The Tempest at the Royal Opera House. Music is by long-term Almodóvar collaborator, Alberto Iglesias, with a new stage score by Ben and Max Ringhan.

What's the point of ever going out when you can get pizza delivered, and all the sex you want on the phone? And who needs a bed to sleep in when there's a perfectly good wardrobe to stand the night in?

First there was Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon; now meet Elling and Kjell Bjarne, the Odd Couple of the dysfunctional world. Given a flat in the centre of Oslo by social services, their mission is to re-assimilate themselves back into society. It's that or return to the asylum. All they have to do is convince their social worker, Frank, that they really are 'normal'…

Based on the award-winning cult film, Simon Bent's hilarious adaptation of Elling marks the fourth writer-director collaboration between Simon Bent and Paul Miller for The Bush Theatre, following Bad Company, Goldhawk Road and Sugar Sugar.

'I suspect that Bent's play will become a classic' The Observer on Under The Black Flag, Globe Theatre, 2006

based on a novel by Ingvar Ambjørnsen
stage adaptation by Axel Hellstenius in collaboration with Petter Næss
adapted by Simon Bent
director Paul Miller
designer Simon Daw
sound designer Jack C Arnold
with Adrian Bower, Jonathan Cecil, Keir Charles, Ingrid Lacey and John Simm
presented by The Bush Theatre by arrangement with Trademark ATG and Finola Dwyer

A DANCE show created by Danish choreographer Peter Schaufuss using the Rolling Stones greatest hits as a backdrop, Satisfaction, will run for a limited season – from August 29 (preview August 28) to September 8, 2007 – at the Apollo Theatre.

The show which is neither a ballet nor a musical, has been described as a ‘dancical’, or in Schaufuss’ own words “a vibrant and fascinating multimedia experience of dance, music and light which capture the audience.”

Twenty five dancers from Schaufuss’ company will perform to the soundtrack’s 24 hits, which include Get Off My Cloud, Sympathy for the Devil, Ruby Tuesday, Paint Is Black, Wild Horses and (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. Each will be individually choreographed and tell its own story.

The Apollo staging will also feature caricatures of Stones’ members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood and Charlie Woods by The Sunday Times cartoonist Gerald Scarfe.

Schaufuss, a former director of the London Festival Ballet (now the English National Ballet), set up his own company, the Peter Schaufuss Ballet, in Denmark in 1997, since when he has created 17 productions – among them the controversial dance piece based on the life of the Princess of Wales, Diana the Princess.

The Vatican
1978: a little-known Cardinal from Venice is elected to succeed Pope Paul VI.  A compromise candidate, he takes the name Pope John Paul I, and quickly shows himself to be the liberal the reactionaries within the Catholic Church most feared.
Just thirty-three days later, he is dead.  No official investigation is conducted, no autopsy is performed, and the Vatican’s press release about the cause of death is later found to be, in large part, false.  And just the evening before his death, John Paul had warned three of his most influential but hostile Cardinals that they would be replaced.
His death marks the climax of fifteen troubled years of controversy and machination within the Church’ schisms threaten its unity and the shadow of the Mafia hovers over its financial affairs.  Only Cardinal Benelli has the power to challenge the dead Pope’s enemies.
This incisive new thriller tracks the dramatic tensions, crises of faith and political manoeuvrings inside the Vatican surrounding the death of the man known as ‘the Smiling Pope’
David Suchet plays Cardinal Benelli.  One of the UK’s leading actors, his many roles for the Royal Shakespeare Company include Shylock, Iago, and Caliban.  His numerous West End credits include Amadeus, Oleanna and Separation.  He is widely known to television audiences from such series as Blott on the Landscape, The Way We Live Now, National Crime Squad and Agatha Christie’s Poirot.

Anna Mackmin will direct David Storey’s 1969 drama, In Celebration. Previewing at the Duke of York’s Theatre from 5 July, In Celebration is currently booking until 15 September. Designs are by Lez Brotherson, with lighting by Mark Henderson, music by Stephen Warbeck and sound by John Leonard.

The cast includes Lynda Baron (Mrs Burnett), Orlando Bloom (Steven), Gareth Farr (Colin), Paul Hilton (Andrew) and Ciaran McIntyre (Reardon). Further casting for this production will be announced shortly.

David Storey’s modern classic took audiences by storm at the Royal Court in the 1960’s and established him as one of the country's most powerful playwrights. Three brothers - Andrew, Colin and Steven - return home to the northern roots of their childhood for a family reunion. Although they have returned to celebrate, the explosive complexities of family life and long-held grievances are unlikely to improve the chances of a decent party… Compelling and emotionally thrilling, In Celebration is an exploration of family love and of how the consequences of best intentions can threaten to destroy treasured hopes and dreams.

With this exclusive packaged hotel deal you receive ticket(s) to “The Letter” at the Wyndhams Theatre and choose your duration at our selection of London hotels.

STRICTLY LIMITED WEST END SEASON

Jenny Seagrove and Anthony Andrews in
Somerset Maugham's
The Letter
Directed by Alan Strachan

Jenny Seagrove is known to millions as Jo Mills, star of the BBC’s most watched drama Judge John Deed alongside Martin Shaw. Her numerous other starring roles on television include playing the title in A Woman of Substance. Jenny’s extensive West End theatre credits have seen her play lead roles in every Shaftesbury Avenue playhouse including the title role in the hugely successful production of Somerset Maugham’s THE CONSTANT WIFE which, due to record sales, transferred from the Apollo Theatre to the larger Lyric Theatre (both on Shaftesbury Avenue) for a double extended season.

Starring alongside Jenny is the highly acclaimed Anthony Andrews whose prolific and diverse career has seen him play a myriad of roles: he received worldwide recognition and many awards for his role as Sebastian Flyte in Brideshead Revisited – which is currently being re-filmed due to its huge international success; his many films include The Scarlet Pimpernel, Under The Volcano, Haunted and Lost In Siberia which he co-produced and which received a Golden Globe Award nomination; and major stage roles include Peter Hall’s production of Coming In To Land with Maggie Smith at the National, Forty Years On, My Fair Lady, Woman In White, and the West End production of Ibsen’s Ghosts with Francesca Annis.

The 1940 film version of this dark and steamy psychological thriller of revenge and deceit received 7 Oscar nominations including ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Actress’ for Bette Davis, while the 1929 film also won an Oscar nomination.

When the wife of a Malaysian rubber planter is witnessed murdering a local playboy, she claims it was self-defence. Convinced of her innocence, her husband hires a family friend to defend her. However, a mysterious letter subsequently comes to light, casting doubt on her integrity and threatening to cost her everything.

STRICTLY LIMITED WEST END SEASON

Jenny Seagrove and Anthony Andrews in
Somerset Maugham's
The Letter
Directed by Alan Strachan

Jenny Seagrove is known to millions as Jo Mills, star of the BBC’s most watched drama Judge John Deed alongside Martin Shaw. Her numerous other starring roles on television include playing the title in A Woman of Substance. Jenny’s extensive West End theatre credits have seen her play lead roles in every Shaftesbury Avenue playhouse including the title role in the hugely successful production of Somerset Maugham’s THE CONSTANT WIFE which, due to record sales, transferred from the Apollo Theatre to the larger Lyric Theatre (both on Shaftesbury Avenue) for a double extended season.

Starring alongside Jenny is the highly acclaimed Anthony Andrews whose prolific and diverse career has seen him play a myriad of roles: he received worldwide recognition and many awards for his role as Sebastian Flyte in Brideshead Revisited – which is currently being re-filmed due to its huge international success; his many films include The Scarlet Pimpernel, Under The Volcano, Haunted and Lost In Siberia which he co-produced and which received a Golden Globe Award nomination; and major stage roles include Peter Hall’s production of Coming In To Land with Maggie Smith at the National, Forty Years On, My Fair Lady, Woman In White, and the West End production of Ibsen’s Ghosts with Francesca Annis.

The 1940 film version of this dark and steamy psychological thriller of revenge and deceit received 7 Oscar nominations including ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Actress’ for Bette Davis, while the 1929 film also won an Oscar nomination.

When the wife of a Malaysian rubber planter is witnessed murdering a local playboy, she claims it was self-defence. Convinced of her innocence, her husband hires a family friend to defend her. However, a mysterious letter subsequently comes to light, casting doubt on her integrity and threatening to cost her everything.

Gaslight

Rosamund Pike and Kenneth Cranham will star in Peter Gill’s new Old Vic revival of Patrick Hamilton’s Gaslight. The thriller, set in Victorian London, opens at the Old Vic.

While Jack Manningham is out on the town each evening, his wife Bella (Pike), stays at home alone, believing she’s losing her mind: she can’t explain the disappearance of familiar objects, the mysterious footsteps overhead or the ghostly flickering of living room gaslights. However, questions about Jack’s behaviour and true identity are aroused following the unexpected arrival of Detective Rough (Cranham).

English novelist and playwright Patrick Hamilton (whose other big theatrical hit was Rope) wrote Gaslight for the stage in 1938. It was adapted for the British screen in 1940 and, four years later, was made into a much more famous Hollywood version directed by George Cukor and starring Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman. Bergman won a Best Actress Oscar for her role as the psychologically terrorised young wife.

Rosamund Pike received a Best Actress nomination in this year’s Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers’ Choice Awards for her role in Adrian Noble’s recent West End revival of Tennessee Williams’ Summer and Smoke and also starred in Terry Johnson’s Hitchcock Blonde (Royal Court and West End). Her film credits include Pride and Prejudice, Die Another Day, The Libertine and the upcoming Fracture, with Anthony Hopkins.

Kenneth Cranham’s extensive stage credits at the National, RSC and elsewhere, include, Endgame, The UN Inspector, Flight, An Inspector Calls, School for Scandal and The Novice. His screen credits include Layer Cake, The Boxer, Chocolat and Hot Fuzz on film and, most recently on TV, Rome, in which he played Pompey Magnus.

Playwright-director Peter Gill’s recent directing credits include The Voysey Inheritance, Scenes from the Big Picture, Speed the Plough and productions of his own plays The York Realist and Certain Young Men. Gaslight is designed by Hayden Griffin. No further casting has yet been announced.

by Maxim Gorky
in a new version by Andrew Upton

Sung at a funeral and a wedding today. The full gamut of the human experience from the ridiculous to the utterly pointless.

A restless bunch of young radicals hang out, have sex, dance, drink, moan and philosophise at the home of a prosperous decorator. While Pyotr, a sometime student of law, falls for the lovely, loose-living lodger, his sister carps on about the tedium of life, lusts after Nil – who's blind to her charms but in pursuit of the servant – and botches her own suicide.

Life. People shout, fight, eat and go to bed. When
they wake up? They start shouting again. In this
house everything fades quickly. Tears, laughter.
Everything. Dissipates. The last sounds ringing
out over the lake. Then nothing. A banal hum.

A household falls to pieces as the personal and political turmoil of pre-revolutionary Russia gathers pace. Gorky's darkly comic first play of 1902, banned from public performance under the Czarist regime, is seen here in an exuberant new version by Andrew Upton.

Performances from 23 May

Director: Howard Davies
Designer: Bunny Christie
Lighting Designer: Neil Austin
Music: Dominic Muldowney
Sound Designer: Christopher Shutt

Cast:
: Includes
Perchikin : Duncan Bell
Nil : Mark Bonnar
Shyshkin : Jonathan Bryan
Doctor : Marcus Cunningham
Vassilly : Phil Davis
Polya : Susannah Fielding
Tsvetaeva : Rendah Heywood
Teterev : Conleth Hill
Akulina : Stephanie Jacob
Pyotr : Rory Kinnear
Stepanida : Maggie McCarthy
Elena : Justine Mitchell
Tanya : Ruth Wilson

by Ayub Khan-Din
based on All in Good Time by Bill Naughton

LATA: You can't joke about these things. It'll bring bad luck. Terrible tragedies occur when brides tempt the wrath of the gods.

VINA: Maybe in Bollywood, mum, not in Oldham.

The wedding feast is over and his father's dancing the bhangra, but the groom himself is busy on the net. and when it's time for bed, he's so woefully inhibited by the proximity of his parents, let alone his brother's childish pranks, that his beautiful virgin bride remains just that. six weeks later, the whole family start to panic.

A hugely warm-hearted, comic tale of close-knit Indian family life in England by the author of East is East, Ayub Khan-Din. Bollywood actor Harish Patel, making his debut on the London stage, is joined by Meera Syal.

From 18 April

Director: Nicholas Hytner
Designer: Tim Hatley
Lighting Designer: Hugh Vanstone

Cast:
Etash Tailor : Arsher Ali
Jai Dutt : Rudi Dharmalingam
Laxman Patel : Kriss Dosanjh
Vina Patel : Rokhsaneh Ghawam-Shahidi
Molly Bhatt : Natalie Grady
Atul Dutt : Ronny Jhutti
Lata Patel : Shaheen Khan
Jivaj Bhatt : Simon Nagra
Eeshwar Dutt : Harish Patel
Lopa Dutt : Meera Syal
: with
: Kal Aise
: Pooja Ghai
: Shiv Grewal
: Pooja Shah