Emma Rice’s adaptation of Brief Encounter certainly adds a fresh look at the 1945 British romantic film directed by David Lean, which had originally been adapted from the Noël Coward play of 1936, Still Life.
NEWS: Kneehigh announces closure after 4 decades, citing ‘artistic changes’
Kneehigh, the award-winning Cornish-based international touring theatre company has announced its closure after 41 years in operation.
A Brief Encounter with cast members Isabel Pollen & Jim Sturgeon
I met with Isabel Pollen and Jim Sturgeon who play the leading roles of Laura and Alec in Brief Encounter. We spoke about what its like to re-create such an iconic film on stage.
NEWS: Line up of shows revealed for West End LIVE 2018
The full list of shows for West End LIVE 2018 West End LIVE, which returns to Trafalgar Square on 16 and 17 June 2018, has been released.
FEATURED SHOW: Noel Coward’s Tonight at 8.30 at Jermyn Street Theatre, ★★★★★ reviews are in!
A historic hit! Jermyn Street Theatre’s historic staging of Noel Coward’s full Tonight at 8.30 cycle has wowed the critics who attended this past weekend’s trilogy days. We’ve rounded up some of our favourite review quotes below, including from our own Cowardologist Libby Purves. Get your tickets before they’re all gone!
PHOTOS: First-look at first-ever London revival of Noel Coward’s Tonight at 8.30
Got your tickets yet for Jermyn Street’s historic staging of Noel Coward’s Tonight at 8.30? It’s the first time that all nine plays in the cycle have been staged together in London since their 1936 premiere. Check out our gallery of production shots from the first three Bedroom Farces below – and then get booking!
WATCH: Tonight at 8.30 cast introduce you to the plays in Noel Coward’s epic cycle
We continue our series building up to the opening of Jermyn Street’s complete staging of Noel Coward’s Tonight at 8.30 with these new, rehearsal room videos from the cast introducing the nine plays in the cycle, not seen all together in London since their 1936 premiere. Watch onscreen below – and then get booking to watch onstage!
‘Rice sprinkles in her own brand of magic’: BRIEF ENCOUNTER – Empire Cinema Haymarket
Brief Encounter is a love letter to both film and theatre in which Rice combines elements of David Lean’s 1946 film with the 1936 Noël Coward play Still Life that it was based on, and then sprinkles in her own brand of magic.
Before Brief Encounter: Watch Miranda Foster on Laura in Still Life + other videos
Before Brief Encounter, there was Still Life. Audiences now have a chance to see Noel Coward’s one-act play, which spawned David Lean’s classic film, as part of Jermyn Street Theatre’s complete cycle of nine short plays, which have not been seen all together in London since their 1936 premiere. Watch our video with Still Life’s new Laura – and then get booking!
‘Moving, heartbreaking & blurring the lines between film & reality’: BRIEF ENCOUNTER – Empire Cinema Haymarket ★★★★
As the leads, Isabel Pollen and Jim Sturgeon are captivating. Suitably reserved and excited at times they create a moving and heartbreaking relationship which blurs the lines between film and reality.
‘It’s a classic’: BRIEF ENCOUNTER – Empire Cinema Haymarket ★★★★
The interactive movie footage in Brief Encounter is well done, there are trains enough to satisfy the most diligent railway enthusiast, and the breaking waves motif is clever. Maybe it’s a pity they couldn’t have intercut some of the David Lean film, it’s still a classic. But, in its own way, so is this production.
‘A little classic in its own right’: BRIEF ENCOUNTER – Empire Cinema Haymarket ★★★★★
On the far side of Emma Rice’s brief unhappy tenure at the Globe, here Brief Encounter comes again, with a few fine tweaks, to remind us what Rice does best, and how playful, inventive, sincere and inspiring Kneehigh can be when it beats its own path through the woods.
‘Every bit as iconic as the film it references’: BRIEF ENCOUNTER – Empire Cinema Haymarket ★★★★★
You may find, by the finish of Brief Encounter, that you’ve got a little bit of grit in your eye too, but don’t be afraid to be swept along with this exquisitely flawless production.
‘The show of the year so far’: BRIEF ENCOUNTER – Empire Cinema Haymarket ★★★★★
My verdict? Brief Encounter is a love letter to stage and screen, beautifully conceived and immaculately performed – the show of the year so far.
From The Country Wife to Olivier Award nominations: What to look out for in March
Lots of different things opening across the country in March. In London there are a lot of Fringe and Off West End productions coming your way.
‘Every emotion is captured’: BRIEF ENCOUNTER – Touring & West End ★★★★★
Directed by Emma Rice, Kneehigh’s Brief Encounter is a fast-paced, superbly powerful, moving and yet hilarious piece of theatre.