Direct from London to the Boca Grande Community Center Auditorium, Executive Director Marta Howell of the Friends of Boca Grande announced the third season of National Theatre Live will be beamed to Boca Grande.
"It took some real string-pulling to convince them we were worthy for the rebroadcasts because we're such a small auditorium," Howell said of the 200-seat Boca Grande Community Center Auditorium.
Only five theaters in Florida have been granted permission to show the four productions including Palm Beach, Vero Beach, Daytona Beach Key, Largo and Boca Grande. Since NT Live's first season, which began in June 2009 with "Phdre" starring Helen Mirren, more than 500,000 people have experienced the National's acclaimed work on movie screens around the world.
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National Theatre Live will open at 2 p.m. Oct. 6 on Boca Grande with “One Man, Two Guvnors.”
Performances this season will include "One Man, Two Guvnors," "The Kitchen," "Collaborators" and William Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors."
NT Live will not actually be live - at least not here on this island. It will be shown in the auditorium on select dates after the performances and not on the actual live performance date.
"It is thrilling to think that more than half a million people worldwide have now seen a National Theatre Live broadcast," said David Sabel, the National Theatre's head of digital media, in a statement. The rebroadcasts are a community service by the Friends of Boca Grande. Proceeds will be split with National Theatre Live.
Fact Box
To go
Where: Boca Grande Community Center Auditorium
Ticket prices: $25 for adults, $15 for students with valid school ID
Box office hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday or one hour before show time at the door.
Show: One Man, Two Guvnors
Show time: 2 p.m. Oct. 6, 7 p.m. Oct. 15
Show: The Kitchen
Show time: 7 p.m. Nov. 5, 2 p.. Nov. 17
Show: Collaborators
Show time: 2 p.m. Jan. 5, 7 p.m. Jan. 21
Show: The Comedy of Errors
Show time: 7 p.m. March 17, 2 p.m. March 22
Contact: 964-0827, go to friendsofbocagrande.org or e-mail mhowell@friendsofbocagrande.org
Performance previews:
ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS
Brighton in the 1960s, as depicted on the seedily romantic flats of designer Mark Thompson's set, just as they're starting to swing. The style is a loving homage to all the ripest British comedy of the past 10 years.
Panto? Check.
Music hall? Check.
Audience participation? Check.
"Carry On"-grade innuendos? Two big checks.
A Benny Hill-style chase sequence?
Cross-dressing?
A man in a fez?
Check. Check. Check.
"One Man, Two Guvnors" is all brilliantly bound together by Richard Bean's eminently modern sensibilities. It evades the misogyny of the humor to which it pays homage. Its loud, weird characters are more "Blackadder" than "On the Buses" and there's a ferocious glint of steel behind the gags.
Based on "The Servant of Two Masters" by Carlo Goldoni, Guvnors will kick of the season Sept. 15. The sold-out production, directed by Nicholas Hytner with songs by Grant Olding, stars James Corden and will transfer to London's West End in November.
THE KITCHEN
"The Kitchen," Arnold Wesker's extraordinary black comedy, will follow Oct. 6. The production, directed by Bijan Sheibani, is set in a restaurant in 1950s London and features an ensemble cast of 29 actors.
COLLABORATORS
"Collaborators," a new play by John Hodge, will open Dec. 1. Directed by Hytner, the play centers on an imaginary encounter between Joseph Stalin and the playwright Mikhail Bulgakov. Alex Jennings will play Bulgakov and Simon Russell Beale will play Stalin.
THE COMEDY of ERRORS
William Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors," directed by Dominic Cooke, artistic director of London's Royal Court Theatre, will open March 1, 2012, and star actor-comedian Lenny Henry in his National Theatre debut.
