First Look at Kenneth Branagh in The Entertainer (also starring John Hurt)

Set against the backdrop of post-war Britain, John Osborneʼs modern classic conjures the seedy glamour of the old music halls for an examination of public masks and private torment. The Entertainer will play at the Garrick Theatre from Saturday 20 August until Saturday 12 November.

The Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company, in partnership with Picturehouse Entertainment, has also confirmed that the date of the final Branagh Theatre Live cinema broadcast of this season will be The Entertainer at 19:00 on Thursday 27 October 2016. Tickets for the broadcast of The Entertainer and details of participating cinemas can be found at branaghtheatrelive.com

John Hurt will return to the London stage for the first time in a decade as patriarch Billy Rice opposite Kenneth Branagh, who as previously announced, will play Archie Rice in Rob Ashford’s production. Also joining the company will be Phil Dunster (Graham), Jonah Hauer-King (Frank Rice), Pip Jordan (dancer), Crispin Letts (Brother Bill), Sophie McShera (Jean Rice), Greta Scacchi (Phoebe Rice) and Kate Tydman (dancer).

Tickets are also now on sale for the next Branagh Theatre Live broadcast, Romeo and Juliet on 7 July 2016. Directors Rob Ashford and Kenneth Branagh have reunited the stars of the celebrated film Cinderella, Richard Madden and Lily James, in Shakespeareʼs heartbreaking tale of forbidden love, with Derek Jacobi as Mercutio and Meera Syal as The Nurse. Romeo and Juliet will play at the Garrick from 12 May to 13 August 2016.

The cinema broadcasts of The Winter’s Tale, Romeo and Juliet and The Entertainer are directed by Benjamin Caron, who has also recently collaborated with Kenneth Branagh on the forthcoming series of Wallander which is due to be broadcast on the BBC in Summer 2016.

The Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company’s award-winning production of The Winter’s Tale topped the UK cinema box office when it was broadcast in the UK on 26 November 2015. It was broadcast to over 500 cinemas across the country live from the Garrick, beating The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 to claim the top spot. Worldwide, The Winter’s Tale was broadcast to more than 1000 cinemas, with strong audiences from Australia, USA and across Europe including Finland, Sweden and Germany. Encore screenings took place across the festive period and throughout January 2016, giving even more people the opportunity to see The Winter’s Tale.

The Winter’s Tale, Harlequinade / All On Her Own, Red Velvet, The Painkiller, Romeo and Juliet and The Entertainer make up the Plays at the Garrick season for the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company. For more information and to buy theatre tickets for these productions please see www.branaghtheatre.com. Photo from Johann Personn.

See the Kenneth Branagh image here: