1.
Dustbin Baby (film)
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Dustbin Baby is a BBC television film directed by Juliet May, based on Jacqueline Wilsons 2001 novel of the same name. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 21 December 2008, the film stars Dakota Blue Richards as April, a troubled teenager who was abandoned in a dustbin as an infant, and Juliet Stevenson as Marion Bean, Aprils adoptive mother. David Haig stars as Elliot, Marions friend and colleague, the screenplay was written by Helen Blakeman, and the film was produced by Kindle Entertainment. Dustbin Baby deals with themes including maternal bonding, bullying, the story revolves around April running away on her fourteenth birthday, while Marion searches for her. Aprils life is recounted in flashbacks as she meets people and visits places that are significant to her, both Wilson and critics responded positively to the film, with Wilson saying she thought it was the best film adaptation of any of her works. It was released on DVD on 12 January 2009, Dustbin Baby was awarded the International Emmy in the Children and Young People category at the 2009 ceremony. Helen Blakeman won a Childrens BAFTA for the screenplay, while the film itself was shortlisted for a Childrens BAFTA in the Drama category and shortlisted for the Kids Vote award. The film was awarded the 2010 KidScreen Award for Best One-off, Special, or TV movie aimed at a Family Audience. On Aprils fourteenth birthday, Marion, her mother, gives her earrings. They argue, and April leaves for school, after lying to her friends, claiming she has a phone and is going to the dentists, April chooses to play truant. While at work at a home, Marion hears that April has not arrived at school. She talks to her friend and colleague Elliot, who tries to dissuade her from leaving. April visits the home of Pat Williams, who cared for her as a baby, Pat remembers April and gives her a newspaper cutting telling the story of her discovery as a baby in a dustbin behind a pizza parlour. In a flashback, a young April is seen living with Janet, the Johnsons relationship is an abusive one, leading to Janets suicide. Meanwhile, Marion goes to Aprils school, where she talks to Aprils friends, April then leaves Pats home, and travels alone to Janets grave. Marion continues to search, and, in a centre, meets Elliot. April then visits the now abandoned Sunnyholme Childrens Home, where she lived when she was younger, in a flashback, an eight-year-old April lives at the Sunnyholme. Cared for by a woman named Mo, April befriends a girl called Gina and is introduced to Pearl
Dustbin Baby (film)
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Dakota Blue Richards as April
Dustbin Baby (film)
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A publicity still from the film showing April (left, played by
Dakota Blue Richards) and Marion (played by
Juliet Stevenson), in a flashback to when April was still a student at Fairdale.
Dustbin Baby (film)
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Jacqueline Wilson wrote the novel
Dustbin Baby, upon which the film was based.
Dustbin Baby (film)
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The "present" April on her journey of self-discovery.
2.
Kelvedon
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Kelvedon is a village and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex in England, near to the town of Witham. It had a population of 4,717 in 2001, reducing to 3,587 at the 2011 Census, the existing village of Kelvedon has been a settlement since the Early Middle Ages, though it stands near the site of a Roman settlement, probably Canonium. Kelvedon expanded significantly in the Victorian era, the reason was the Norwich to London railway making it a place to live yet get to work as rail was the only fast method of transport. Victorian Kelvedon was set along one street, High Street, in the 1930s, with the advent of the automobile, High Street became the A12, the main road through Essex. Ribbon development saw houses sprawl along the road for miles, the village suffered major congestion until a bypass was built in the 1960s. Suburbanization started to place in the 1980s - a large development called Riverside Park was constructed containing hundreds of homes. Kelvedon is situated next to the village of Feering and is separated from it by the River Blackwater. In the late 19th century, Kelvedon became famous for seed growing, the village is bounded to the north by the river Blackwater where the adjacent village of Feering starts. Kelvedon contains a school called Kelvedon St Marys, the original school in Kelvedon was founded by Thomas Aylett in Maldon Road, Kelvedon, in 1632 when he bequeathed the property along with £10 per annum to provide a salary for a master. The Ayletts building still stands today and houses the Kelvedon Library, brockwell Meadows Local Nature Reserve is south-east of the village between the houses and the River Blackwater. Kelvedon is also home to several businesses including Knight Group and Lysanda, Kelvedon railway station is on the London Liverpool St. line with trains approximately every 20 minutes. Bus services are provided by the 71 First Bus service Chelmsford–Colchester route, the A12 has links with the rest of East Anglia and the north. Kelvedon St Marys is a Church of England primary school with academy status located between Colchester and Chelmsford on the A12, which was opened in 1977 and it converted to academy status in March 2013. Spurgeon, known as the Prince of Preachers, was born in Kelvedon on 19 June 1834, charles Spurgeon was a powerful preacher of the Victorian era and boasted the largest congregation in London, to the extent that his weekly sermon was printed and sold by the thousands. The Metropolitan Tabernacle was built for him, charles Spurgeon never returned to Kelvedon to preach although he was invited in 1853 to do so in the new Independent Chapel built in the village, an invitation which he refused. There is a plaque on a building in Kelvedon High Street commemorating the place of his birth. Actress Juliet Stevenson was born in Kelvedon, actor Jeremy Sheffield, spent part of his childhood living in Kelvedon. Actor John Dagleish was born and raised in Kelvedon, Kelvedon Free Music Festival Kelvedon Parish Council
Kelvedon
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St. Mary the Virgin church, Kelvedon
3.
Essex
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Essex /ˈɛsᵻks/ is a county in England immediately north-east of London. It borders the counties of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, the county town is Chelmsford, which is the only city in the county. Essex occupies the part of the old Kingdom of Essex, before this. As well as areas, the county also includes London Stansted Airport, the new towns of Basildon and Harlow, Lakeside Shopping Centre, the port of Tilbury. Originally recorded in AD527, Essex occupied territory to the north of the River Thames, incorporating all of what later became Middlesex and its territory was later restricted to lands east of the River Lea. In changes before the Norman conquest the East Saxons were subsumed into the Kingdom of England and, following the Norman conquest, Essex became a county. During the medieval period, much of the area was designated a Royal forest, including the county in a period to 1204. Gradually, the subject to forest law diminished, but at various times included the forests of Becontree, Chelmsford, Epping, Hatfield, Ongar. County-wide administration Essex County Council was formed in 1889, however County Boroughs of West Ham, Southend-on-Sea and East Ham formed part of the county but were unitary authorities. 12 boroughs and districts provide more localised services such as rubbish and recycling collections, leisure and planning, parish-level administration – changes A few Essex parishes have been transferred to other counties. Before 1889, small areas were transferred to Hertfordshire near Bishops Stortford, Essex became part of the East of England Government Office Region in 1994 and was statistically counted as part of that region from 1999, having previously been part of the South East England region. Two unitary authorities In 1998 the boroughs of Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock were granted autonomy from the county of Essex after successful requests to become unitary authorities. Essex Police covers the county and the two unitary authorities. The county council chamber and main headquarters is at the County Hall in Chelmsford, before 1938 the council regularly met in London near Moorgate, which with significant parts closer to that point and the dominance of railways had been more convenient than any place in the county. It currently has 75 elected councillors, before 1965, the number of councillors reached over 100. The highest point of the county of Essex is Chrishall Common near the village of Langley, close to the Hertfordshire border, the pattern of settlement in the county is diverse. Epping Forest also acts as a barrier to the further spread of London. Part of the southeast of the county, already containing the population centres of Basildon, Southend and Thurrock, is within the Thames Gateway
Essex
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The village of
Finchingfield in north Essex
Essex
Essex
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Skyline of
Southend-on-Sea
Essex
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London Stansted Airport, in the north west of the county
4.
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
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The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school in London, England. It is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, RADA is an affiliate school of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama. Its higher education awards are validated by Kings College London and its students graduate alongside members of the departments which form the Kings Faculty of Arts & Humanities and it is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senate House complex of the University of London. Undergraduate students are eligible for government student loan through the Conservatoire for Dance, RADA also has a significant scholarships and bursaries scheme, offering financial assistance to many students at the Academy. The current director of the academy is Edward Kemp, the president is Sir Kenneth Branagh, the chairman is Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen and its vice-chairman was Alan Rickman until his death in 2016. RADA was founded in 1904 by Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, an actor manager, in 1905, RADA moved to 52 Gower Street, and a managing council was set up to oversee the school. Its members included George Bernard Shaw, who donated his royalties from his play Pygmalion to RADA. In 1920, RADA was granted a Royal Charter, and in 1921, the Prince of Wales opened the theatre. The Gower Street buildings were torn down in 1927, and replaced with a new building, financed by George Bernard Shaw, in 1923, John Gielgud studied at RADA for a year. He later became President of the academy, and its first honorary fellow, a number of famous actors took on leading roles at RADA, such as Richard Attenborough, Oliver Neville, Nicholas Barter, and Alan Rickman. Other 1924 saw RADAs first government subsidy, a grant of £500, in 2001, RADA joined forces with the London Contemporary dance School to create the UKs first Conservatoire for Dance and Drama. The Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance joined this Conservatoire in 2005, in 2000 the Academy founded RADA Enterprises Ltd, which includes RADA in Business, providing training in communications and teambuilding that uses drama training techniques in a business context. The profits are fed back into the Academy to fund students training, RADA is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London. The main RADA building is on Gower Street, with a second premises nearby in Chenies Street, the Goodge Street and Euston Square underground stations are both within walking distance. RADA has five theatres and a cinema, there is also a 150-seat cinema. In January 2012, RADA acquired the lease to the adjacent Drill Hall venue in Chenies Street, the Drill Hall is a Grade II listed building with a long performing arts history, and was where Nijinsky rehearsed with Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes in 1911. This venue has a 200-seat space, the Studio Theatre, and a 50-seat space, the RADA library contains around 30,000 items. The collection was started in 1904 with donations from actors and writers of the such as Sir Squire Bancroft, William Archer, Arthur Wing Pinero
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
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The main entrance to RADA on Gower Street
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
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Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
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George Bernard Shaw, who donated the royalties from his play
Pygmalion to RADA in 1912.
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
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The RADA building at 18 Chenies Street
5.
Order of the British Empire
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There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. Recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire were at first made on the nomination of the United Kingdom, the self-governing Dominions of the Empire, nominations continue today from Commonwealth countries that participate in recommending British honours. Most members are citizens of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth realms that use the Imperial system of honours and awards. Honorary knighthoods are appointed to citizens of nations where the Queen is not head of state, occasionally, honorary appointees are, incorrectly, referred to as Sir or Dame – Bill Gates or Bob Geldof, for example. In particular, King George V wished to create an Order to honour many thousands of those who had served in a variety of non-combatant roles during the First World War, when first established, the Order had only one division. However, in 1918, soon after its foundation, it was divided into Military. The Orders motto is For God and the Empire, at the foundation of the Order, the Medal of the Order of the British Empire was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. In 1922, this was renamed the British Empire Medal, in addition, the BEM is awarded by the Cook Islands and by some other Commonwealth nations. The British monarch is Sovereign of the Order, and appoints all members of the Order. The next most senior member is the Grand Master, of whom there have been three, Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, Queen Mary, and the current Grand Master, the Duke of Edinburgh. The Order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross,845 Knights and Dames Commander, and 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the number of members of the fourth and fifth classes. Foreign recipients, as members, do not contribute to the numbers restricted to the Order as full members do. Though men can be knighted separately from an order of chivalry, women cannot, and so the rank of Knight/Dame Commander of the Order is the lowest rank of damehood, and second-lowest of knighthood. Because of this, Dame Commander is awarded in circumstances in which a man would be created a Knight Bachelor, for example, by convention, female judges of the High Court of Justice are created Dames Commander after appointment, while male judges become Knights Bachelor. The Order has six officials, the Prelate, the Dean, the Secretary, the Registrar, the King of Arms, the Bishop of London, a senior bishop in the Church of England, serves as the Orders Prelate. The Dean of St Pauls is ex officio the Dean of the Order, the Orders King of Arms is not a member of the College of Arms, as are many other heraldic officers. From time to time, individuals are appointed to a higher grade within the Order, thereby ceasing usage of the junior post-nominal letters
Order of the British Empire
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Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
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MBE as awarded in 1918
Order of the British Empire
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Close up of an MBE from 1945 showing the "For God and the Empire"
Order of the British Empire
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Lieutenant General Sir
Robert Fulton, KBE
6.
Truly, Madly, Deeply
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Truly, Madly, Deeply is a 1990 British fantasy drama film made for the BBCs Screen Two series, by BBC Films, Lionheart and Winston Pictures. The film, written and directed by Anthony Minghella, stars Juliet Stevenson, Nina, an interpreter, is beside herself with grief at the recent death of her boyfriend, Jamie, a cellist. When she is on the verge of despair, Jamie reappears as a ghost, the screenplay never clarifies whether this occurs in reality, or merely in Ninas imagination. She meets Mark, a psychologist, to whom she is attracted, Nina continues to love Jamie but is conflicted by his self-centred behaviour and ultimately wonders out loud, Was it always like this. Over Nina’s objections, Jamie decides to leave to allow her to move on, towards the end of the film, Jamie watches Nina leave and one of his fellow ghosts asks, Well. and Jamie responds, I think so. At this point the central conceit of the movie has become clear and she plays piano, likes dancing and has a quirky side to her which she usually cant express in the classical parts she is asked for. The title comes from a game played by the main characters, in which they challenge each other to by turns repeat. The working title for the film was Cello, a not only to the cello within the film. The film was made-for-TV, and produced in a 28-day shooting schedule for just $650,000 and it was shot on location in London and Bristol, with external shots in Highgate and on the South Bank. Stevenson said in 2012 that it was the role of her career. The film was successful, winning several awards including a BAFTA for best original screenplay. It became a hit in the American arthouse circuit and Minghella subsequently was offered work by major studio in Hollywood. The movies combination of themes with comic scenes, music. Roger Ebert called it a Ghost for grownups and considered the movie to reveal some truths that are, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 72% of the professional critics have given the film a positive review. At Metacritic the film has weighted mean score of 72 out of 100 based on 16 reviews
Truly, Madly, Deeply
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Reproduction poster
7.
Emma (1996 theatrical film)
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Emma is a 1996 period film based on the novel of the same name by Jane Austen. Scripted and directed by Douglas McGrath, the film stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Alan Cumming, Toni Collette, Ewan McGregor, and Jeremy Northam. The film describes a year in the life of Emma Woodhouse, when her governess, Miss Taylor, gets married and goes to live with her new husband, Mr Weston, Emma proudly takes the credit for having brought the couple together. As a close friendship develops between Emma and Harriet, it clear that Harriet is being courted by Robert Martin. When Mr Martin proposes to Harriet, she is inclined to accept, but she has come to rely heavily on Emmas advice, and Emma persuades her to reject the proposal. Meanwhile, Mr Elton has been expressing a desire for Emma by taking an interest in a picture she drew of Harriet and by giving her a riddle for a book of riddles being compiled by Harriet. Emma misinterprets this as interest in Harriet, but when Mr Elton and Emma are alone, he declares his love for Emma herself. She harshly rejects his pleas, and he marries another woman. Over the next few months, various gatherings show who loves whom among Emmas friends, Emma is briefly attracted to a charming, gallant young man named Frank Churchill, Mr Westons son who comes to visit from London, but Emma soon decides to set him up with Harriet. However, Frank is revealed to have an engagement with a shy. Harriet states that she has no interest in Frank, preferring Mr Knightley, Mr Knightley only danced with Harriet out of politeness and has started to fall in love with Emma. The conclusion of the story begins when Emma ridicules a poor woman named Miss Bates during a picnic, after which Mr Knightley angrily scolds Emma and she finds herself thinking about him while hes away, but does not realize she loves him until Harriet expresses interest in him. When Mr Knightley returns, he and Emma cross paths in a meadow and have a conversation that begins awkwardly but ends with him asking her to marry him and her gladly accepting. The news of their engagement upsets Harriet, who avoids Emma for a while, the film ends with Emma and Mr Knightleys wedding. Douglas McGrath fell in love with Jane Austens 1815 novel Emma and he believed the book would make a great film, but it was not until a decade later that he was given a chance to work on the idea. McGrath had initially wanted to write a version of the novel. Miramaxs co-chairman, Harvey Weinstein, liked the idea of a take on the novel. McGrath was unaware that Amy Heckerlings Clueless was already in production plans for Emma were well underway
Emma (1996 theatrical film)
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Theatrical release poster
Emma (1996 theatrical film)
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Gwyneth Paltrow was picked by the director to portray
Emma Woodhouse.
Emma (1996 theatrical film)
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Emma's wedding dress created by Ruth Myers.
8.
Bend It Like Beckham
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The films title refers to the football player David Beckham, and his skill at scoring from free kicks by curling the ball past a wall of defenders. It follows the 18-year-old daughter of Punjabi Sikhs in London and she is infatuated with football but her parents have forbidden her to play because she is a girl. She joins a womens team, which makes its way to the top of the league. Bend It Like Beckham was released theatrically on 12 April 2002 by Redbus Film Distribution, the film surprised critics and was met with mostly positive reviews and it earned over $76 million on a $6 million budget. A stage musical opened at Londons Phoenix Theatre on 24 June 2015. Jesminder Jess Bhamra is the 18-year-old daughter of Punjabi Sikhs living in Hounslow, juliette Jules Paxton is the same age and the daughter of a native English family. Jess is infatuated with football, but because shes a woman, however, she sometimes plays in the park with boys including her best friend, Tony, a closet homosexual. Whilst on a jog through the park, Jules discovers Jesss skills, befriends her, and invites her to try out for the womens football team. Jess is extremely happy and excited about the tryouts, even though Joe is skeptical about a new player joining the team, after seeing Jesss skills, Joe accepts her on the team and Jess lies to Joe about her parents being cool with the idea. Her parents eventually discover that Jess has been playing football behind their backs, Jesss parents become more strict, the elder Bhamras are also distracted by their elaborate wedding plans for Jesss older sister, Pinky. Thanks to Jess and Juless skills, the Harriers reach the finals of the league tournament, unfortunately, the final and Pinkys wedding are on the same day. When Jess goes to Juless house to try to patch up their friendship, Juless mother is misled, Joe accepts that Jess isnt allowed to play, and the final begins without her. But halfway through Pinkys wedding, Tony convinces Mr. Bhamra to let Jess go and he agrees, and Tony drives Jess to the game, where the Harriers are losing 1-0 with half an hour left. Jess and Jules tie the score, and when Jess is awarded a free kick and she succeeds and the Harriers win the tournament. Jess and Jules are offered scholarships at Santa Clara University in California, Jules and her mother arrive at the wedding so that Jules can celebrate with Jess. When Mrs. Paxton accuses Jess of being a hypocrite and a lesbian, Jules grabs her mother, Jess still hasnt told her parents about the scholarship. Tony decides to lie to the family and tells them hes engaged to Jess as long as she gets to go to any college she wants, Jess reveals the lie and her mother blames Jesss father for allowing her to play. Jesss father convinces her mother to accept Jesss wishes after telling her he doesnt want Jess suffering as he did, Jess flees to the football field to tell Joe of her parents decision
Bend It Like Beckham
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British theatrical release poster
Bend It Like Beckham
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The film was located in
Hounslow in west
London.
Bend It Like Beckham
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Jonathan Rhys Meyers was praised by critics for his performance.
9.
Mona Lisa Smile
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The title is a reference to the Mona Lisa, the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, and the song of the same name, originally performed by Nat King Cole, which was covered by Seal for the movie. Julia Roberts received a record $25 million for her performance the highest ever earned by an actress at that time, Katherine comes to know her students and seeks to inspire them to achieve more than marriage to eligible young men. Betty Warren is highly opinionated and outspokenly conservative like her mother, Betty doesnt understand why Katherine is not married and insists that there is a universal standard for good art. Connie Baker begins dating Bettys cousin, Charlie but Betty persuades her that he is using her as his parents have arranged for him to marry Deb MacIntyre. After a disastrous date, where Charlie and Connie very nearly cross paths with Debs parents on a weekend away at the shore, Connie ends the relationship, believing Bettys story to be true. However, some later, Connie and Charlie reconnect, with Charlie saying he has already decided for himself that he is not going to marry Deb, so he. Her parents divorced after the war and her father left them for a new family, Giselle brazenly has affairs with a professor and a married man. Katherine declines a proposal from her California boyfriend because she doesnt love him enough and begins seeing the Wellesley Italian professor, Bill is charming and full of stories about Europe and his heroic actions in Italy during the war. He has also had affairs with students, and Katherine makes him promise that it will never happen again. The relationship progresses but when Katherine learns that Bill spent the war at the Army Languages Center on Long Island. Bill responds that Katherine didnt come to Wellesley to help the students find their way, within six months of the wedding Bettys marriage falls apart as Spencer has an affair, hiding it from his wife by pretending to be away on business. Betty seeks refuge at her parents house but her mother turns her away, Betty lashes out at Giselle in rage and pain and then breaks down in tears while Giselle hugs her. Mrs Warren begs Betty to stay married to Spencer, saying that she should try for a year, Betty shows her mother a picture of the Mona Lisa and asks if her smile means she is happy. She answers her own question, Who cares, as long as shes smiling, and warns her mother that not everything is what it seems. At graduation, Betty begins to ask Katherine about apartments in Greenwich Village, New York, Betty tells her mother that she filed for divorce that same morning and she is going to room with Giselle. She tells Katherine that she is considering applying to Yale Law School, Katherine decides to leave in order to explore Europe. In the final scene, Betty dedicates her last editorial to Katherine, claiming that her teacher is a woman who lived by example. As Katherines taxi speeds up, all her students follow on their bicycles, box office raking in $11,528,498 USD behind The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King
Mona Lisa Smile
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Theatrical release poster
10.
Being Julia
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Being Julia is a 2004 comedy-drama film directed by István Szabó and starring Annette Bening and Jeremy Irons. The screenplay by Ronald Harwood is based on the novel Theatre by W. Somerset Maugham, the original film score was composed by Mychael Danna. They persuade her to remain with the play throughout the summer, and Michael introduces her to Tom Fennel, an enterprising American and their relationship revives her, sparking a distinct change in her personality. Michael suggests they invite Tom to spend time at their country estate, at a party there, Tom meets aspiring actress Avice Crichton, and, when Julia sees him flirting with the pretty young woman, she becomes jealous and anxious and angrily confronts him. He slowly reveals himself to be a callous, social-climbing, gold-digging gigolo, the play is dreadful, and Avice is not much better. Backstage, Julia compliments her even-worse co-star and barely acknowledges Avice, afterwards, she forces Tom to admit he loves Avice, then - although her heart is broken by his admission - she assures him she will insist the ingenue be cast in her next play. Julia suggests a romantic tryst, and he tells her that hes gay. Meanwhile, back in London, Avice auditions for Michael, and, although Julia resents it, Julia returns home to begin rehearsals for the new play. Shortly after, she learns from her son that Avice has been one of Michaels casual trysts, still, she is uncharacteristically solicitous toward the girl, making suggestions that place her in the spotlight and insisting her own wardrobe be drab to allow Avice to shine. Exteriors were shot on location in London and Jersey, interiors were filmed in Budapest, including inside the Danubius Hotel Astoria, and Kecskemét in Hungary. The film grossed $7,739,049 in the US, in his review in the New York Times, A. O. Scott called the film a frame surrounding a brightly colored performance by Annette Bening, whose quick. She gives Being Julia a giddy, reckless effervescence that neither Mr. Szabos stolid direction nor Ronald Harwoods lurching script, Ms. Bening walks right up to the edge of melodramatic bathos and then, in a wonderful climactic coup de théâtre, turns it all into farce. Being Julia may not make much psychological or dramatic sense, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said, Annette Bening plays Julia in a performance that has great verve and energy, and just as well, because the basic material is wheezy melodrama. All About Eve breathed new life into it all those years ago, I liked the movie in its own way, while it was cheerfully chugging along, but the ending let me down, the materials are past their sell-by date and were when Maugham first retailed them. Her stage background at American Conservatory Theater shows in her tour de force. Todd McCarthy of Variety observed, Annette Bening has fun running the vast gamut of her emotions, working in a much lighter vein than usual, Szabo has said he studied the films of Ernst Lubitsch and Billy Wilder in preparation for this picture. The deficiencies may be intangible, but they deprive film of the solid footing it requires, director Istvan Szabo overplays his hand and traps in a role thats all emoting, no emotion
Being Julia
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Original poster
11.
Infamous (film)
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Infamous is a 2006 American drama film based on the 1997 book by George Plimpton Truman Capote, In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances, and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career. It covers the period from the late 1950s through the mid-1960s, during which Truman Capote researched, Capote is played by Toby Jones. Sandra Bullock, Daniel Craig, Lee Pace, and Jeff Daniels also have featured roles, with a supporting cast that includes Sigourney Weaver and Hope Davis, once there, he realizes there might be enough material for what he eventually describes as a nonfiction novel. Capotes dress and demeanor both amuse and dismay law enforcement officials and he allows the less ostentatious Lee to act as a buffer between himself and those whose trust he needs to gain in order to obtain as much background information as possible. The Kansas Bureau of Investigations lead detective on the case, Alvin Dewey, has refused to cooperate with the writer, but when his starstruck wife Marie meets Capote in a grocery store, she invites him and Lee to Christmas dinner. He eventually wins over his host with personal anecdotes about Humphrey Bogart, John Huston, Frank Sinatra, and the like. As a result, when ex-convicts Richard Hickock and Perry Smith are apprehended in Las Vegas and extradited to Holcomb, the two men are tried and found guilty, but a lengthy period of appeals begins. Capotes society and literary friends like Slim Keith and Babe Paley in New York press him for juicy gossip about the case, Capote forms an attachment to Smith. He empathizes with the convicted killers unhappy childhood, and Smiths remorseful manner, genuine sincerity, the criminals reciprocal feelings become evident, although Smith has difficulty dealing with his emotions. As soon as Smith learns that Truman plans to title his book In Cold Blood, Smith steadfastly refuses to describe the night of the murders. This greatly angers Capote, who wants to hear not only as a writer in search of the truth. Smith eventually acquiesces and discusses what transpired, Capote then finds himself entangled in a personal and professional dilemma. As much as he wants Smith to be sentenced to life in prison and he begins to unravel psychologically as the legal appeals drag on, unable to complete his book without an ending. Lee, during the interim, writes To Kill a Mockingbird, Hickock and Smith finally exhaust all their options, they now ask that Capote be present at their April 14,1965 execution. He complies reluctantly with their request, afterward he learns Smith bequeathed his meager belongings to him, and among them he finds a charcoal sketch of him the killer had drawn. The films original title alternated between Have You Heard. and Every Word Is True, the singer portrayed by Gwyneth Paltrow was originally intended to be Peggy Lee. The situation of an audience being held spellbound by a performer falling silent in the middle of a song was based on a nightclub performance by Barbara Cook. Infamous premiered at the August 2006 Venice Film Festival and it also is more explicit about the romantic feelings Capote and Perry Smith may have shared
Infamous (film)
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Theatrical release poster
12.
Royal Shakespeare Company
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The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The companys home is in Stratford-upon-Avon, where it has recently redeveloped its Royal Shakespeare, the theatres re-opened in November 2010, having closed in 2007. The new buildings attracted 18,000 visitors within the first week, performances in Stratford-upon-Avon continued throughout the Transformation project at the temporary Courtyard Theatre. The 2011-season began with performances of Macbeth and a re-imagined lost play The History of Cardenio, the fiftieth birthday season also featured The Merchant of Venice with Sir Patrick Stewart and revivals of some of the RSCs greatest plays, including a new staging of Marat/Sade. For the London 2012 Festival as part of the Cultural Olympiad, in 2013 the company began live screenings of its Shakespeare productions – called Live from Stratford-upon-Avon – which are screened around the world. In 2016, the company collaborated with Intel and The Imaginarium Studios to stage The Tempest, John Wards Birmingham-based company, the Warwickshire Company of Comedians, agreed to perform it. A surviving copy of the records that the company performed Othello. The first building erected to commemorate Shakespeare was David Garricks Jubilee Pavilion in 1769, the first permanent commemorative building to Shakespeares works in the town was a theatre built in 1827, in the gardens of New Place, but has long since been demolished. The RSCs history began with the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, which was the brainchild of a local brewer and he donated a two-acre site by the River Avon and in 1875 launched an international campaign to build a theatre in the town of Shakespeares birth. The theatre, a Victorian-Gothic building seating just over 700 people, opened on 23 April 1879, with a performance of Much Ado About Nothing, a title which gave ammunition to several critics. From 1919, under the direction of William Bridges-Adams and after a slow start, the theatre received a Royal Charter of Incorporation in 1925, which gave it status. On the afternoon of 6 March 1926, when a new season was about to commence rehearsals, fire broke out, and the mass of half-timbering chosen to ornament the interior provided dry tinder. By the following morning the theatre was a blackened shell, the company transferred its Shakespeare festivals to a converted local cinema. Fund-raising began for the rebuilding of the theatre, with generous donations arriving from philanthropists in America, george Bernard Shaw commented that her design was the only one that showed any theatre sense. Her modernist plans for an art deco structure came under fire from many directions, later it came under the direction of Sir Barry Jackson in 1945, Anthony Quayle from 1948 to 1956 and Glen Byam Shaw 1957–1959, with an impressive roll-call of actors. Scotts building, with minor adjustments to the stage, remained in constant use until 2007 when it was closed for a major refit of the interior. Timeline,1932 – new Shakespeare Memorial Theatre opens, abutting the remains of the old,1961 – chartered name of the corporation and the Stratford theatre becomes ‘Royal Shakespeare. ’1974 – The Other Place opened, created from a prefabricated former store/rehearsal room in Stratford. 1986 – the Swan Theatre opened, created from the shell of the 1879 Memorial Theatre,1991 – Purpose-built new Other Place, designed by Michael Reardon, opens
Royal Shakespeare Company
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Renovated Royal Shakespeare Theatre in
Stratford-upon-Avon in 2011
Royal Shakespeare Company
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Royal Shakespeare Company logo
Royal Shakespeare Company
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Royal Shakespeare Theatre in
Stratford-upon-Avon in 2003
13.
Royal National Theatre
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The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdoms three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. Internationally, it is known as the National Theatre of Great Britain, from its foundation in 1963 until 1976, the company was based at the Old Vic theatre in Waterloo. The current building is located next to the Thames in the South Bank area of central London, in addition to performances at the National Theatre building, the National Theatre company tours productions at theatres across the United Kingdom. Since 1988, the theatre has been permitted to call itself the Royal National Theatre, the theatre presents a varied programme, including Shakespeare and other international classic drama, and new plays by contemporary playwrights. Each auditorium in the theatre can run up to three shows in repertoire, thus widening the number of plays which can be put on during any one season. In June 2009, the theatre began National Theatre Live, a programme of simulcasts of live productions to cinemas, first in the United Kingdom, the programme began with a production of Phèdre, starring Helen Mirren, which was screened live in 70 cinemas across the UK. NT Live productions have since been broadcast to over 1,000 venues in 35 countries around the world, the NT had an annual turnover of approximately £87 million in 2012–13, of which earned income made up 80%. Support from Arts Council England provided 20% of income, and the remaining 7% came from a mixture of companies, individuals, trusts, in 1847, a critic using the pseudonym Dramaticus published a pamphlet describing the parlous state of British theatre. Production of serious plays was restricted to the patent theatres, at the same time, there was a burgeoning theatre sector featuring a diet of low melodrama and musical burlesque, but critics described British theatre as driven by commercialism and a star system. There was a demand to commemorate serious theatre, with the Shakespeare Committee purchasing the playwrights birthplace for the nation demonstrating a recognition of the importance of serious drama, the following year saw more pamphlets on a demand for a National Theatre from London publisher Effingham William Wilson. The situation continued, with a renewed call every decade for a National Theatre, attention was aroused in 1879 when the Comédie-Française took a residency at the Gaiety Theatre, described in The Times as representing the highest aristocracy of the theatre. This still left the capital without a national theatre and this work was interrupted by World War I. The play was part of the campaign to build a National Theatre. Still, the Government tried to apply unacceptable conditions to save money, attempting to force the amalgamation of the publicly supported companies. In July 1962, with agreements reached, a board was set up to supervise construction. The National Theatre Company opened on 22 October 1963 with Hamlet, the current building was designed by architects Sir Denys Lasdun and Peter Softley and structural engineers Flint & Neill and contains three stages, which opened individually between 1976 and 1977. The construction work was carried out by Sir Robert McAlpine, the Company was to remain at the Old Vic until 1977, when construction of the Olivier was complete. The National Theatre building houses three separate auditoria, additionally, a temporary structure was added in April 2013 and closed in May 2016
Royal National Theatre
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The National Theatre from Waterloo Bridge
Royal National Theatre
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Denys Lasdun's building for the National Theatre – an "urban landscape" of interlocking terraces responding to the site at King's Reach on the River Thames to exploit views of
St Paul's Cathedral and
Somerset House.
Royal National Theatre
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Laurence Olivier was the first artistic director of the Royal National Theatre, in 1963. Shown in a photograph by
Carl Van Vechten, 1939
Royal National Theatre
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Facing east; towards the
City of London, from
Waterloo Bridge. Showing
St. Paul's, and other major City buildings – to the right, the illuminated National Theatre.
14.
Measure for Measure
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Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. Originally published in the First Folio of 1623, where it was listed as a comedy, the plays main themes include justice, mortality and mercy in Vienna, and the dichotomy between corruption and purity, some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall. Mercy and virtue predominate, since the play does not end tragically, additionally, traces of Christian virtues such as compassion and forgiveness can be identified in the ending of the production. While the play focuses on justice overall, the scene illustrates that Shakespeare intended for Christian justice to be restored more so than true civil justice. This is highlighted through a number of the characters receiving understanding and leniency, instead of the punishment they, according to the law. Measure for Measure is often called one of Shakespeares problem plays and it was, and continues to be, classified as comedy, though its tone may defy those expectations. Vincentio, the Duke of Vienna, makes it known that he intends to leave the city on a diplomatic mission and he leaves the government in the hands of a strict judge, Angelo. In the next scene, we find a group of soldiers on a Vienna street, expressing their hopes, in irreverent banter, that a war with Hungary is afoot, and that they will be able to take part. Mistress Overdone, the operator of a whorehouse frequented by these soldiers, appears. She tells them that it is Signor Claudio, and that within three days his head to be chopped off as punishment for getting Madam Julietta with child. Lucio, one of the soldiers who is revealed to be Claudios friend, is astonished at this news. He then informs Mistress Overdone of Angelos new proclamation, that All houses in the suburbs of Vienna must be plucked down, the brothels in the city shall stand for seed, they had gone down too, but that a wise burgher put in for them. Mistress Overdone is distraught, as her business is in the suburbs, Pompey replies with a characteristic mixture of bawdy humor and folk-wisdom, fear you not, good counselors lack no clients, though you change your place, you need not change your trade. There will be pity taken on you, you that have worn your eyes almost out in the service, Claudio is then led past Pompey and Overdone on his way to prison, and we learn what has happened to him. Claudio married Juliet, but, as they have not completed all the technicalities, Angelo, as the interim ruler of the city, decides to enforce a law that fornication is punishable by death, so Claudio is sentenced to be executed. Claudios friend, Lucio, visits Claudios sister, Isabella, a novice nun, Isabella obtains an audience with Angelo, and pleads for mercy for Claudio. Isabella refuses, but when she threatens to expose his lechery, he tells her that no one will believe her. Instead, she visits her brother in prison and counsels him to himself for death
Measure for Measure
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The first page of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, printed in the
First Folio of 1623
Measure for Measure
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Claudio and Isabella (1850) by
William Holman Hunt
Measure for Measure
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Pompey Bum, as he was portrayed by nineteenth-century actor
John Liston
Measure for Measure
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Mariana (1888) by
Valentine Cameron Prinsep
15.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
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Les Liaisons dangereuses is a French epistolary novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, first published in four volumes by Durand Neveu from March 23,1782. It has been claimed to depict the decadence of the French aristocracy shortly before the French Revolution, however, it has also been described as an amoral story. As an epistolary novel, the book is composed entirely of letters written by the characters to each other. In particular, the letters between Valmont and the Marquise drive the plot, with those of their victims and other characters serving as contrasting figures to give the story its depth. It is often claimed to be the source of the saying Revenge is a dish best served cold, however, the expression does not actually occur in the original novel in any form. The Vicomte de Valmont is determined to seduce the virtuous, married, and therefore inaccessible Madame de Tourvel, who is staying with Valmonts aunt while her husband is away on a court case. Cécile falls in love with the Chevalier Danceny, and Merteuil and Valmont pretend to help the lovers in order to gain their trust. Merteuil suggests that the Vicomte seduce Cécile in order to enact her revenge on Céciles future husband, Valmont refuses, finding the challenge too easy, and preferring to devote himself to seducing Madame de Tourvel. Merteuil promises Valmont that if he seduces Madame de Tourvel and provides her with written proof and he expects rapid success, but does not find it as easy as his many other conquests. During the course of his pursuit, he discovers that Céciles mother has written to Madame de Tourvel about his bad reputation and he avenges himself in seducing Cécile as Merteuil had suggested. In the meantime, Merteuil takes Danceny as a lover, by the time Valmont has succeeded in seducing Madame de Tourvel, he seems to have fallen in love with her. Jealous, Merteuil tricks him into deserting Madame de Tourvel —, in retaliation Valmont reveals that he prompted Danceny to reunite with Cécile, leaving Merteuil abandoned yet again. Merteuil declares war on Valmont and reveals to Danceny that Valmont has seduced Cécile, Danceny and Valmont duel, and Valmont is fatally wounded. Before he dies, he gives Danceny the letters proving Merteuils own involvement and these letters are sufficient to ruin her reputation so she flees to the countryside, where she contracts smallpox. Her face is permanently scarred and she is rendered blind in one eye, so she loses her greatest asset. But the innocent also suffer from the schemes, desperate with guilt and grief, Madame de Tourvel succumbs to a fever and dies. Les Liaisons dangereuses is celebrated for its exploration of seduction, revenge and human malice, the book was viewed as scandalous at the time of its initial publication, though the real intentions of the author remain unknown. It has been suggested that Lacloss intention was the same as that of his fictional author in the novel, to write a morality tale about the corrupt, however, this theory has been questioned on several grounds
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
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Illustration from 1796 edition
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
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Illustration by Fragonard for Letter XLIV, 1796.
16.
Yerma
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Yerma is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1934 and first performed that same year, García Lorca describes the play as a tragic poem. The play tells the story of a woman living in rural Spain. Her desperate desire for motherhood becomes an obsession that drives her to commit a horrific crime. Because of the time she is living in, she is expected to bear children, when she cannot, she is forced to measures that those in her society would view as extreme. Although critics speculate that Yerma kills her husband in the end because he is a frugal, economically driven man who has no desire to have children and she kills him at a hermitage, a religious place with the possibility of fertility. However he has shown no desire to have children, so there is no evidence that he would have changed his mind at the festival. Act 1, scene 1, Yerma has been married two years and she wants to strengthen her husband, Juan, so he can give her children. Telling Yerma to stay at home, Juan goes back to his work in the olive groves, maría, married five months and already pregnant, asks Yerma to sew for the baby. Yerma fears that if she, too, doesnt conceive soon, the couples friend, Víctor, sees Yerma sewing and assumes she is pregnant. His advice when he learns the truth, Try harder, act 1, scene 2, Yerma has just taken Juan his dinner in the fields. On the road home, she encounters an old woman who insists that passion is the key to conception, Yerma admits a secret longing for Víctor but none for Juan. She then meets two girls whose attitudes astonish her, one has left her baby untended. The other is childless and glad of it, although her mother, next Víctor comes along, and the conversation between Víctor and Yerma becomes tense with unspoken thoughts and desires. Juan enters, worrying about what people say if Yerma stays out chatting. He tells her he intends to work all night, act 2, scene 1, It is three years later. Five laundresses gossip about a woman who still has no children, who has been looking at another man, the laundresses sing about husbands, lovemaking, and babies. Act 2, scene 2, Juans two sisters watch over Yerma and she refuses to stay at home, and people are talking
Yerma
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Margarita Xirgu and Pilar Muñoz in a scene of the play.
17.
Death and the Maiden (play)
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Death and the Maiden is a 1990 play by Chilean playwright Ariel Dorfman. The world premiere was staged at the Royal Court Theatre in London on 9 July 1991 and it had one reading and one workshop production prior to its world premiere. Paulina Salas is a political prisoner in an unnamed Latin American country who had been raped by her captors. The rapist doctor played Schuberts composition Death and the Maiden during the act of rape, years later, after the repressive regime has fallen, Paulina lives in an isolated country house with her husband, Gerardo Escobar. When Gerardo comes back from a visit to the president, he gets a flat tire, a stranger named Dr. Miranda stops to assist him. Dr. Miranda drives Gerardo home and later in the night he returns, Paulina recognizes Mirandas voice and mannerism as that of her rapist, and takes him captive in order to put him on trial and extract a confession from him. Unconvinced of his guilt, Gerardo acts as Roberto Mirandas lawyer, after hearing the full story of her captivity from Paulina, Gerardo formulates a confession with Roberto to appease Paulinas madness and set her free from her past. Paulina records the confession and has Roberto write it out. She sends Gerardo out to get Robertos car so he can go home, while they are alone for the last time, Paulina accuses Roberto of being unrepentant and guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Throughout the play it is uncertain whether details are evidence of Robertos guilt or Paulinas paranoia, at the end of the play it is unclear who is innocent. Death and the Maiden returns to Londons West End 20 years since it first premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, the much awaited return was in 2011 at the Harold Pinter Theatre. The two main characters were played by Clara Khoury and Saleh Bakri. in 2015 Death and the Maiden is being staged as a co-production between Melbourne Theatre Company and the Sydney Theatre Company. Susie Porter to play Paulina with Eugene Gilfedder as the man whose voice might be his undoing, in 1994, Roman Polanski directed a film of the work, starring Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley, and Stuart Wilson. An opera based on the play has been composed by Jonas Forssell with the libretto by Ariel Dorfman, the world premiere was staged at the Malmö Opera on 20 September 2008. 1992 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play Dorfman, Ariel, Death and the Maiden at the Internet Broadway Database Death and the Maiden at the Internet Broadway Database
Death and the Maiden (play)
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Death and the Maiden
18.
Duet for One
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It is set in London and directed by Andrei Konchalovsky. The story is based on the life of cellist Jacqueline du Pré, who was diagnosed with MS, and her husband, conductor Daniel Barenboim, stephanie Anderson, a world-famous violinist, becomes unable to play because of multiple sclerosis. A depressed psychiatrist she sees is unable to help with her rage and her star pupil, realising he will learn nothing more, leaves her. Her husband departs with his secretary, and her accompanist dies. Her fierce desire to be alone in her pain alienates everybody except her faithful maid and she gives all her musical effects to a totter, who she asks into her bed as well. Watching a videotape of a triumph, she takes an overdose but the maid breaks in to try. In an epilogue, which may be a dream, the psychiatrist has become a friend while her ex-husband and former pupil come back to see her, kempinski and de la Tour were married at the time, and he wrote the role with her in mind. It had successful runs in the West End and on Broadway, a major revival was staged by the Almeida Theatre in 2009, starring Juliet Stevenson and Henry Goodman. This revival too was lauded by the critics, and it transferred to the Vaudeville Theatre in the West End. Duet for One at the Internet Movie Database
Duet for One
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Theatrical release poster
19.
Accused (TV series)
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Accused is a British television anthology series created by Jimmy McGovern. The drama series first aired on 15 November 2010 on BBC One and has run for two series, each episode follows a different character as they await their verdict in court, and tells the story behind how they find themselves accused. The series follows previous drama series by McGovern, including anthology series The Street, after the cancellation of The Street in 2009 by Granada Television, McGovern formed RSJ Films to produce independent drama programmes and consequently devised the Accused anthology series. Accused is written by McGovern, Danny Brocklehurst and Alice Nutter and is filmed in Manchester, in 2011 it won an International Emmy for best drama series. The series was commissioned by Jay Hunt and Ben Stephenson, controllers of BBC One and Drama Commissioning respectively, each episode will revolve around a different character as they make their way to the dock in court to hear whether theyve been found guilty of a crime. As they walk, the events led up to them being accused of the crime play out. McGovern said of the series, In the time it takes to climb the steps to the court we tell the story of how the accused came to be here and we see the crime and we see the punishment. No police procedure, thanks very much, no coppers striding along corridors with coats flapping, just crime and punishment – the two things that matter most in any crime drama. McGovern was the writer for the series, with co-writers Alice Nutter, Danny Brocklehurst. The series was directed by David Blair and Richard Laxton, and produced by RSJ Films, RSJ Films is also known for making award-winning BBC series The Street. Filming for the series took place around Manchester between May and August 2010 and it was announced in June that Juliet Stevenson and Peter Capaldi had been cast to star in Helens Story, and Andy Serkis would play in Liams Story. In July Naomie Harris was cast in Alisons Story, and in August Marc Warren was cast in Kennys Story. On 24 February 2011, it was announced by BBC Drama Controller Ben Stephenson that Accused has been renewed for a series of four episodes. Despite the relatively low viewing figures from the first series, the second was commissioned in the hopes that it would have the potential to find a broader audience, filming for the first two episodes of the second series began around November 2011. The new cast members confirmed to appear in these episodes include Anne-Marie Duff, Olivia Colman, Robert Sheehan, Joe Dempsie, Sheridan Smith, Paul Popplewell and comedian John Bishop. The first episode, starring Colman and Duff, would be written by McGovern and Carol Cullington, while writing credits on the episode would again be shared by Daniel Brocklehurst. In January 2012 it was confirmed that Anna Maxwell Martin would join Sheehan, in The Herald, Damien Love also praised Ecclestons brilliant and electrifying performance, and said Its a strange, spiky programme, never perfect, but supremely watchable. Asking if it was enough, Brian Viner for The Independent praised the acting and Crooks performance
Accused (TV series)
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Promotional image of the lead characters, portrayed by (left-to-right) Crook, Warren, Stevenson, Harris, Eccleston, Serkis, Smith and Capaldi.
20.
Guildford
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Guildford /ˈɡɪlfərd/ is a large town in Surrey, England, located 27 miles southwest of central London on the A3 trunk road midway between the capital and Portsmouth. It is the seat of the borough of Guildford, on the building of the Wey Navigation and Basingstoke Canal Guildford was connected to a network of waterways that aided its prosperity. In the 20th century, the University of Surrey and Guildford Cathedral, in Sir Thomas Malorys 1485 fictional series Le Morte dArthur, Guildford is identified with Astolat of Arthurian renown, however only rural Celtic Bronze Age pieces have been found in the town. Continuing the Arthurian connection, there is a public house. Some of the tiles built into Guildford Castle may be Roman, and it is proven by archaeology and contemporary accounts that Guildford was established as a small town by Saxon settlers shortly after Roman authority had been removed from Britain. The settlement was most likely expanded because of the Harrow Way crosses the River Wey by a ford at this point, alfred the Great, the first Anglo-Saxon king of unified England, named the town in his will. Guildford was the location of the Royal Mint from 978 until part-way through the reign of William the Conqueror, Guildford Castle is of Norman design, although there are no documents about its earliest years. Guildford appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Geldeford and Gildeford, the King officially held the 75 hagae in which lived 175 homagers and the town rendered £32. Stoke, a suburb within todays Guildford, appears in the Book as Stoch and was held by William. Its Domesday assets were,1 church,2 mills worth 5s,16 ploughlands with two Lords plough teams and 20 mens plough teams,16 acres of meadow, and woodland worth 40 hogs. Stoke was listed as being in the Kings park, with a rendering of £15, William the Conqueror had the castle built in the classic Norman style, the castle keep still stands. A major purpose of Norman castle building was to overawe the conquered population and it had £26 spent on it in 1173 under the regency of the young Henry II. As the threat of invasion and insurrection declined, the status was demoted to that of a royal hunting lodge, Guildford was, at that time. It was visited on occasions by King John, Eleanor of Aquitaine. In 1611 the castle was granted to Francis Carter whose grandsons initials EC, the surviving parts of the castle were restored in Victorian times and again in 2004, the rest of the grounds became a public garden. In 1995, a chamber was discovered in the High Street, while this remains a matter of contention, it is likely to be the oldest remaining synagogue in Western Europe. Guildford elected two members of the Unreformed House of Commons, from the 14th century to the 18th century the borough corporation prospered with the wool trade. In the 14th century the Guildhall was constructed and still today as a noticeable landmark of Guildford
Guildford
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The Guildhall in Guildford
Guildford
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Guildford Castle
Guildford
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The Hospital of the Holy Trinity still has a charitable role in modern society
Guildford
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The
River Wey in Guildford is canalised into the
Wey Navigation
21.
Jonathan Pryce
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Jonathan Pryce, CBE is a Welsh actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his girlfriend, English actress Kate Fahy, in 1974. His work in theatre, including a performance in the title role of the Royal Court Theatres Hamlet, led to several supporting roles in film. His breakthrough screen performance was in Terry Gilliams 1985 cult film Brazil, initially in 2015, Pryce was a guest actor in the HBO series Game of Thrones as the High Sparrow before becoming a regular cast member in 2016. Born John Price in Carmel, Flintshire, he is the son of Margaret Ellen and Isaac Price, a former coal miner who, along with his wife, ran a small general grocery shop. He was educated at Holywell Grammar School, and, at the age of 16, he went to art college, while studying, he took part in a college theatre production. An impressed tutor suggested he should become an actor and, on Pryces behalf, applied to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art for an application form, Pryce was awarded a scholarship to RADA. When he joined Equity he used Jonathan Pryce as his name because Equity will only have one actor with any particular name on its books. While at RADA Pryce worked as a salesman of velvet paintings. Pryce was part of a new wave of actors to emerge from the Academy, others included Bruce Payne, Juliet Stevenson, Alan Rickman, Anton Lesser, Kenneth Branagh and Fiona Shaw. To gain his Equity card to work in Liverpool, he made his first screen appearance in a role on a 1972 episode of the British science fiction programme Doomwatch. He then starred in two films, both directed by Stephen Frears, Daft as a Brush and Playthings. It was around this time that he appeared in his first movie role, playing the character Joseph Manasse in the film drama Voyage of the Damned, starring Faye Dunaway. He did not, however, abandon the stage, appearing from 1978 to 1979 in the Royal Shakespeare Companys productions of The Taming of the Shrew as Petruchio, and Antony and Cleopatra as Octavius Caesar. In 1980, his performance in the role of Hamlet at the Royal Court Theatre won him an Olivier Award. Around the same time, he appeared in the film Breaking Glass. Pryce played the role of the sinister Mr. Dark in Something Wicked This Way Comes, after Brazil, Pryce appeared in the historical thriller The Doctor and the Devils and then in the Gene Wilder-directed film Haunted Honeymoon. From 1986 to 1987 Pryce played the part in the Royal Shakespeare Companys production of Macbeth
Jonathan Pryce
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Pryce in October 2007
Jonathan Pryce
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Pryce as Sam Lowry in
Brazil
22.
Alan Rickman
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Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman was an English actor and director known for playing a variety of roles on stage and on screen. Rickman trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and his first big television part came in 1982, but his big break was as the Vicomte de Valmont in the stage production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses in 1985, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. Rickman gained wider notice for his performances as Hans Gruber in Die Hard. L. OHara in An Awfully Big Adventure, Dr. Rickman died of cancer on 14 January 2016 at the age of 69. His final film roles are as Lieutenant General Frank Benson in the thriller Eye in the Sky, and the voice of Absolem, Rickman was born in West London, to a working-class family, the son of Margaret Doreen Rose, a housewife, and Bernard William Rickman. Rickmans father was a worker, house painter and decorator. His ancestry was English, Irish and Welsh, his father was Catholic, Rickmans family also included brothers David and Michael, and sister Sheila. When he was eight years old, Rickmans father died of cancer, leaving his mother to raise him. She married again in 1960, but divorced Rickmans stepfather after three years, before he met Rima Horton at 19, he stated that his first crush was at 10 years old to a girl named Amanda at sports day. As a child, he excelled at calligraphy and watercolour painting, after leaving Latymer, he attended Chelsea College of Art and Design and then the Royal College of Art. He wrote to request an audition with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, while there, he studied Shakespeare and supported himself by working as a dresser for Sir Nigel Hawthorne and Sir Ralph Richardson. In 1978, he performed with the Court Drama Group, gaining parts in Romeo and Juliet and A View from the Bridge, while working with the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was cast in As You Like It. He appeared in The Barchester Chronicles, the BBCs adaptation of Trollopes first two Barchester novels, as the Reverend Obadiah Slope. Rickman was given the lead, the Vicomte de Valmont, in the 1985 Royal Shakespeare Company production of Christopher Hamptons adaptation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. After the RSC production transferred to Broadway in 1987, Rickman received both a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award nomination for his performance, Rickmans career was filled with a wide range of roles. Alfred Blalock in HBOs Something the Lord Made and the mad monk Rasputin in the HBO biopic Rasputin, Dark Servant of Destiny, for which he won a Golden Globe and an Emmy. His performance as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves also earned him praise as one of the best actors to portray a villain in films, Rickman took issue with being typecast as a villain, even though he was known for playing unsympathetic characters. His portrayal of Severus Snape, the master in the Harry Potter series, was dark
Alan Rickman
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Alan Rickman after a seminar at the
John Golden Theater in November 2011
Alan Rickman
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Rickman in December 2009
Alan Rickman
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Rickman at the 2007
Tribeca Film Festival
Alan Rickman
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Alan Rickman posing for a fan after a performance of
John Gabriel Borkman in 2011
23.
Anton Lesser
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Anton Lesser is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Qyburn in the HBO series Game of Thrones, Lesser is a frequent radio contributor and played the title role in the BBC Radio adaptations of the first five Falco mysteries by Lindsey Davis. He has also recorded many audiobooks, including much of the work of Charles Dickens, other books range from John Miltons Paradise Lost and Homer to contemporary novels by Robert Harris and Philip Pullman. For two months in 2013, Lesser was heard as a regular cast member playing Robin Carrow in Ambridge Extra, in 2015, Lesser was announced a public supporter of Chapel Lane Theatre Company based in Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK. Lesser portrayed Thomas More in the BBC mini-series Wolf Hall, and received a nomination for the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance
Anton Lesser
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Anton Lesser in June 2011
24.
Kenneth Branagh
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Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh is a Northern Irish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter originally from Belfast. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and he has directed or starred in several film adaptations of William Shakespeares plays, including Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Hamlet, Loves Labours Lost, and As You Like It. He also narrated the BBC documentary miniseries Walking with Dinosaurs, Walking with Beasts, Branagh has been nominated for five Academy Awards, five Golden Globes, and has won three BAFTAs, and an Emmy. He was appointed a knight bachelor in the 2012 Birthday Honours and was knighted on 9 November 2012, at the age of nine, he moved with his family to Reading, Berkshire, to escape the Troubles. He was educated at Grove Primary School, Whiteknights Primary School, then Meadway School, Tilehurst, at school, he acquired Received Pronunciation to avoid bullying. On his identity today he has said, I feel Irish, I dont think you can take Belfast out of the boy, and he attributes his love of words to his Irish heritage. He is known to have attended the Reading Cine & Video Society as a member and was a member of Progress Theatre for whom he is now the patron. Branagh went on to train at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, Branagh was part of the new wave’ of actors to emerge from the Academy. Others included Jonathan Pryce, Juliet Stevenson, Alan Rickman, Anton Lesser, Bruce Payne, in 1984 he appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Henry V, directed by Adrian Noble. The production played to full houses, especially at the Barbican in London and it was this production that he adapted for the film version of the play in 1989. This Twelfth Night was later adapted for television, on the negative side, he has not got the magnetism of Olivier, nor the mellifluous voice quality of Gielgud nor the intelligence of Guinness. A year later in 1989 Branagh co-starred with Emma Thompson in the Renaissance revival of Look Back in Anger, Judi Dench directed both the theatre and television productions, presented first in Belfast then at the London Coliseum and Lyric Theatre. In 2002, Branagh starred at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield as Richard III, in 2003 he starred in the Royal National Theatres production of David Mamets Edmond. Branagh directed The Play What I Wrote in England in 2001, from September to November 2008, Branagh appeared at Wyndhams Theatre as the title character in the Donmar West End revival of Anton Chekhovs Ivanov in a new version by Tom Stoppard. His performance was lauded as the performance of the year by several critics and it won him the Critics Circle Theatre Award for Best Male Performance but did not get him a Laurence Olivier Award nomination, to the surprise of critics. In July 2013 he co-directed Macbeth at Manchester International Festival with Rob Ashford, with Branagh in the title role, Alex Kingston played Lady Macbeth and Ray Fearon featured as Macduff. The final performance of the sold out run, was broadcast to cinemas on 20 July as part of National Theatre Live. He repeated his performance and directorial duties opposite Ashford and Kingston when the production moved to New York Citys Park Avenue Armory in June 2014, the production marked his New York stage debut
Kenneth Branagh
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Branagh at a press conference for Thor
Kenneth Branagh
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Branagh in July 2009 at the Roma Fiction Fest, where he was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award
25.
Imelda Staunton
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Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton, CBE is an English stage and screen actress. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Staunton began her career in theatre in the 1970s before appearing in seasons at various theatres in the UK. Her appearances on stage in The Beggars Opera, The Wizard of Oz, Uncle Vanya, Guys and Dolls, Entertaining Mr Sloane, Staunton has been nominated for a total of 11 Olivier Awards. Her other film roles include Mrs, on television, she starred in the sitcoms Up the Garden Path and Is it Legal. For the latter, she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie. Staunton was born in Archway, North London, the child of Bridie, a hairdresser, and Joseph Staunton. The family lived over Stauntons mothers hair dressing salon and her parents were first-generation Catholic immigrants from County Mayo, Ireland, her father from Ballyvary and her mother from Bohola. Stauntons mother was a musician who could not read music, encouraged by an elocution teacher at her school, Staunton auditioned for drama schools and got into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the age of 18. She also auditioned for the Central School of Speech and Drama and Guildhall School of Music and Drama, but was rejected by both schools. Staunton graduated from RADA in 1976, then spent six years in English repertory theatre, including a period at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter, where she had the title role in Shaws Saint Joan. She also played Dorothy in the Royal Shakespeare Companys 1987 revival of The Wizard of Oz at the Barbican Centre, Staunton won her first Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for playing the Bakers Wife in the original London production of Into the Woods. Both productions transferred to London for critically and commercially acclaimed runs, Staunton won her second and third Olivier Awards for Best Actress in a Musical for the two productions in 2013 and 2016 respectively. Staunton returned to the West End in 2017 as Martha in Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf. starring alongside Conleth Hill, Luke Treadaway, Stauntons first big-screen role came in a 1986 film Comrades. She then appeared in the 1992 film Peters Friends, Staunton shared a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Performance by a Cast in 1998 for Shakespeare in Love. Staunton portrayed Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and she was nominated in the British Actress in a Supporting Role category at the London Film Critics Circle Awards. Staunton reprised her role as Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One in 2010, Staunton provided the voice of the Talking Flowers in Tim Burtons Alice in Wonderland, and played one of the lead roles in the ghost film The Awakening in 2011. In 2014, she co-starred in Maleficent as well as the British comedy-drama Pride, in late 2014, she had a voice role in Paddington, a film based on the Paddington Bear books by Michael Bond. Staunton and her Harry Potter co-star Michael Gambon voiced Paddingtons Aunt Lucy and Uncle Pastuzo, in 1993, she appeared on television alongside Richard Briers and Adrian Edmondson in If You See God, Tell Him
Imelda Staunton
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Staunton at the world premiere of
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 in London (2011)
26.
Fiona Shaw
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She won the 1997 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance for The Waste Land. Her other stage work includes playing the role in Medea. She was awarded an Honorary CBE in 2001, Shaw was born in County Cork and was raised in the Roman Catholic faith. Her father, Denis Wilson, was a surgeon and her mother. She attended secondary school at Scoil Mhuire in Cork City and she received her degree in University College Cork. She trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and was part of new wave of actors to emerge from the Academy and she received much acclaim as Julia in the National Theatre production of Richard Sheridans The Rivals. She played Miss Morrison in 1984, in The Adventure of the Crooked Man in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Shaw notably played the male lead in Richard II, directed by Deborah Warner in 1995. Shaw has collaborated with Warner on a number of occasions, on stage and screen. Shaw has also worked in film and television, including My Left Foot, Mountains of the Moon, Three Men and a Little Lady, Super Mario Bros. Undercover Blues, Persuasion, Jane Eyre, The Butcher Boy, The Avengers, Gormenghast, Shaw had a brief but key role in Brian DePalmas The Black Dahlia. In 2009, Shaw collaborated with Deborah Warner again, taking the role in Tony Kushners translation of Bertolt Brechts Mother Courage. In a 2002 article for The Daily Telegraph, Rupert Christiansen described their relationship as surely one of the most richly creative partnerships in theatrical history. Other collaborations between the two women include productions of Brechts The Good Woman of Szechuan and Ibsens Hedda Gabler, the latter was adapted for television. Shaw appeared in The Waste Land at Wiltons Music Hall in January 2010, in November 2010, Shaw starred in Ibsens John Gabriel Borkman at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin alongside Alan Rickman and Lindsay Duncan. The play was staged in New Yorks Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2011. Shaw appeared in four of American TV Show True Blood. Shaws character, Marnie Stonebrook, has described as an underachieving palm reader who is spiritually possessed by an actual witch. In 2012, Shaw appeared in the National Theatre revival of Scenes from an Execution by Howard Barker, the world’s largest solo theatre festival, United Solo recognized her performance in The Testament of Mary on Broadway with the 2013 United Solo Special Award
Fiona Shaw
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Shaw at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, 16 January 2011
27.
BBC Radio
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BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The service provides national radio stations covering the majority of genres, as well as local radio stations covering local news, affairs. It also oversees online audio content, of the national radio stations, BBC Radio 1,2,3,4 and 5 Live are all available through analogue radio as well as on DAB Digital Radio and internet services through RealMedia, WMA and BBC iPlayer. The remaining stations, BBC Radio 1Xtra,4 Extra,5 Live Sports Extra and 6 Music, all of the BBCs national radio stations broadcast from bases in London, usually in or near to Broadcasting House in Marylebone. However, the BBCs network production units located in Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, the BBCs radio services began in 1922. Today radio broadcasting still makes up a part of the corporations output - the title of the BBCs listings magazine, Radio Times. On 1 January 1927 the British Broadcasting Company was succeeded in control of the airwaves by the British Broadcasting Corporation. John Reith, who had been the managing director of the commercial company. He expounded firm principles of centralised, all-encompassing radio broadcasting, stressing programming standards and these he set out in his autobiography, Broadcast Over Britain, influencing modern ideas of public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom. To this day, the BBC aims to follow the Reithian directive to inform, educate, although no other broadcasting organisation was licensed in the UK until 1973, commercial competition soon opened up from overseas. The English language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earliest commercial radio broadcasting to Britain. The IBC began leasing time on transmitters in continental Europe and then reselling it as sponsored English-language programming aimed at audiences in Britain and it was an important forerunner of pirate radio and modern commercial radio in the United Kingdom. The onset of World War II silenced all but one of the original IBC stations, at the start of the Second World War it was renamed The Overseas Service but is now known as the BBC World Service. Beginning in 1964 the first in what became a fleet of 10 offshore pirate radio stations began to ring the British coastline, by 1967 millions were tuning into these commercial operations and the BBC was rapidly losing its radio listening audience. The British government reacted by passing the Marine Offences Act, which all, One of the stations called Radio London was so successful that the BBC was told to copy it as best they could. This led to an overhaul by Frank Gillard the BBCs Director of Radio of the BBC output creating the four analogue channels that still form the basis of its broadcasting today. The creator of BBC Radio One told the press that his family had been fans of Radio London, the BBC hired many out-of-work broadcasting staff who had come from the former offshore stations. Tony Blackburn who presented the very first BBC Radio One morning show had previously presented the morning show on Radio Caroline
BBC Radio
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Much of BBC radio comes from Broadcasting House, Portland Place at the head of Regent Street, London
BBC Radio
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BBC Radio
28.
Burn This
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Burn This is a play by Lanford Wilson. Like many of Wilsons plays, it deals with themes of gay identity, the play begins shortly after the funeral of Robbie, a young, gay dancer who drowned in a boating accident with his lover Dom. In attendance were Robbies roommates, his dance partner and choreographer]], Anna. Soon joining them in Robbies lower-Manhattan loft are screenwriter Burton, in the face of their shared tragedy, the quartet attempts to make sense of their lives and reconsider their own identities and relationships. Burn This was commissioned by the Circle Repertory Company, the play premiered Off-Broadway on February 19,1987, at Theatre 890. Directed by Marshall W. Mason, the cast featured Jonathan Hogan, Joan Allen, John Malkovich and this production won the 1988 Henry Hewes Design Award, Scenic Design, John Lee Beatty. The play was produced by Center Theatre Group at the Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, California in 1987. The play transferred to Broadway at the Plymouth Theatre, opening on October 14,1987 and closing on October 29,1988 after 437 performances, again directed by Mason the same cast appeared in the Broadway production. The cast was replaced by Lisa Emery, Scott Glenn, Lonny Price, sydney Theatre Company presented Burn This, starring Heather Mitchell and Richard Roxburgh, at the Wharf Theatre in 1990. The Signature Theatre Company revival, directed by James Houghton, opened on August 27,2002 in previews, officially on September 19,2002 at the Union Square Theatre, the cast featured Edward Norton, Catherine Keener, Ty Burrell, and Dallas Roberts. Norton won an Obie Award and both he and the production received Lucille Lortel Award nominations, peter Sarsgaard replaced Edward Norton, and Elisabeth Shue took over for Catherine Keener on November 20,2002. The West End production, directed by Robert Allan Ackerman, opened on November 7,1990, Malkovich and Liberatore were joined by Juliet Stevenson and Michael Simkins. The play had played an engagement at the Hampstead Theatre. A Broadway revival of Burn This had been announced to begin in February 2017 and open on March 6,2017, jake Gyllenhaal would have starred, with direction by Michael Mayer. However, on October 21,2016, it was announced that the production has been postponed until the 2017-18 Season, Allen won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, and Liberatore was nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Play. Drama Desk Award nominations went to Liberatore and Malkovich, and Roberts won the Theatre World Award, internet Broadway Database listing Lortel Archives listing
Burn This
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This article needs additional citations for
verification. Please help improve this article by
adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2011)
29.
Royal Court theatre
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The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre, in 1956 it was acquired by and is home to a resident company, the English Stage Company. The first theatre on Lower George Street, off Sloane Square, was the converted Nonconformist Ranelagh Chapel, marie Litton became its manager in 1871, hiring Walter Emden to remodel the interior, and it was renamed the Court Theatre. By 1878, management of the theatre was shared by John Hare, further alterations were made in 1882 by Alexander Peebles, after which its capacity was 728. After that, Arthur Cecil was co-manager of the theatre with John Clayton, among other works, they produced a series of Arthur Wing Pineros farces, including The Rector, The Magistrate, The Schoolmistress, and Dandy Dick, among others. The theatre closed on 22 July 1887 and was demolished, the present building was built on the east side of Sloane Square, replacing the earlier building, and opened on 24 September 1888 as the New Court Theatre. Designed by Walter Emden and Bertie Crewe, it is constructed of red brick, moulded brick. Originally the theatre had a capacity of 841 in the stalls, dress circle, amphitheatre, Cecil and Clayton yielded management of the theatre to Mrs. John Wood and Arthur Chudleigh in 1887, although Cecil continued acting in their company until 1895. The first production in the new building was a play by Sydney Grundy titled Mamma, starring Mrs. John Wood and John Hare, with Arthur Cecil and Eric Lewis. Harley Granville-Barker managed the theatre for the first few years of the 20th century and it ceased to be used as a theatre in 1932 but was used as a cinema from 1935 to 1940, until World War II bomb damage closed it. The interior was reconstructed by Robert Cromie, and the number of seats was reduced to under 500, George Devine was appointed artistic director at the suggestion of Oscar Lewenstein, one of the other two co-founders of the English Stage Company. The ESC opened at the Royal Court in 1956 as a subsidised theatre producing new British and foreign plays, Devine aimed to create a writers theatre, seeking to discover new writers and produce serious contemporary works. Devine produced the new companys production in 1956, John Osbornes Look Back in Anger. Osborne followed Look Back In Anger with The Entertainer, with Laurence Olivier in the lead as Archie Rice, significantly, although it was quickly reversed, the artistic board of the ESC initially rejected the play. Two members of the board were in agreement in opposing The Entertainer, in the mid-1960s, the ESC became involved in issues of censorship. The succès de scandale of the two helped to bring about the abolition of theatre censorship in the UK. During the period of Devines directorship, besides Osborne and Bond, early seasons included new international plays by Bertolt Brecht, Eugène Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Marguerite Duras. In addition to the 400-seat proscenium arch Theatre Downstairs, the smaller studio Theatre Upstairs was opened in 1969
Royal Court theatre
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The Royal Court Theatre at dusk in 2007
30.
West End (theatre)
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West End theatre is a common term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of Theatreland in and near the West End of London. Along with New York Citys Broadway theatre, West End theatre is considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London, in 2013, ticket sales reached a record 14.4 million, making West End the largest English speaking audience in the world. Famous screen actors frequently appear on the London stage, helen Mirren received an award for her performance as the Queen on the West End stage, and then stated, theatre is such an important part of British history and British culture. Theatre in London flourished after the English Reformation, the first permanent public playhouse, known simply as The Theatre, was constructed in 1576 in Shoreditch by James Burbage. It was soon joined by The Curtain, both are known to have been used by William Shakespeares company. In 1599, the timber from The Theatre was moved to Southwark and these theatres were closed in 1642 due to the Puritans who would later influence the interregnum of 1649. After the Restoration, two companies were licensed to perform, the Dukes Company and the Kings Company, performances were held in converted buildings, such as Lisles Tennis Court. The first West End theatre, known as Theatre Royal in Bridges Street, was designed by Thomas Killigrew and built on the site of the present Theatre Royal and it opened on 7 May 1663 and was destroyed by a fire nine years later. It was replaced by a new designed by Christopher Wren and renamed the Theatre Royal. Outside the West End, Sadlers Wells Theatre opened in Islington on 3 June 1683. Taking its name from founder Richard Sadler and monastic springs that were discovered on the property, it operated as a Musick House, with performances of opera, as it was not licensed for plays. In the West End, the Theatre Royal Haymarket opened on 29 December 1720 on a site north of its current location. The Patent theatre companies retained their duopoly on drama well into the 19th century, by the early 19th century, however, music hall entertainments became popular, and presenters found a loophole in the restrictions on non-patent theatres in the genre of melodrama. Melodrama did not break the Patent Acts, as it was accompanied by music, initially, these entertainments were presented in large halls, attached to public houses, but purpose-built theatres began to appear in the East End at Shoreditch and Whitechapel. The West End theatre district became established with the opening of small theatres and halls. South of the River Thames, the Old Vic, Waterloo Road, the next few decades saw the opening of many new theatres in the West End. It abbreviated its name three years later, the theatre building boom continued until about World War I
West End (theatre)
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London's
Palace Theatre built in 1891
West End (theatre)
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The
Lyceum Theatre, home to
Disney's The Lion King.
West End (theatre)
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The
St Martin's Theatre, home to
The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the world.
West End (theatre)
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The exterior of the Old Vic
