EDMOND
Previews from 10 July, press night 17 July, in repertoire until 4 October

Kenneth Branagh makes his debut at the National in the title role of David Mamet’s EDMOND, directed by NT Associate Edward Hall. The production, the third in The Travelex £10 Season, will be designed by Michael Pavelka, with lighting by Mark Henderson and sound by Paul Groothuis. The cast also includes Tony Haygarth and Stephen Greif.

You know how much of our life we’re alive, you and me? Nothing. Two minutes out of the year. When we meet someone new, when we get married, when, when, when, when we’re in difficulties.… once in our life at the death of someone that we love. That’s it - in a carcrash… and that’s it. You know, you know, we’re sheltered...

A fortune-teller sends Edmond lurching into New York City’s hellish underworld, his whole life abandoned in a searing quest for self-discovery and redemption. A furious, unflinching, whirlwind of a play.

Kenneth Branagh has an international reputation as an actor, director, writer and producer. His stage work includes the title roles in Henry V and Hamlet for the RSC; numerous appearances for the Renaissance Theatre Company (which he co-founded) including As You Like It, Look Back in Anger and the title role in Coriolanus; and most recently, the title role in Richard III at the Sheffield Crucible. The many films which he has directed and/or starred in include Henry V, Dead Again, Much Ado About Nothing, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, In the Bleak Midwinter and Hamlet; other film work includes The Gingerbread Man, Celebrity, Rabbit Proof Fence and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. His television work includes The Billy Plays, The Boy in the Bush, Fortunes of War, Shadow of a Gunman, Conspiracy and Shackleton. He has recently directed The Play What I Wrote in the West End and on Broadway.

David Mamet’s plays include Oleanna, Glengarry Glen Ross (1984 Pulitzer Prize and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards), American Buffalo, The Old Neighborhood, A Life in the Theater, Speed-the-Plow, Sexual Perversity in Chicago and The Cryptogram (1995 Obie Award). His films include House of Games, Oleanna, Homicide, The Spanish Prisoner, The Winslow Boy, State and Main and Heist (all as screenwriter/director).

EDMOND will be Edward Hall’s first production at the NT. His theatre work includes Macbeth (Albery), Rose Rage adapted from Henry VI parts 1, 2 & 3 (Haymarket, Watermill & international tour), The Constant Wife (Apollo), Tantalus (RSC/Denver Centre), Julius Caesar, Henry V and Two Gentlemen of Verona (RSC). He is an NT Associate

Please note: this play contains language that some people may find offensive.