With live and encore screenings from the National Theatre, the RSC and now the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company Live, this autumn promises a real feast for Shakespeare lovers at the Merlin.
The NT’s much-anticipated production of Hamlet with Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role and directed by Lyndsey Turner, can be seen on both Sunday 18th and Thursday 22nd October at 7.00pm.
Henry V, on Wednesday 21st October at 7.00pm, comes direct from the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford, directed by Gregory Doran and starring Alex Hassell.
The first season of screenings from the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company opens on Thursday 26th November at 7.15pm with The Winter’s Tale, with a star-studded cast featuring Judi Dench as Paulina, Tom Bateman (Florizel), Jessie Buckley (Perdita), Hadley Fraser (Polixenes), Miranda Raison (Hermione) and Kenneth Branagh as Leontes.
There is also a fantastic version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, filmed last autumn during director Julie Taymor’s highly acclaimed inaugural stage production in New York showing on Thursday November 5th at 7.45pm.
For those who prefer a potted version on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th November Tic Tac Toe presents The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), a fast-firing comedy that parodies all of the Shakespeare plays in under two hours.
Or maybe spot the stage stars of the future when Shakespeare Schools Festival returns to the Merlin on November 6th with contributions from three local schools
