The National Theatre Unveils Post-Pandemic Programming, Recovery Fund Campaign – Global Bulletin

Jamie Lang
·4 min read
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THEATRE

The U.K.’s National Theatre has revealed a robust return to normal programming services with a host of plays and films scheduled through 2022, as the country limps back to normalcy post-pandemic.

Highlights include National Theatre director Rufus Norris’ new musical “Hex,” based on “Sleeping Beauty” which opens this Christmas in the Olivier Theatre, and The Lyttelton Theatre’s reopening in October with Ayub Khan Din’s “East Is East.” Anupama Chandrasekhar’s “The Father and the Assassin,” about Gandhi and his assassin, opens at the property’s Olivier Theatre in early 2022.

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There are returns to Broadway for the acclaimed “The Lehman Trilogy” and tours across the U.K. and Ireland for “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” and “The Ocean at the End of the Lane.”

Clint Dyer directs and co-writes “Death of England: Face to Face” with Roy Williams, an original feature film from the Lyttelton Theatre, to be broadcast on Sky Arts in October.

In addition, National Theatre Together, a campaign to raise funds for the theater’s recovery post-pandemic, has been launched. – Naman Ramachandran

DEVELOPMENT

Eccho Rights are teaming with Germany’s Tellux Film, Italy’s Indiana Production and Born Wild in the U.K. on the development of the new mockumentary series “One Euro Village,” created by Born Wild founder Anthony Alleyne and co-written by Matteo Berdini. Based on true events, the series unspools in a small Italian village where the local government offers up dilapidated houses for €1 each, drawing the attention of holiday home developers. Awkwardly, due to a clerical error, all the new buyers come from German-speaking countries and don’t speak a world of Italian, meaning just about everything gets lost in translation.

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Brazil’s Pródigo Filmes, producers of Netflix Originals “Invisible City” and “Girls from Ipanema,” has begun development on a feature film adaptation of Emilio Fraia’s novel “Sevastopol,” to be directed by Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Fukunaga (“Out of My Hand,” “Ainu Mosir”). Told through three parallel narratives, “Sevastopol” examines the uncertainty of life and how memory often returns to haunt us through the dissimilar but increasingly relatable stories of a mountain climber, an innkeeper and a playwright.

FORMAT

Popular competition format “The Mole” is heading back to Sweden where it will air on Discovery Plus later this year, as announced by the show’s Swedish distributors Primitives. Warner Bros International Productions Sweden will handle production of the reboot featuring Swedish TV host Anders Lundin and actors Carina Lidbom and Ellen Bergström. The series has now been produced in more than 20 countries and originally aired in Sweden from 2000-2004 on Kanal 5. On “The Mole,” 10 contestants are isolated together and tasked with identifying which one of them is The Mole, with a large cash prize awaiting the eventual winner.

FUNDRAISER

Arijit Singh, one of India’s most popular recording artists, is teaming with GiveIndia and Facebook to provide much-needed COVID support to rural Indian populations. Under Facebook’s SocialForGood banner, Singh will host a live fundraiser from his hometown of Murshidabad, West Bengal on Sunday to benefit his own campaign: Helping Rural India Breathe and Stay Safe. Funds raised through the event will be used to procure oxygen equipment, beds, medicines, food and provide financial assistance to those affected by the recent COVID-19 wave in small towns and villages across India. Donations can be made directly on the GiveIndia fundraising page:

https://fundraisers.giveindia.org/fundraisers/helping-rural-india-breathe-and-stay-safe-an-initiative-by-arijit-singh

COOKING

Jamie Oliver is heading back to Channel 4 in the U.K. this fall with “Jamie Oliver: Together,” a new program featuring recipes from his book “Together,” releasing in September. As the U.K. and the wider world begin a return to something close to normal, Oliver will offer up recipes designed to be shared after a year or more of meals spent in isolation. Each episode will feature the steps to cooking up a full meal from start to finish, intended to be done in a stress-free and communal way. Oliver will invite his friends and family along the way, as well as frontline workers including NHS staff, deliver drivers, food growers and vital service providers. The series will be produced by Jamie Oliver Productions and distributed internationally by Fremantle.

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