Sheridan Smith To Headline Channel 5’s ‘Teacher’; Ian McKellen To Star In Post-Lockdown ‘Hamlet’ Staging; Liberty Global Joins EU Green Initiative — Global Briefs

Sheridan Smith To Headline Channel 5’s ‘Teacher’
BAFTA-winner Sheridan Smith is to headline Teacher, the latest drama series from ViacomCBS’s UK network Channel 5. Smith will play Jenna in the Clapperboard-produced psychological thriller, which follows a state schoolteacher whose life unravels after being accused of a drunken sexual encounter with one of her pupils. Other cast includes Samuel Bottomley (Get Duked!), Kelvin Fletcher (Moving On), Cecilia Noble (Small Axe), Sharon Rooney (My Mad Fat Diary), David Fleeshman (It’s A Sin), and Ian Puleston-Davies (Tin Star). Entertainment One will sell the four-part series outside of the UK, with filming set to begin this month.

Ian McKellen To Star In Post-Lockdown ‘Hamlet’ Staging
Ian McKellen is to star in a Theatre Royal Windsor adaptation of Hamlet, which is being billed as the first major new production to be staged following lockdown lifting in the UK. The age-blind show will open on June 21, with other cast including Ben Allen, Francesca Annis, and Steven Berkoff. Sean Mathias is the director, while Bill Kenwright produces. Rehearsals will start again next week after originally taking place eight months ago before further waves of coronavirus. The show will be followed by Martin Sherman’s adaptation of Anton Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard, with McKellen as Firs the elderly manservant. McKellen said: “I’ve acted in both these masterpieces before – and seen them scores of times. They are in that select group of classic plays which bear, even demand, a regular look, even reappraisal, by actors, directors, producers – and audiences. How can Hamlet be played by an 80 year old? I hope theatre-starved audiences will want to find out!”

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Liberty Global Joins EU Green Initiative
John Malone’s cable giant Liberty Global has signed up as a founding member of the European Union’s European Green Digital Coalition. Members commit to, among other things, becoming “climate neutral” by 2040, while investing in green technology. Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries said: “Digital technologies have a huge role to play in the fight against climate change and we look forward to utilising our networks and expertise to help deliver a greener and more sustainable future.”

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