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Theatre

Rules for Living, National Theatre ★★★★★

13 Mar 15 – 18 Apr 15, 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM

A new play by a Windham Campbell Prize winner and NT writer in residence Sam Holcroft comes to the Dorfman Theatre starring Stephen Mangan and Miles Jupp.

By Lucy Brooks on 9/10/2014

Rules for Living, National Theatre [STAR:4]
Rules for Living, National Theatre [STAR:4]
Rules for Living, National Theatre 4 Rules for Living, National Theatre Lucy Brooks
Culture Whisper says ★★★★★
Below is our preview, giving background information about the play. Click here to read our Rules for Living review.


Sam Holcroft has been feted by the critics since her debut play, Cockroach, was produced in 2008. She’s just been awarded 2014's prestigious Windham Campbell Prize, which provides rising literary stars with enough money to give up their day jobs and focus on writing full-time, so Rules For Living should mark Holcroft’s breakthrough into the playwriting major league.
Unconventional drama
Her plays have always turned theatrical conventions and audience expectations inside out – 2011’s Edgar and Annabel unnervingly revealed that its main characters were undercover dissidents reading from a script. Rules For Living develops these ideas even further. As a family gathers for a long-anticipated Christmas dinner, their social norms and coping strategies are exposed as disturbingly rigid traps, with darkly comic results. 
A trio of talented women
Working alongside Holcroft on Rules For Living are two other women at the top of their game. Director Marianne Elliott, Associate Director of the National Theatre, has an enviable track record of critical and commercial successes, including the ongoing smash hits War Horse and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Holcroft has said that, under Elliott’s direction, the play is set to have “explosive consequences”. The flexibility of the Dorfman’s new seating system, combined with the metatheatricality of Holcroft’s previous plays, make this an intriguing proposition, and we can’t wait to find out exactly what she means. Also onboard is designer Chloe Lamford, currently an Associate Artist at the Royal Court, where her recent set design for Teh Internet Is Serious Business included a giant onstage ball pit.  
Stellar cast
There's a strongly comic flavour from the cast. Stephen Mangan, whose quick comic quips have shone on stage in Jeeves and Wooster and Noises off and in TV shows including Nathan Barley and Green Wing, will star alongside fellow comedy actor Miles Jupp, fresh from the West End's Neville's Island. Joining them is Maggie Service (Dr Who, Miranda) RSC veterans Deborah Findlay (Coriolanus) and John Rogan (School for Scandal), and recent drama school graduate Daisy Waterstone (The Crucible).




What Rules for Living, National Theatre
Where National Theatre, South Bank, London, SE1 9PX | MAP
Nearest tube Waterloo (underground)
When 13 Mar 15 – 18 Apr 15, 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM
Price £15-£40
Website Click here for more information from the National Theatre



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A little more...

  • Women at the National Theatre

    Last year National Theatre Director Nicholas Hytner came under fire for under-representing women directors and writers. Prior to this season just 15% of the shows he's programmed at the National were written by a women. Since these stats were published there's been a shift towards showcasing female talent, with Sam Holcroft employed as Writer in Residence and eight out of the fourteen shows in the latest season written by women. And with a trio of talented women at the helm, Rules for Living is a great example of gender equality in the world of theatre.

    Practical

    THE BRAND NEW DORFMAN THEATRE

    The National's Cottesloe theatre has been renamed in honour of Travelex Chairman and generous benefactor Lloyd Dorfman. As the smallest of the theatrical spaces, this extensive refurbishment and subsequent rebranding is an exciting was part of Nicholas Hytner's plan to extend the National Theatre's reach and increase variety and flexibility of productions. And, excitingly, the renovations mean that an extra 27,000 tickets per year will be available for this sought-after and intimate stage space.

    ABOUT THE NATIONAL THEATRE

    As one of London's more finely balanced examples of Brutalist architecture, the National Theatre has long remained a domineering icon of the South Bank. Architects Sir Denys Lasdun and Peter Softley pushed the boundaries of theatre design with three vast stages (opening between 1976 and 1977) that happily accommodate the most ambitious of productions.With a rich programme that simultaneously shows Shakespeare, international classics and contemporary theatre, for many, the Nation's theatre rarely fails with the with the quality of its direction, staging and performance.

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We recommend nearby

  • Green Room

    A great place to eat or relax, the Nation Theatre's Green Room is enclosed in a sustainable garden, which acts as an urban oasis amid the hustle and bustle of the Southbank. The Green Room is open from noon until midnight from Monday-Saturday, and until 10pm on Sundays.

    Read more...

    Culture Whisper is your ultimate guide to the newest, most exciting cafés, bars and restaurants in London and we are sure you will love Green Room!

    Book Map

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