“Doctor Faustus”
The British Theater Live Festival, featuring 10 high-definition videos of British stage plays and a musical, will be screened at Broadway’s two cinemas in Shenzhen on Sept. 5-21.
‘Leopoldstadt’
Plot: Tom Stoppard’s critically acclaimed play “Leopoldstadt” is a passionate drama of love, family and endurance. At the beginning of the 20th century, Leopoldstadt was the old, crowded Jewish quarter of Vienna, Austria. But Hermann Merz, a factory owner, has moved up in the world. We follow his family’s story across half a century, passing through the convulsions of war, revolution and impoverishment.
‘The Book of Dust — La Belle Sauvage’
Plot: Nicholas Hytner’s gripping adaptation revisits Phillip Pullman’s fantastical world in which waters are rising and storms are brewing. Two young people and their demons, with everything at stake, find themselves at the center of a terrifying manhunt. In their care is a tiny child called Lyra Belacqua, and in that child lies the fate of the future. And as the waters rise around them, powerful adversaries conspire for mastery of dust: salvation to some, the source of infinite corruption to others.
‘Doctor Faustus’
Plot: “Doctor Faustus” is Christopher Marlowe’s most renowned and controversial work. Famous for being the first dramatized version of the Faustus tale, the play depicts the sinister aftermath of Faustus’ decision to sell his soul to the devil’s henchman in exchange for power and knowledge.
‘Straight Line Crazy’
Plot: Ralph Fiennes leads the cast in David Hare’s blazing account of the most powerful man in New York, a master manipulator whose legacy changed the city forever. For 40 uninterrupted years, Robert Moses exploited those in office through a mix of charm and intimidation. Motivated at first by a determination to improve the lives of New York City’s workers, he created parks, bridges and expressway to connect the people to the great outdoors. Faced with resistance by protest groups campaigning for a very different idea of what the city should become, will a weakness of democracy be exposed in the face of his charismatic convictions?
‘The Seagull’
Plot: Emilia Clarke makes her West End debut in this 21st-century retelling of Anton Chekhov’s tale of love and loneliness. A young woman is desperate for fame and a way out. A young man is pining after the woman of his dreams. A successful writer longs for a sense of achievement. An actress wants to fight the changing of the times. In an isolated home in the countryside, dreams lie in tatters, hopes are dashed, and hearts broken. With nowhere left to turn, the only option is to turn on each other. Jamie Lloyd brings Anya Reiss’ adaptation of Chekhov’s classic play to the stage.
‘Life of Pi’
Plot: Puppetry, magic and storytelling combine in an Olivier Award-winning stage adaptation of the best-selling novel. After a cargo ship sinks in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, a 16-year-old boy named Pi is stranded on a lifeboat with four other survivors — a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and a tiger. Who will survive? Featuring state-of-the-art visuals, the epic journey of endurance and hope is brought to life in a breath-taking new way for cinema screens.
‘Anything Goes’
Plot: When the S.S. American heads out to sea, etiquette and convention head out the portholes as two unlikely pairs set off on the course to true love, proving that sometimes destiny needs a little help from a crew of singing sailors, a comical disguise and some good old-fashioned blackmail. This hilarious musical romp across the Atlantic, directed by the multi-award-winning Broadway director and choreographer Kathleen Marshall, features Cole Porter’s joyful score.
‘The Crucible’
Plot: A witch hunt is beginning in Arthur Miller’s captivating parable of power with Erin Doherty and Brendan Cowell. Raised to be seen but not heard, a group of young women in Salem suddenly find their words have an almighty power. As a climate of fear, vendetta and accusation spreads through the community, no one is safe from trial. Lyndsey Turner directs this contemporary new staging designed by Tony Award-winner Es Devlin.
‘Ian McKellen on Stage: Tolkien, Shakespeare and You!’
Plot: To celebrate his 80th birthday, English stage and screen actor Ian McKellen presented his one-man show in 2019. This performance sees McKellen reprising roles over his career in the theater such as those from the works of William Shakespeare, and on film such as Gandalf in “The Lord of the Rings,” while discussing anecdotes throughout his life and career.
‘The Lehman Trilogy’
Plot: On a cold morning in 1844 a young man from Bavaria stands on a New York dockside, dreaming of a new life in the new world. He is joined by his two brothers and an American epic begins. And 163 years later, the firm they establish — Lehman Brothers — spectacularly collapses into bankruptcy, and triggers the largest financial crisis in history.
Ticketing: WeChat miniprogram “百老汇影城”
Venue 1: Broadway Cinematheque, 5/F, MixC World, Nanshan District (华润万象天地五楼深圳百老汇电影中心)
Metro: Line 1 to Hi-tech Park Station (高新园站), Exit A
Venue 2: Palace Cinema, 4/F, Raffles City, Nanshan District (来福士广场四楼深圳百丽宫影城)
Metro: Line 9 or 12 to Nanyou Station (南油站), Exit E