Arts writer
UPCOMING highlights on The Fugard Bioscope World Arts Season bill include Hamlet from the National Theatre and The Lady of the Camellias from the Bolshoi Ballet.
Academy Award nominee Benedict Cumberbatch (BBC’s Sherlock, The Imitation Game, Frankenstei n at the National Theatre) takes on the title role of Shakespeare’s great tragedy Hamlet on Sunday. Screenings are at 11am and 4pm.
The story hones in on a country which is arming itself for war, and ensuing family dynamics. Forced to avenge his father’s death, but paralysed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state.
The film runs for three hours. The cast also includes Ciarán Hinds as Claudius, Siân Brooke as Ophelia, Anastasia Hille as Gertrude, Jim Norton as Polonius, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith as Laertes and Leo Bill as Horatio.
Lyndsey Turner directs, Es Devlin handles set design and Katrina Lindsay costume design.
Bolshoi Ballet feature The Lady of the Camellias will screen on February 14. The Bolshoi breathes new life into John Neumeier’s tragic masterpiece, inspired by Alexandre Dumas’ novel and accompanied by Chopin’s exquisite score. This production assumes a new emotional and dramatic texture that only the skilled Bolshoi’s dancers can deliver.
See it at 11am at The Fugard Bioscope. The cast includes Svetlana Zakharova as Marguerite Gautier, Edvin Revazov as Armand Duval, Anna Tikhomirova as Manon Lescaut, Semyon Chudin as Des Grieux, Kristina Kretova as Prudence Duvernoy, Mikhail Lobukhin as Gaston Rieux, Anna Antropova as Nanina, Andrei Merkuriev as Monsieur Duval, Daria Khokhlova as Olympia and Alexander Fadeyechev as The Duke.
Music is by Frédéric Chopin and John Neumeier choreographs.
Here young bourgeois, Armand Duval, falls madly in love with Marguerite Gautier, a gorgeous courtesan celebrated by the Parisian high society. Despite her infidelity, Armand will do all he can to win the beautiful woman’s heart and convince her to leave her indulgent life.
Patrons can enjoy the venue’s roof top bar before and after every performance (weather dependent).
l Call 021 461 4554, see com puticket.com, or thefugard.com