NT Live: Nation, a live performance from the UK's National Theatre broadcast to 330 cinemas worldwide and Fairfield University's Quick Center for the Arts January 30

NT Live: Nation, a live performance from the UK's National Theatre broadcast to 330 cinemas worldwide and Fairfield University's Quick Center for the Arts January 30

Travelex supports NT Live internationally

'The National's eagerly awaited new family show... will enthral adults and children alike' - Daily Telegraph , UK

Image: Nation A spectacular family production of Terry Pratchett's Nation will be filmed live at the National Theatre in London on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010 and broadcast by satellite to cinemas worldwide and to Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at 2:00 p.m. The Kelley Theatre will open at 1:30 p.m. and there will be a pre-show broadcast beginning at 1:45 p.m. This event is a feature of the University's 2009-2010 Arts & Minds series.

Adapted by Mark Ravenhill and directed by Melly Still, Nation is an exhilarating adventure story of survival and self-discovery featuring music, dance and extraordinary puppets, suitable for ages 10 and above. Nation follows the hugely successful broadcasts of Phèdre and All's Well That Ends Well .

NT Live performances are filmed live at the National Theatre in high definition and broadcast via satellite to over 330 cinemas and performing arts centers around the world, live in Europe and some U.S. cities, and time-delayed in countries further afield. The performances at the National are specified in advance to allow cameras greater freedom in the auditorium. NT Live screenings in international venues, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Europe, are supported by Travelex, the world's foreign exchange and business payments specialist.

Nation is set in a parallel world in 1860. Two teenagers, Mau and Daphne, are thrown together by a tsunami that has destroyed Mau's village and left Daphne shipwrecked on Mau's South Pacific Island, thousands of miles from home. Mau wears next to nothing, Daphne a long white dress; neither speaks the other's language; somehow they must learn to survive.

As starving refugees gather, Daphne delivers a baby, milks a pig, brews beer and does battle with a mutineer. Mau fights cannibal Raiders, discovers the world is round and questions the reality of his tribe's fiercely patriarchal gods. Together they come of age, overseen by a foul-mouthed parrot, as they discard old doctrine to forge a new Nation.

Terry Pratchett is one of the UK's best-selling authors, whose work includes the Discworld series of 36 novels. In total, his books have sold over 60 million copies in thirty-seven languages. Terry Pratchett has won numerous literary awards including the Carnegie Medal; he was knighted in the 2009 New Year's Honours List. Nation was published in 2008 and was longlisted for The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize for 2009.

The cast of Nation is led by Gary Carr (as Mau) and Emily Taaffe (as Daphne), and also includes: Gaye Brown, Paul Chahidi, Elaine Claxton, Adrian Decosta, Mike Denman, Lorna Gayle, Howard Gossington, Tony Hasnath, Robert Hastie, Michelle Lukes, Nick Malinowski, Michael Mears, Itxaso Moreno, Al Nedjari, Bhasker Patel, Nicholas Rowe, Sirine Saba, Craig Stein, David Sterne, Jason Thorpe and Nancy Wei George.

The Olivier Theatre production is directed by Melly Still, who also designs the set with Mark Friend; with costumes by Dinah Collin, lighting by Paul Anderson, projections by Jon Driscoll, music by Adrian Sutton and sound by Paul Arditti.

The next play in the NT Live season will be Alan Bennett's new play The Habit Of Art with Richard Griffiths, Alex Jennings and Frances de la Tour, to be transmitted live on April 22, 2010.

Tickets for reserved seating are $22 general, $20 seniors, $15 children and students and are available at the Box Office at (203) 254-4010 or online at fairfield.edu/quick . The toll free number is 1-877-ARTS-396. Special offers and discounts are available through the Quick Center's e-mail list. Join, by contacting boxoffice@quickcenter.com . And become a fan of the Quick Center for the Arts on Facebook! Keep up-to-date with the latest performance news, plus special offers and discounts! Find the Quick Center at www.facebook.com/FairfieldQuickCenter.

About the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts
The Quick Center for the Arts is the hub of visual and performing arts at Fairfield University. It was built, led by the generosity of the Quick family, and presented its first season in 1989. The Quick Center for the Arts has established itself as a dominant artistic force in the area through the presentation of nationally and internationally acclaimed artists in popular, classical and jazz concerts, dance, theatre and young audience events, art exhibitions and its participation in a variety of high-definition satellite broadcasts including The Met: Live in HD, NT Live, TimesTalks Live, This American Life - Live! with Ira Glass and A Prairie Home Companion With Garrison Keillor - Live IN HD

About The National Theatre
The National Theatre, founded in 1963, and established on the South Bank of the River Thames in London in 1976, has three theatres - the Olivier, the Lyttelton and the Cottesloe. It presents an eclectic mix of new plays and classics, with seven or eight productions in repertory (sharing the stages) at any one time. The National aims constantly to re-energise the great traditions of the British stage and to expand the horizons of audiences and artists alike, and aspires to reflect in its repertoire the diversity of the nation's culture. With its extensive programme of Platform performances, backstage tours, foyer music, exhibitions, and free outdoor entertainment the National recognises that the theatre doesn't begin and end with the rise and fall of the curtain. By touring - and now, NT Live - it shares its work with audiences in the UK and abroad. The first NT Live season aims to capture the diversity of the National's work: a classic tragedy, a Shakespeare, a family show ( Nation ) and a new play.

NT Live is funded in partnership with Arts Council England and NESTA, and supported internationally by Travelex.

NT Live Nation is supported by The Michael Marks Charitable Trust. NT Live is supported by The Northern Rock Foundation.

NT Live events are distributed outside the U.K. through New York-based BY Experience, Inc., the pioneer of global live "alternative content" digital cinema events. For more information, visit: www.byexperience.net .

About TRAVELEX
NT Live is supported internationally by Travelex .

Lloyd Dorfman, Chairman of Travelex , says: "We're enormously proud to be part of NT Live - the result of a seven-year partnership with the National Theatre. Day-to-day, Travelex is committed to helping connect people and businesses across the globe. We really hope that this initiative makes world class theatre accessible on a truly worldwide scale."

Travelex is the world's foreign exchange and business payments specialist. With operations spanning 35 countries, the business operates three divisions focusing on retail foreign exchange, crossborder business payments and outsourcing partnerships.

The company serves a customer every other second and, through an expansive network covering 115 airports, has a global annual audience of 1.8bn people.

Posted On: 12-17-2009 10:12 AM

Volume: 42 Number: 153