Pravda (play)

Last updated

Original National Theatre poster Pravda (play).jpg
Original National Theatre poster

Pravda is a satirical play by David Hare and Howard Brenton exploring the role of journalism in society. It was first produced at the National Theatre in London on 2 May 1985, directed by Hare and starring Anthony Hopkins in the role of Lambert Le Roux, white South African media mogul. [1] Labelled a "Fleet Street comedy", it is a satire on the mid-1980s British newspaper industry during the Thatcher era, in particular the Australian press baron Rupert Murdoch. [2] [3] [4] Its title refers to the Russian Communist party newspaper Pravda .

Contents

The play won 1985 Best Play Award from both the London Evening Standard Awards and City Limits magazine. [5] It has been described as "one of the biggest hits in the history of the National Theatre." [6]

Original cast

Critical reception

Punch called it "A savagely bitchy and often wildly funny evening"; the Financial Times noted "A magnificent epic drama"; and The Observer wrote of "sulphurous and crackling entertainment." [7] [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Hopkins</span> Welsh actor (born 1937)

Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins is a Welsh actor. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, four BAFTA Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Laurence Olivier Award. He has also received the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2005 and the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement in 2008. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to drama in 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Bowles</span> English actor (1936–2022)

Peter John Bowles was an English screen and stage actor. He gained prominence for television dramas such as Callan: A Magnum for Schneider and I, Claudius. He is best remembered for his roles in sitcoms and television comedy dramas, including: Rumpole of the Bailey, Only When I Laugh, To the Manor Born, The Bounder, The Irish R.M., Lytton's Diary, Executive Stress and Perfect Scoundrels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Hare (playwright)</span> British playwright, screenwriter and director

Sir David Rippon Hare is an English playwright, screenwriter and theatre director. Best known for his stage work, Hare has also enjoyed great success with films, receiving two Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay for writing The Hoursin 2002 and The Reader in 2008.

Sir Richard Charles Hastings Eyre is an English film, theatre, television and opera director. Eyre has received numerous accolades including three Laurence Olivier Awards as well as nominations for six BAFTA Awards and two Tony Awards. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1992 News Year Honours, and knighted in the 1997 New Year Honours.

Howard John Brenton FRSL is an English playwright and screenwriter, often ranked alongside contemporaries such as Edward Bond, Caryl Churchill, and David Hare.

Patricia Colleen Nelligan, known professionally as Kate Nelligan, is a Canadian stage, film and television actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1991 film The Prince of Tides, and the same year won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Frankie and Johnny. She is also a four-time Tony Award nominee for her work on Broadway, receiving nominations for Plenty (1983), A Moon for the Misbegotten (1984), Serious Money (1988) and Spoils of War (1989).

Phoebe Sarah Nicholls is an English film, television, and stage actress. She is known for her roles as Cordelia Flyte in Brideshead Revisited and as the mother of John Merrick in The Elephant Man.

Jonathon Morris is a former British actor and television presenter.

Chris Parr was a British theatre director and television drama producer and executive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Wicks</span> British actress (born 1959)

Victoria Wicks is a British actress. She is known for her role as Sally Smedley in Channel 4's comedy series Drop the Dead Donkey (1990–1998), Mrs. Gideon in The Mighty Boosh (2004), and the College Director in Skins (2007–08). Her film appearances include The Imitation Game (2014) and High-Rise (2015). She is an associate of Howard Barker's theatre company, The Wrestling School.

Marilyn J. "Lynn" Farleigh is an English actress of stage and screen.

<i>Hamlet</i> (1969 film) 1969 film by Tony Richardson

Hamlet is a 1969 British tragedy period drama film. It is a film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Hamlet, starring Nicol Williamson as Prince Hamlet. It was directed by Tony Richardson and based on his own stage production at the Roundhouse theatre in London. The film also stars Anthony Hopkins as King Claudius, Judy Parfitt as Queen Gertrude, Marianne Faithfull as Ophelia, Mark Dignam as Polonius, Gordon Jackson as Horatio, and Michael Pennington as Laertes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Carter (actor)</span> English actor

James Edward Carter is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Mr Carson in the ITV historical drama series Downton Abbey (2010–2015), which earned him four nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2012–2015). He reprised the role in the feature films Downton Abbey (2019) and Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022).

<i>Pack of Lies</i> 1983 play by Hugh Whitemore

Pack of Lies is a 1983 play by English writer Hugh Whitemore, itself adapted from his Act of Betrayal, an episode of the BBC anthology series Play of the Month transmitted in 1971.

<i>Never So Good</i>

Never So Good is a 2008 play by Howard Brenton, which portrays the life and career of Harold Macmillan, a 20th-century Conservative British politician who served as Prime Minister (1957–1963). It was first performed in the Lyttelton auditorium of the National Theatre, London, on 26 March 2008; previews began on 17 March 2008.

William Alexander Paterson known professionally as Bill Alexander is a British theatre director who is best known for his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and as artistic director of Birmingham Repertory Theatre. He currently works as a freelance, internationally as a theatre director and most recently as a director of BBC Radio 4 drama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Gallagher</span> English actor

Bernard Gallagher was an English actor known for his stage work, including with the National Theatre and the Royal Court; and his many appearances in television soap operas and dramas. He was born in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire.

The Churchill Play is a play by Howard Brenton. Written in 1974, the play offers a dystopian picture of an authoritarian England ten years in the future and is set in an internment camp named after Winston Churchill. The play of the title is actually a play within a play, one put on by inmates of the camp, in which soldiers stand guard over Churchill's catafalque, only for him to rise from the dead.

Claire Benedict is a British actress known for her work in classical productions on the British stage, but best known for portraying the principal character Mma Ramotswe in the continuing radio adaptations of The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. She won a Time Out Award for Best Performance for her portrayal of Sophia Adams in Errol John's Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, directed by Maya Angelou. She lives in Todmorden in the Pennines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Davenport</span> English actor and writer

Roger Davenport is an English author, actor and screenwriter. He is the son of John Davenport, who was for many years a literary critic writing for The Observer newspaper. Graduating from LAMDA in 1967, Davenport worked extensively in British theatre before becoming a writer. He is married to the actress Joanna McCallum.

References

  1. "Production of Pravda | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
  2. "Pravda's prescience". Evening Standard. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  3. "Pravda - Drama Online". www.dramaonlinelibrary.com.
  4. "BBC - The National Theatre At 50: Pravda - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk.
  5. Publications, Europa (24 November 2003). International Who's Who of Authors and Writers 2004. Psychology Press. ISBN   9781857431797 via Google Books.
  6. Lee, Alex Sierz and Marc (25 August 2006). "Return to the street of shame" via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  7. "Pravda | Samuel French". www.samuelfrench.com.
  8. Brenton, Howard; Hare, David (21 May 2015). Pravda. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN   9781472574800 via Google Books.