John Lithgow: Stories by Heart - NT (Lyttelton)
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
JOHN Lithgow: Stories by Heart, in which award-winning American actor John Lithgow performs a double bill of stories – Uncle Fred Flits by P G Wodehouse and Haircut by Ring Lardner – comes to the National’s Lyttelton Theatre on October 19 and October 26, 2009 (two performances only).
Originally produced by the Lincoln Center Theater in New York, Stories by Heart is described as a touching and funny meditation on the art and essence of storytelling.
Lithgow invokes memories of his grandfather and father before him as he traces his own history as an actor and storyteller. Spanning three generations of family history, the performance – written as well as performed by Lithgow – moves from the dazzling language of Wodehouse’s comic monologues to Ring Lardner’s dark and suspenseful story.
Lithgow’s extensive and multi award-winning screen work includes 3rd Rock from the Sun, The World According to Garp, Shrek and Terms of Endearment; while his Broadway credits include The Sweet Smell of Success, for which he won a Tony Award, and All My Sons.
Stories by Heart, which is directed by directed by Jack O’Brien, marks Lithgow’s National Theatre debut.
Tickets: £10.
Time: 7.30pm.