Hampstead Theatre's Autumn 2017 season includes Prism starring Robert Lindsay

Season preview
HAMPSTEAD Theatre has announced its Autumn 2017 season (Main Stage) and it includes the world premiere of Nicholas Wright’s The Slaves of Solitude, adapted from the acclaimed novel by Patrick Hamilton and directed by Jonathan Kent, and the first production of Simon Gray’s Cell Mates since 1995, directed by Artistic Director Edward Hall.
However, the season opens with the world premiere of Prism, which runs from September 14 (previews from September 6) to October 14.
Based on the life of legendary, double Oscar-winning cinematographer Jack Cardif, Prism is written and directed by Terry Johnson and stars Robert Lindsay as Jack, ‘the man who made women look beautiful’, Claire Skinner (Nicola), Rebecca Night (Lucy) and Barnaby Kay (Mason).
The first time I held a prism and turned it to the light it did what the Impressionists struggled a lifetime to do; it embraced the light, split the light; it seemed to understand the very secret of light.
Jack Cardiff has retired to the sleepy village of Denham, Buckinghamshire. His days of hard work – and play – on some of the most famous sets in the world are now long behind him, as are his secret liaisons with some of the most famous women in the world.
Surrounded by memorabilia from a lifetime of ‘painting with light’, the writing of an autobiography should be an easy matter – were it not that Jack would now rather live in the past than remember it.
Robert Lindsay’s theatre credits include A Christmas Carol: In Concert With The London Musical Theatre Orchestra (Lyceum Theatre); Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Richard III (Savoy Theatre); The Lion In Winter, Cyrano De Bergerac and Becket (Theatre Royal Haymarket) – Olivier Award nominations for the latter two; Onassis (Derby Playhouse/West End), Aristo (Minerva Theatre, Chichester); The Entertainer (Old Vic) for which he received an Evening Standard Theatre Award nomination; Power (National Theatre); Oliver! (Palladium) and Me and My Girl (Adelphi Theatre) for which he won the Olivier Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Musical and the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.
His recent television credits include Bounty Hunter, Genius, Galavant, The Marvellous World of Roald Dahl and My Family. He has also appeared in the films Grace of Monaco, Wimbledon, Fierce Creatures, Divorcing Jack and Remember Me?
Claire Skinner, who made her Hampstead Theatre debut last year in Rabbit Hole, most recently starred in The Father (Wyndham’s Theatre/Tricycle Theatre). Her other notable theatre credits include Blurred Lines, Mrs Affleck, A Winter’s Tale and Othello (National Theatre), Deathtrap (Noel Coward Theatre), Moonlight (Almeida Theatre/Comedy Theatre), Measure for Measure (RSC), The Importance of Being Earnest (Aldwych Theatre) and The Glass Menagerie (Donmar Warehouse/Comedy Theatre), for which she was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress and won both a London Critic’s Circle Award and Time Out Award for Best Actress.
Her screen credits include Critical, Outnumbered, Inside No. 9, Silk, Doctor Who, Lark Rise to Candleford, Sense & Sensibility, Homefront, Poirot, Sleepy Hollow, Life is Sweet and Naked.
Rebecca Night’s recent theatre credits include Racing Demon (Theatre Royal Bath), The Meeting (Hampstead Theatre), A Flea in her Ear (Old Vic), The Grapes of Wrath (Chichester Festival theatre), The Importance of Being Earnest (West End/Theatre Royal Bath/Tour) and The Master and Margarita (NYT – Lyric Hammersmith).
Her screen credits include Maigret, Agatha Raisin, Lark Rise to Candleford, Starlings, Wuthering Heights and Fanny Hill (TV); Dartmoor Killing, Suspension of Disbelief and Cold (film).
Barnaby Kay’s recent theatre credits include Buried Child (ATG), Welcome Home Captain Fox (Donmar Warehouse), King Charles III (Wyndham’s Theatre), Raving (Hampstead Theatre), The Captain of Kopenick, Danton’s Death and Closer (National Theatre), and Eric Larue, As You Like It, Twelfth Night and The Herbal Bed (RSC). Kay began his stage career with Max Stafford-Clark’s company Out of Joint, appearing in several productions including The Break of Day, Three Sisters, The Libertine and The Man of Mode.
His extensive screen credits include The Five, Wallander, Dr Who, Conspiracy, Oscar and Lucinda and Shakespeare in Love.
Terry Johnson returns to Hampstead following his sell-out hit Hysteria starring Antony Sher and Ken (Hampstead Downstairs). His writing and directing theatre credits in the West End and on Broadway include Mrs Henderson Presents, The Duck House, End of The Rainbow, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, La Cage Aux Folles, Rain Man, Whipping It Up, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Hitchcock Blonde, Entertaining Mr Sloane, The Graduate, Dead Funny, Hysteria, Elton John’s Glasses and The Memory of Water.
Hampstead Theatrehas also announced two New Initiatives:
Inspire: The Next Playwright Programme, an opportunity for playwrights with new ideas, talent and energy to develop their craft under the mentorship of award-winning playwright Roy Williams.
The Downstairs Club, a free membership scheme for under 30s, which will provide better access to Hampstead’s cheaper tickets across the Main Stage and Downstairs.
Also at Hampstead Theatre: the world premiere of Stephen Brown’s Occupational Hazards (until June 3) and the UK premiere of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Gloria (June 15 to July 22, 2017).