Sam Mendes (The Lehman Trilogy) directs Mark Gatiss as John Gielgud and Johnny Flynn as Richard Burton in this fierce and funny new play.

1964: Richard Burton, newly married to Elizabeth Taylor, is to play the title role in an experimental new Broadway production of Hamlet under John Gielgud’s exacting direction. But as rehearsals progress, two ages of theatre collide and the collaboration between actor and director soon threatens to unravel.

Written by Jack Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) and designed by Es Devlin (The Crucible), the Evening Standard award-winning best new play was filmed live during a sold-out run at the National Theatre.

★★★★★ ‘A brilliant, compassionate new play’ (Financial Times)

★★★★★ ‘Immaculately directed by Sam Mendes’ (Times)

★★★★★ ‘Mark Gatiss gives the performance of his career’ (Telegraph)

★★★★★ ‘Smooth and sophisticated’ (WhatsOnStage)

★★★★ ‘Will give you goosebumps’ (Independent)

In Sudan, cinema is a thing of the past, but four directors and lifelong friends refuse to accept it. They learned their art abroad—one of them is jokingly referred to as the Sudanese Eisenstein by the others. With their Sudanese film club, the men struggle to keep their film culture alive. Much of their work has been lost, but a few excerpts are included in the documentary.

To introduce others to the magic of film, they decide to rent a dilapidated old open-air cinema for a big free screening. But how do you do this in a country where there are power cuts, you lack the equipment and infrastructure, and the call to prayer blares out from mosques on all sides? “How did we used to do it?” they wonder, laughing. Then they realize that there didn’t used to be a call to prayer. Sudan’s repressive and violent history remains in the background, but film is clearly still out of favor with the regime. Nevertheless, the men remain hopeful.

Screening as part of our year-long season - CINEMA ON SCREEN