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Longing

All things pass – is this your philosophy? Is there no room for love in your philosophy of life?

The first play by bestselling author William Boyd, Longing adapts two of Anton Chekhov’s short stories, A Visit to Friends and My Life, to weave a comic tale, at once exotic and familiar.

When Kolia is invited to visit his oldest friends on their Estate in the country he anticipates a pleasant break from Moscow life. But as the comedy of provincial life plays out around him, he finds himself adrift in a miasma of false expectations, missed opportunities, and unspoken passions.

 

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Adaptations of the work of classic Russian playwright Chekhov always have a lasting appeal beyond the life of the production. Drawn from these two short stories, Longing is unique in being a dramatic exploration of a work of Chekhov’s fiction, not simply a new adaptation of one of his plays.

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A Waste of Shame

Shakespeare’s Sonnets are the most compelling source for an emotional and dramatic journey into the psychology of the man himself. Self-analytical, brutally honest,  they are his story told in his own words. Behind the lyrical, beautifully crafted language, a brooding obsession with the ‘Lovely Boy’ and Shakespeare’s extra-marital relationship with a Dark Lady is revealed. The sonnet sequence is his unique meditation on love, sex, mortality and the creative urge, which has tantalised scholars and casual readers alike.

A Waste of Shame is an intense drama about the passionate and destructive love triangle that consumed Shakespere in his troubled middle years adapting some of the most celebrated, sexual, raw, and vitriolic love poems ever written.

The Argument

It was supposed to be a fun night out at the cinema for Meredith and Pip. But Meredith hated the film and Pip didn’t. Now it’s turned into an argument – the perfect opportunity to share their differences.

With their marriage at breaking point, they turn to their respective friends, Jane and Tony. But maybe Jane likes Pip a little too much and maybe Tony doesn’t like Meredith enough.

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Man To Man

Nominated for the Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival 2005

1870. Dr. Jamie Dodd has finally succeeded in capturing not one, but two pygmies. He brings them to Scotland with the help of Elena Van den Ende, an adventurous woman who sells wild animals to the zoos of Europe. With his two anthropologist friends, they are certain they have discovered the missing link, which will make them famous. They start examining the pygmy couple from every angle and Jamie gradually discovers that Toko and Likola are just as sensitive and intelligent as any other homo sapiens. His two colleagues strongly reject this idea, seduced by the glory of their discovery. Will Jamie be able to prove they are genuine human beings and not freaks to be shown in a zoo?

Starring Joseph Fiennes, Kristin Scott Thomas, Hugh Bonneville and Iain Glen

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Armadillo

Adapted by William Boyd from his highly acclaimed best-selling novel.

“Loss adjusters are noble men who frustrate and negate the bland promises of insurance. We act out of the great unbending principles in life: nothing is sure, nothing is certain, nothing is free, nothing is forever. It is a noble calling.”

One winter’s morning, loss adjuster Lorimer Black – handsome, intelligent, insomniac – keeps a routine business appointment, only to discover that his client has hanged himself. It’s a bad start to the day by any standards and the beginning of a sinister chain of events that turns Lorimer’s world upside down and inside out in ways he could never have foreseen.

Starring James Frain, Catherine McCormack, Stephen Rea, James Fox, Hugh Bonneville and Neil Pearson.

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Sword of Honour

Winner of three Royal Television Society awards 2001, including Best Original Score

Based on Evelyn Waugh’s semi-autobiographical World War II epic.

Thirty-five-year-old Englishman Guy Crouchback returns home from Italy at the start of the war determined to fight the good fight. Horrified by Nazi barbarism and emotionally shattered by a painful divorce, Crouchback eagerly accepts a post with the elite Royal Corps of Halberdiers. But nothing has prepared him for the absurd reality of life in the British army or the return of his alluring ex-wife.

Starring Daniel Craig, Megan Dodds, Richard Coyle & Leslie Phillips

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Bamboo

Throughout his career as a novelist, William Boyd has never stopped writing non-fiction, providing a fascinating counterpoint to the world of his novels.Bamboo gathers together Boyd’s writing on literature, art, the movie business, television, people he has met, places he has visited and autobiographical reflections on his African childhood and his years at boarding school. From Pablo Picasso to the allure of the British caff, from Charles Dickens to Catherine Deneuve, from mini-cabs to Brideshead Revisited, this collection proves an engrossing and revealing companion to the work of one of Britain’s leading novelists.

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The Trench

Nominated for two British Independent Film Awards including Best Actor (Daniel Craig)

The Trench, set 24hrs before the Battle of the Somme, takes us through the soldiers’ emotional experience in the confines of the trenches; from boredom to fear, panic to restlessness. Billy MacFarlane, 17, and his older brother, Eddie, have volunteered for service and their squad depend on the war-hardened Sergeant Winter and the scholarly Lieutenant Hart for their survival. Then word comes they’re to be in the first wave of attacks…

Starring Daniel Craig, Julain Rhind-Tutt, Paul Nicholls and Cillian Murphy

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A Good Man in Africa

Morgan Leafy is a British diplomat who, for the past three years, has been assigned to the British High Commission of Ninjana, an African nation slowly divesting itself of colonial rule. Leafy is an arrogant and frequently confused alcoholic romantically involved with an African woman named Hazel. Arthur Fanshawe, a new High Commission appointee who wants nothing more than to be moved out of Africa, brings some interesting news to Leafy: massive reserves of oil have been discovered in Ninjana, and so the British will want to stay on the good side of Sam Adekunle, the next president of Ninjana.

However, something of a diplomatic crisis has come up; a native woman was struck by lightning in the courtyard of the High Commission’s compound, and the locals insist that she cannot be moved until certain time-honored rituals have been performed. At a loss for advice, Leafy turns to Dr. Alex Murray, a Scottish doctor and one of the few people equally at ease with both the British colonials and the natives. But Leafy’s romantic problems are about to get even more complicated…

Starring Sean Connery, Diana Rigg, John Lithgow, Louis Gossett Jr. & Colin Friels

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Chaplin

Nominated for three Oscars and three BAFTA’s and Winner of Best Actor BAFTA award (Robert Downey Jr.)

The elderly Chaplin recollects moments from his life during a conversation with the editor of his autobiography. From his formative years in England to his highest successes in America, Charlie’s life, work, and loves are followed. While his screen characters were extremely hilarious, the man behind “The Little Tramp” was constantly haunted by a sense of loss.

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Geraldine Chaplin, Anthony Hopkins,
Dan Akroyd & Kevin Kline

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Tune In Tomorrow

When radio reporter Martin falls for his sexy aunt Julia, the station’s zany soap opera writer Pedro decides to use them as inspiration for his show – and broadcast the details! Courtship soon turns to chaos with Martin’s love life in shambles, Julia in disgrace and irate listeners rioting in the streets. Everyone will have to tune in tomorrow to discover how it all turns out!

Starring Keanu Reeves, Peter Falk, Barbara Hershey & Patricia Clarkson

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