Criterion Theatre, February 10, 2012
Stories Before Bedtime: Twisted Love Stories
The Kingdom of Earth by Tennessee Williams
Read by Tom Hiddleston
The Art of Love by Ovid
Read by Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani
The Courtship of Mr Lyon
Read by Niamh Cusack
Directed by Sam Hodges
Kingdom of Earth
by Tennessee Williams
Lot is a weak and ailing youth who suffers from an attachment to the memory of his late mother. He has come to his ancestral home, a derelict house on the edge of a soon to be flooded river, with his new bride, Myrtle, a television actress. Somewhat reminiscent of Blanche Dubois from Williams's classic play A Streetcar Named Desire, Myrtle is a luckless young woman trapped in a world of romantic illusions, one of which is to nurse Lot back to health so they can consummate their marriage. Myrtle soon discovers, however, that Lot only wants to use her to steal the deed to the property from his embittered half-brother, Chicken, a Stanley Kowalski type, brimming with masculinity and assertiveness and a few romantic plans of his own.
Stories Before Bedtime: Twisted Love
Following on from the first incredibly successful Hallowe’en themed event in October, Stories Before Bedtime returns in time for Valentine’s Day – with an alternative antidote to all things sickly sweet.
On the evening of Friday 10th February, the Criterion Theatre in London will play host to an evening of Twisted Love – an anti-Valentine’s collection of unlikely love stories. Niamh Cusack will read Angela Carter’s The Courtship of Mr Lyon and Tom Hiddleston – star of Stephen Spielberg’s blockbusting take on War Horse – will be reading the erotic Tennessee Williams short story The Kingdom of Heaven.
The Reader Organisation is delighted to once more be partnering the event alongside the Criterion and Vintage Classics, bringing the brilliant tradition of bedtime stories to the heartland of London theatre and sharing with the audience the sensation of reading aloud. So it’s fair to say we’re very much looking forward to the evening’s distinctly different take on the Valentine’s theme – as is one of the evening’s star guests, Tom Hiddleston:
The prospect of standing on that beautiful stage and reading well-written stories aloud, in particular, is one that excites me. And given that everything that night will be geared at couples on dates, an evening of twisted love sounds like the right antidote.
Stories Before Bedtime TWO: Twisted Love
Friday 10th February, 10.30pm
Criterion Theatre, 218-223 Piccadilly, Piccadilly Circus, London, W1V 9LB
Tickets: £12.50 (£10 GIR member/concessions available in person the Criterion Box Office)
Book your tickets online or call 0844 8471778.
Forget flowers and chocolates – a night of reading is a considerably better and much longer lasting gift for your loved one to enjoy.
