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Sam Mendes is bringing back his acclaimed, Tony Award-winning blockbuster production of The Lehman Trilogy for a fourth run in London.

It’s quite a thing to bring the play, considered a modern classic, back into central London when it just played a 16-week season at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, running until May of last year.

“There’s an enormous appetite for the play, even more so because its been on screen in cinemas via Nt Live,” noted Caro Newling who runs the theater division of All3Media-owned Neal Street Productions, founded by Newling, Mendes, and Pippa Harris.

The new production, produced by the National Theatre and Neal Street, will return to that same Gillian Lynne stage for a limited 14-week slot from September 24 through January 5, 2025. It will be featuring the incredible rotating glass-box scenic design created by Es Devlin, dynamic videos designed by Luke Halls, and stunning lighting design by Jon Clark.

For years, the debate around religious influences in schools has undergone agonizing dissection. Usually, the conflict revolves around the issue of schools having religion as part of their lesson plans. “The Student,” an official selection at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, questions what happens when the devout passions of a young male student begin to unravel a public school in some very unexpected ways.

Read More: Watch: ‘The Student’ Struggles With Faith And Desire In First Footage From Cannes Debut

This classroom drama weaves tonally dark imagery and adolescent aggression into a striking feature. After Venya, the protagonist of the film, refuses to participate in a co-ed swimming class, claiming that it is “against his religion,” the (devout) principal of the school approves Venya’s exemption, onsetting his manipulation of power. When he encounters a teacher who contests his dogma, Venya plots to “eliminate” her.

“The Student” was written and directed by Kirill Serebrennikov (“Betrayal,...

Welcome back to the Weekend Warrior, your weekly look at the new movies hitting theaters this weekend, as well as other cool events and things to check out.

Will This April Dump Weekend See Any New Movie Open Over $10 Million?

After the decent opening of last week’s The Fate of the Furious--though not quite as much as I predicted--it’s going to be hard for any new movie to make a mark against its second weekend even if it drops 55% or more this weekend, which is very likely.

Probably the best bet to make money this weekend is the thriller Unforgettable (Warner Bros.), which pits Kathryn Heigl against Rosario Dawson and is the directorial debut by producer Denise Di Novi (Crazy, Stupid, Love). It also stars Geoff Stults as the ex-husband of Heigl’s character Tessa, who becomes engaged to Dawson’s Julia, making her the stepmom to the former’s daughter,...

This hypnotic adaptation of Marius von Mayenburg’s play finds the comedy in the actions committed by a devout teenager in the name of his beliefs

In another cinematic attack on the Russian Orthodox church, following 2014’s magisterial Leviathan, The Student’s scripture-spouting teenager Venya (Pyotr Skvortsov) launches a one-man protest against decadent modern education. He refuses to strip off for swimming practice, but getting naked to disrupt sinful contraception classes is fine, apparently.

Director Kirill Serebrennikov, adapting Marius von Mayenburg’s 2012 play for his eighth feature, wrings significant humour out of the Messiah/naughty boy dichotomy, particularly in Venya’s mother’s exasperated responses to her issue’s latest decree. Propelled by restless long takes and Skvortsov’s imposing presence (he shares the lofty pugnaciousness of Michael Shannon, whom he physically resembles), The Student finds a higher satirical calling. The toadying responses of the local priest and school principals...

The Student, which is translated on screen as “The Disciple” (an interpretation far more fitting, although the Russian word used is also close to “Martyr”) is, if nothing else, an intensely frustrating film. Directed with the subtlety of a shotgun by Kirill Serebrennikov and shot with a formally energetic approach full of vim and vigor by Vladislav Opelyants, it is a film which actually has the force and rigor to take on the thorny subject of religious fundamentalism. But even if it is visually up to the task, The Student is hobbled by its script and hog tied by its characters.

A screed against religion, or to be more precise, the fundamental devotion to a religious text, in this case The Bible, The Student is a film with the potential for great satire and importance, grounded in the decision to show a conviction towards the text not often seen on...

Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov’s previous film, Betrayal (2012), was a romance about two people coming together after discovering their respective partners’ affair. The Student is a whole other affair, dealing with a teen’s crisis. Based on Marius von Mayenburg’s play Martyr (so brilliantly staged in London last year and adapted by Serebrennikov for the […]

The post Cannes 2016: The Student Review appeared first on HeyUGuys.

★★★☆☆ Russian writer-director Kirill Serebrennikov first came to prominence outside of Russia with 2012's Dostoyevskian tale of marital woe, Betrayal. Making his Cannes debut, Serebrennikov has adapted German playwright Marius von Mayenburg's Martyr for The Student, a dark and slightly hysterical portrait of fundamentalist fever. Veniamin (Petr Skvortsov) is a troubled young man. His mother (Julia Aug) despairs of him as he has started bunking of school, complaining that he doesn't like swimming. She suspects drugs and scoffs at his excuse that it is against his religious beliefs, assuming that this is typical teenage snark.

Talent is currently being sought for the production of “Fireface.” “Fireface” is a German play by Marius von Mayenburg, following sublings Kurt and Olga, who engage in a violent struggle to be seen, heard, and break free within the confines of their fractured family. Five roles are being cast for this production, and auditions will be held June 1 in NYC. For more details, check out the casting notice for ‘Fireface’ here, and be sure to check out the rest of our audition listings!