Branagh returns to the London stage

BELFAST actor Kenneth Branagh (62) will both direct and play the title role in King Lear at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London later this year. The production will then be staged in New York in 2024. The 50-performance engagement begins on October 21, with an official opening on October 31.

So far, no details of the rest of the cast have been released.

Branagh is a renowned Shakespearean actor whose recent credits including Macbeth at Manchester International Festival, and The Winter’s Tale at the Garrick Theatre.

King Lear marks the first London production from the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company in seven years. The company’s inaugural West End season at the Garrick Theatre included multiple plays: The Winter’s Tale, Harlequinade/ All on Her Own, Red Velvet, The Painkiller, Romeo & Juliet, and The Entertainer.

After London performances, King Lear will then transfer to The Shed’s Griffin Theater in New York in autumn 2024. Full casting and creative team will be announced at a later date.

Branagh was born in the Protestant Tiger’s Bay area of Belfast in 1960. Aged 10, the Branagh family moved to Reading in Britain.

Clues Down

1. The sight of this town in Derry might make the mare flag. (11)

2. Toreador’s arena. (4,4)

3. Many tiers of birds. (5)

4. This duck makes Malcolm fat. (7)

5. Lets fall. (5)

6. A rubber. (6)

7. & 12. Its first words are “Our Father”. (3,5,6)

13. Ray is going around this country. (5)

14. The Lone Star State. (5)

17. A mistake in this piece of choreography might leave you in the sink, it seems! (3,5)

18. Somehow, Hal wore out this beautiful glen in Tipperary. (7)

19. Rush headlong into this vocation. (6)

22. Age, era. (5)

23. Scripted “The Broken Tower”. (5)

24. Item of neckwear. (3)

Sudoku requires no calculation or arithmetic skills. It is a game of placing numbers in squares using very simple rules of logic and deduction. It can be played by children and adults. Simply fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9. However each number can appear only once on each row, column and 3x3 box. Answer next week.

THE natural beauty, dramatic waves, cliffs and mountains on Ireland’s Atlantic coast are unique. The northwest stretch is amazing and often allows the visitor to stand alone on beautiful beaches while the Atlantic crashes against the shores.

Visitors based in Britian have met with challenges in recent years due to Covid, additional expenses postBrexit and the drop in the value of the pound. But with this year’s flight schedules to and from Knock airport, breaks can be found at prices comparable to stays in Britisj destinations such as Cornwall or Pembrokeshire.