Brief Encounter plays final performance

Roundabout Theatre Company's presentation of Kneehigh Theatre's critically acclaimed production of Noël Coward's Brief Encounter, plays its final performance on 2 Jan 2011, after playing 21 previews and 119 regular performances.

Brief Encounter opened at Studio 54 on 28 Sep 2010, following previews from 10 Sep, and was originally scheduled to play a limited engagement that was due to end on 5 Dec 2010, but was extended by four weeks, through to 2 Jan 2011.

The production opened to mosty positive reviews: Bravo (newyorktheatreguide.com); A spirited charm offensive that's just impossible to resist. (NY Post); A beautifully touching piece (NY1); An exhilarating reminder of why I fell in love with the theater in the first place. (Back Stage).

Adapted and directed by Emma Rice, the cast features Joseph Alessi (Albert/Fred), Dorothy Atkinson (Beryl), Damon Daunno (Bill/Bobbie), Gabriel Ebert (Stanley), Edward Jay (Musician), Annette McLaughlin (Myrtle), Adam Pleeth (Musician), Tristan Sturrock (Alec) and Hannah Yelland (Laura).

Switching seamlessly between theatre and film using a combination of Coward's original stage play 'Still Life' and the screenplay of Brief Encounte, Emma Rice, Kneehigh's Artistic Director, takes you back to a bygone age of romance and the silver screen from the moment the commissionaire opens the doors. The lives and loves of three couples are played out in the famous station tearoom using the words and songs of Noël Coward.

Kneehigh Theatre's Brief Encounter played a sold out run at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, NY and has also played critically acclaimed engagements at ACT and the Guthrie Theater.

Brief Encounter played at London's Cinema Haymarket in 2008, and earned Emma Rice a nomination for the 2009 Olivier Award for Best Director.

The design team includes Neil Murray (Sets & Costumes), Malcolm Rippeth (Lights), Simon Baker (Sound) and Gemma Carrington & Jon Driscoll (Projection).

The show is being produced on Broadway by the Roundabout Theatre Company in association with David Pugh & Dafydd Rogers and Cineworld.