Mother and son’s film revival

A director who persuaded his famous mum – no less a figure than Charlotte Rampling – to appear in his first film, will face an audience at The Dukes cinema in Lancaster next Thursday.

A director who persuaded his famous mum – no less a figure than Charlotte Rampling – to appear in his first film, will face an audience at The Dukes cinema in Lancaster next Thursday.

Barnaby Southcombe, the actress’s eldest son, will answer questions from the audience at a Directors Talk session following a screening of his directorial debut movie, I, Anna.

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In it, Rampling plays a lonely divorcee, who is encouraged by her daughter to attend singles nights. She meets a jaded police detective, played by Gabriel Byrne, who becomes obsessed with her.

It’s a moody noir thriller, unusually told from the point of view of the femme fatale, and it is screening at the Lancaster cinema for three days next week.

Southcombe arrives on the final night of the screenings to speak to his audience.

Although I, Anna is the first film Southcombe has directed, he has an established career directing several series for television including Waterloo Road and Bad Girls. His mother is famously a veteran of the big screen, having initially made her name in the 1960s.

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Most recently, she also starred in the TV adaptation of William Boyd’s Restless just before Christmas.

Box office: 01524 598500 or www.dukes-lancaster.org

Named Manchester’s Best Visiting Production in the Manchester Theatre Awards, following a sell-out run at The Lowry the previous year, the National Theatre’s smash-hit comedy One Man, Two Guvnors returns to the venue next week.

Actor, stand-up comedian and presenter Rufus Hound will lead the cast as Francis Henshall in Nicholas Hytner’s five-star award-winning production of One Man, Two Guvnors – taking over from James Corden’s performance in the role.

Rufus is joined by Blackpool-born Jodie Prenger, playing his love interest Dolly. Now a major musical star, Prenger began as the stage-struck Blackpool girl who shot to fame after winning BBC1’s talent show, I’d Do Anything in 2008.

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Hound is best known as a comedian and TV personality, with credits including presenter on the ITV comedy show Mad Mad World, seven series of the award-winning Celebrity Juice, the BBC sitcom Hounded, and guest appearances on panel shows such as 8 out of 10 Cats, The Xtra Factor and Never Mind the Buzzcocks.

Jodie Prenger, meanwhile, has already scored a home win in this show when it came to Blackpool Grand in November.

Since her success in Oliver! she has also appeared in The Wizard of Oz, hosted the Laurence Olivier Awards 2010, and her TV credits include Justin’s House, Candy Cabs and Waterloo Road.

One Man Two Guvnors is Richard Bean’s English version of Carlo Goldoni’s Italian comedy, The Servant of Two Masters.

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Fired from his skiffle band, Francis Henshall becomes minder to Roscoe Crabbe, a small-time East End hood, now in Brighton to collect £6,000 from his fiancee’s dad. But Roscoe is really his sister Rachel posing as her own dead brother, who’s been killed by her boyfriend Stanley Stubbers.

Even if you’ve already lost the plot, don’t lose the opportunity to catch one of the funniest stage productions in some years. The play runs at the Lowry until January 19.

Box office: 0843 2086005 or www.thelowry.com

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