The White Guard

Andrew Upton's new version of Mikhail Bulgakov's classic THE WHITE GUARD opens this week at the National Theatre.  The production, directed by Howard Davies, features Justine Mitchell, Anthony Calf and Kevin Doyle, with lighting design by Neil Austin. 

“Thrilling, darkly comic and often deeply moving
production ... this is theatre that triumphantly combines the intimate and the
epic, the comic and the profoundly affecting.” **** Charles
Spencer, The Telegraph

“Never before have I seen the chaos of civil war so
vividly caught on a British stage ... both Davies's production and Andrew Upton's
new version brilliantly highlight the absurdity beneath the heroism.” ***** Michael
Billington, The Guardian

“With a cast of 23 in a grand-scale production and neither
the safety of a well-known title nor a bankable author, "The White
Guard" could have been an expensive gamble for the National Theater. But
with helmer Howard Davies, a past master of bittersweet Russian epics, and a
pungent new adaptation by Andrew Upton, the bet proves not just safe but a
runaway winner ... At a time of forecast cuts in U.K. arts subsidy, the
cumulative power of this vivid revival makes an unarguable case for what
not-for-profit theater can achieve at full stretch.” David
Benedict, Variety