Gossip

NT Getting Lovers in the Mood for Valentine’s???

| London's West End |

13 February 2009

It may only be February, but things are hotting up at the National Theatre with a special Valentine’s Day screening of Shakespeare in Love. Visitors can relax with a warm blanket (and a date) for the free outdoor screening of the Tom Stoppard-scripted Oscar-winning film starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes.

The film will be screened on the National’s Fly Tower at 8.15pm tomorrow, and we’ve been told the best view is from the Baylis Terrace. Fingers crossed for fine weather! And budding proposers might want to bear in mind that there’ll be a free bottle of champagne for any romantics who pop the question while enjoying the film…

The NT is also playing host tomorrow to a discussion marking the 20th anniversary of the fatwa received by award-winning novelist Salman Rushdie on Valentine’s Day 1989 in the wake of the publication of his novel The Satanic Verses.

A panel including playwright, novelist and screenwriter Hanif Kureishi, author Nadeem Aslam and Geoffrey Robertson QC will talk about the novel and discuss the implications of the fatwa against the writer, while extracts from the book will be read by NT regulars Toby Jones (currently appearing in Every Good Boy Deserves Favour) and Alex Jennings. The event is chaired by Lisa Appignanesi, President of English PEN, and takes place at 12.30pm in the Lyttelton Theatre.