Location: Cinestudio Director: Timothy Sheader. Stage play by Arthur Wing Pinero. Cast: John Lithgow, Nancy Carroll, Joshua McGuire, Jonathan Coy. There’s nothing better than a wickedly funny farce to brighten the winter gloom! The first 2013 National Theater Live production (to be broadcast in high definition digital) was the hottest holiday outing for London theatergoers. John Lithgow takes the title role as a gullible judge who falls for the many ‘fibs’ of his wife Agatha, played by the Olivier Award-winner Nancy Carroll - including the whopper that her 19-year-old-son (who smokes cigarettes, quaffs port and chases women) is a mere boy. Pinero’s Victorian comedy (written in 1885) is a fast, furious, and brilliantly plotted delight - filled with music, questionable oysters, risqué hotels, and a genial tolerance of foibles big and small. “Highly enjoyable! Lithgow’s a joy to behold, and he adds lustre to the performance history of a role played over the years by Alastair Sim, Nigel Hawthorne, and Ian Richardson.” - Michael Coveney, What’s On Stage?/London. 155 min, including intermission. http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/the-magistrate Essay written by John Lithgow http://theater.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/theater/john-lithgows-discovery-at-britains-national-theater.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 published in the New York Times TICKETING FOR NTLive AVAILABLE AT www.brownpapertickets.com