Classic play and ballet come to the silver screen

Vashon Theatre’s screen will light up in the next week with both a classic American play, “Of Mice and Men,” and a Russian ballet, “The Legend of Love.”

Vashon Theatre’s screen will light up in the next week with both a classic American play, “Of Mice and Men,” and a Russian ballet, “The Legend of Love.”

The theater will present “Of Mice and Men,” the hit Broadway play captured on film by National Theatre Live, at 9:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.

Golden Globe winner and Academy Award nominee James Franco (“127 Hours,” “Milk”) and Tony Award nominee Chris O’Dowd (“Bridesmaids,” “Girls”) star in the Broadway production. The play also features actors Leighton Meester (“Country Strong,” “Gossip Girl”) and Tony Award winner Jim Norton (“The Seafarer”). Anna D. Shapiro (Broadway production of “Osage County”) directs the play.

This landmark revival of Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck’s novella is a powerful portrait of the American spirit and a heartbreaking testament to the bonds of friendship.

On Thursday, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m., the theater will show a new production by Capured Live of the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow performing “The Legend of Love.”

This tale of forbidden love, self-sacrifice and jealousy explores the conflict between love and duty as portrayed by the two heroines, Queen Mekhmene Banu and her younger sister Princess Shyrin, who is dying. The princess will be saved if the queen offers Shyrin her beauty. The queen sacrifices herself, but later regrets her action after she is disfigured, and Shyrin falls in love with the queen’s own lover.

The ballet is one of Russian master Yuri Grigorovich’s earliest choreographic works, and the Bolshoi Ballet is remounting the production after a 10-year hiatus. Featuring dance movements, sets and costumes inspired by the Middle East, the ballet uses pure dance to tell the story.

“Of Mice and Men” is 150 minutes, and the ballet runs three hours. Tickets are $20 for general admission, $18 for seniors, youth and students. Group discounts are available. Tickets are available at the box office and online at vashontheatre.com.