Theatre

Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music, and dance. Elements of art and stagecraft are used to enhance the physicality, presence and immediacy of the experience. The specific place of the performance is also named by the word "theatre" as derived from the Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, "a place for viewing"), itself from θεάομαι (theáomai, "to see", "to watch", "to observe").

Modern Western theatre comes, in large measure, from ancient Greek drama, from which it borrows technical terminology, classification into genres, and many of its themes, stock characters, and plot elements. Theatre artist Patrice Pavis defines theatricality, theatrical language, stage writing, and the specificity of theatre as synonymous expressions that differentiate theatre from the other performing arts, literature, and the arts in general.

Ben Affleck

Benjamin Geza Affleck-Boldt (born August 15, 1972), better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor and filmmaker. He has won two Academy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards.

Affleck began his career as a child actor, starring in the PBS educational series The Voyage of the Mimi (1984, 1988). He later appeared in Dazed and Confused (1993) and various Kevin Smith films including Chasing Amy (1997) and Dogma (1999). Affleck gained fame when he and childhood friend Matt Damon won the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting (1997). He then starred in high-profile films including Armageddon (1998), Shakespeare in Love (1998), Pearl Harbor (2001), Changing Lanes (2002) and The Sum of All Fears (2002). After a career downturn, during which he appeared in Daredevil and the much-derided Gigli (both 2003), Affleck received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in Hollywoodland (2006). In 2014, he starred in the psychological thriller Gone Girl. Affleck will portray Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad (both 2016).

Channing Tatum

Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor, film producer, dancer, and model. Tatum made his film debut in the drama film Coach Carter (2005). His breakthrough role was in the 2006 dance film Step Up, which introduced him to a wider audience. He is known for his portrayal of the character Duke in the 2009 action film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and its 2013 sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Although both G.I. Joe films received negative reviews from critics, they were commercially successful, grossing more than $300 million at the box office.

Tatum is also known for his portrayal as Magic Mike in the 2012 comedy film Magic Mike, and its 2015 sequel Magic Mike XXL, which he produced and was inspired by his early life, and Greg Jenko in the action-comedy film 21 Jump Street and its 2014 sequel, 22 Jump Street, based on the 1980s television series of the same name, achieving critical and commercial success.

Tatum has also appeared in the commercially successful romantic films Dear John (2010) and The Vow (2012). His other films include She's the Man (2006), The Dilemma (2011), White House Down (2013) and the drama Foxcatcher (2014), for which he received critical praise.

Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch CBE (born 19 July 1976) is an English actor and film producer who has performed in film, television, theatre and radio. The son of actors Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham, he graduated from the University of Manchester and continued his training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, obtaining a Master of Arts in Classical Acting. He first performed at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park in Shakespearean productions such as Love's Labour's Lost (2001), A Midsummer Night's Dream (2001), and Romeo and Juliet (2002). He also portrayed George Tesman in Richard Eyre's revival of Hedda Gabler in 2005 and since then has starred in the Royal National Theatre productions After the Dance (2010) and Frankenstein (2011). In 2015, he played William Shakespeare's Hamlet at the Barbican Theatre.

Cumberbatch's television work includes appearances in Heartbeat (2000), Silent Witness (2002) and Fortysomething (2003) before starring as Stephen Hawking in the television film Hawking in 2004. He has played Sherlock Holmes in the series Sherlock since 2010. He has also starred in Tom Stoppard's adaptation of Parade's End (2012), as well as providing the voices of the British Prime Minister and Severus Snape on an episode of the animated series The Simpsons (2013).