The Lincoln Theater is pleased to inaugurate its new partnership with the Royal Shakespeare Company with this week’s broadcast of Richard II, starring David Tennant of Dr. Who fame. This week, along with movies, we have two live concerts, our final ballet broadcast of the season, and some of the world’s finest theater.

Gravity (PG-13, runtime: 1:30)

Alfonso Cuarón’s gripping, spectacular film about astronauts in peril is less a science-fiction story than a lean and simple tale of the struggle to survive. Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are the space travelers orbiting the Earth, but the real star is Cuarón’s breathtaking sense of scale and movement. He also grounds his technical bravura in a friendly, low-key humanism, and the result is a movie that is at once cosmic and intimate. Last screening Thursday, Dec. 5 at 2 p.m.

The Royal Shakespeare Company, Richard II (Runtime: 2:55)

The premiere Royal Shakespeare Company broadcast of Shakespeare’s Richard II, captured live from the stage in Stratford-Upon-Avon. The story of power and plotting, Richard II is the first of Shakespeare's four plays about the House of Lancaster. Richard is King, ordained by God to lead his people. But he is also a man of very human weakness. A man whose vanity threatens to divide the great houses of England and drag his people into a dynastic civil war that will last 100 years. Screening: Thursday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. A rebroadcast is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 15 at 2 p.m.

All Is Lost (PG-13, runtime: 1:46)

Robert Redford, nameless and all but silent, struggles with the elements after his sailboat is rammed by an errant shipping container somewhere in the Indian Ocean. Directed by J. C. Chandor (“Margin Call”), this film has the stark power and swift action of a classic seafaring tale, but it is also a moving and subtle allegory of human existence in the modern world. Opens Friday, Dec. 6 at 2 p.m. Also plays: Saturday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 8 at 2 p.m., with final screenings Wednesday, Dec. 11 and Thursday, Dec. 12 at 2 and 7 p.m.

The DaPonte String Quartet (DSQ)

The DSQ will appear live on stage for their Winter Concert Series II: Old World/New World, on Friday, Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. The program includes Dmitri Shostakovich's “String Quartet No. 4 in D Major, Op. 83,” William Walton's “String Quartet No. 2 in A” and Antonin Dvorak's “String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 34” comprise the musical works for this program.

Paris Opera Ballet (2:17)

Mahler's 3rd Symphony Ballet will close the Lincoln Theater Ballet series this weekend. Written as “a great hymn to the glory of all creation,” and combined with John Neumeier's lyrical and powerful choreography, this combination creates an elegant and inspired evening of dance from Paris. One show only on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 1 p.m.

“Winter Pops”

Lincoln Academy Bands and Jazz Bands present a free concert. Ring in the holidays with the young musicians from Lincoln Academy on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m.

What’s Next?

Confirmed movies in December include: Daniel Radcliffe in “Kill Your Darlings”; a star-studded “Last Vegas”; and the thought-provoking “12 Years a Slave.” Some of the films we are working on screening in January: Judi Dench as “Philomena,” Meryl Streep in “August Osage County,” “Dallas Buyers Club,” “Nebraska,” “Saving Mr. Banks,” and more.

Be sure to save the dates for two very special holiday concerts, live on stage: “Holiday Cheer” a free concert of seasonal favorites for the entire family on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 3 p.m., and our First Annual Holiday Guitar Night, Saturday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m.

The theater’s complete December schedule, and information on all theater events, is available at www.atthelincoln.org. Check out our Facebook page, call the theater’s box office at 207-563-3424, or drop by for a visit. The office is open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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The Lincoln Theater is located at 2 Theater Street in downtown Damariscotta. Curtain going up!