Ayahuasca ceremonies uncovered in new short play at Theatre N16

MetalMouth Theatre presents:


VINES
March 14th – March 19th 2017, Theatre N16


MetalMouth Theatre bring their new short show Vines to Theatre N16 in March 2017, running at just 30 minutes. Vines tells the story of a girl finding herself through a spiritual ayahuasca ceremony. Uplifting and thought-provoking, it’s a look at how to become the person you want to be, why you behave the way you do and finding human connection. Sometimes in life you just need a little push in the right direction… sometimes that push can take you to another dimension you couldn’t imagine in your wildest dreams.

“MetalMouth are on a mission to prove that theatre isn’t stuffy or boring” The Guide

“I’m scared I’m going to blink and I’ll wake up when I’m 60 and die not having done anything. I don’t want to regret anything.” Vines is a magical piece of solo storytelling which takes you on the journey of a young girls self-discovery and finding of her place in the world.

“London should look forward to further shots of shameless energy from this group” Openmagazine

Writer/performer Alex Critolph trained at LAMDA and has worked on BBC’s Doctors, at The Waterloo East Theatre and with SONY. She started writing and producing her own work whilst at The BRIT School under Metal Mouth Productions, with productions including Sinisterrr at The Hen & Chickens and Cockpit Theatre and WASHED for The Brighton Fringe Festival.

Director Leah Fogo has previously directed Unravelling for Top Note Arts, worked as an assistant director at The Hampstead Theatre on Pine and as assistant director at The Waterloo East Theatre on Taken in Marriage. The play features grime-style music composed by Matthew Gardner.

The Crucible: a chilling reminder of the frailty of reason in the face of hysteria

CHARLIE CONDOU AND VICTORIA YEATES LEAD CAST IN ARTHUR MILLER’S CLASSIC – THE CRUCIBLE

The blistering classic, The Crucible, brings you seventeenth century Salem, where truth holds no currency, fear is used as a political tool and where intruding threats are invented to explain current woes. Arthur Miller’s terrifying witch-hunt classic couldn’t be more pertinent in today’s political landscape and arrives at Richmond Theatre from Tuesday 11th to Saturday 15th April.

In a tight knit community, a group of girls is caught dancing wildly in the woods. Allegations of witchcraft ensue. Lust, superstition and personal grievances collide and the whole village is quickly consumed by an unstoppable flow of fear, paranoia and manipulation – suddenly no-one is safe from their neighbour and the noose. Who will survive?

Arthur Miller is author of many of today’s most celebrated modern classics including All My Sons, Death of a Salesman and A View from the Bridge. His landmark drama, The Crucible, stands as both a historical record and a political parable for our times. The unrelenting and violent witch-hunt, originally written as an allegory about the brutal reign of McCarthyism in 1950s America, resonates into the present day as a stark and ferocious warning from the past.

Charlie Condou, best known for playing Marcus Dent on the UK’s best-loved soap, Coronation Street takes on the role of witch-hunter Reverend Hale in the spine-tingling thriller with Victoria Yeates, who is currently appearing in BBC period drama Call The Midwife, as Elizabeth Proctor. They will be joined by Eoin Slattery as John Proctor and Lucy Keirl as Abigail Williams.

Other cast members include, Paul Beech as Francis Nurse, David Delve as Giles Corey, Cornelius Clarke as Reverend Parris, Diana Yekinni as Tituba and Mercy Lewis, David Kirkbride as Ezekiel Cheever, Eleanor Montgomery as Ann Putnam and Susanna Walcott, Augustina Seymour as Mary Warren and Rebecca Nurse, Leona Allen as Betty Parris and Carl Patrick as Thomas Putnam and Marshall Herrick.

This bold new production of one of the 20th Century’s finest plays is directed by the Queen’s Theatre’s new artistic director Douglas Rintoul, who thrilled audiences with his recent sell-out production Made in Dagenham. Rintoul’s Brechtian take on the production draws parallels with Trump’s America and Post Brexit UK where truth is no longer an absolute and daily reports of race-driven hate crime fill the news.

The Crucible is co-produced with award-winning producing house Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and Selladoor Productions, leading producer of mid and large-scale productions including recent successful UK tours of The

History Boys, Sunset Song, Little Shop of Horrors, Footloose and American Idiot, in association with Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg.

Douglas Rintoul says ‘The Crucible speaks more to us now than it has done since its premiere in 1953. I’m thrilled to be directing this terrifying play and for this production to be reaching audiences across the UK and in Luxembourg through this innovative partnership’.

David Hutchinson, Executive Creative Producer of Selladoor Productions says ‘We are delighted to be working with the Queen’s Theatre, with Douglas Rintoul at the helm bringing one of the most important plays of the last century on a major UK Tour.’

Find us:

Twitter: @TheCrucibleTour Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecrucibletour/

National Theatre to tour Hedda Gabler to The Lowry

National Theatre to tour Ibsen’s masterpiece
Hedda Gabler

A new version by Patrick Marber
Directed by Ivo Van Hove 

At The Lowry Mon 30 October – Sat 4 November

Following a sold-out run at the National Theatre’s Lyttelton Theatre, the NT will begin a UK tour of its acclaimed production of Hedda Gabler.  At The Lowry from Mon 30 October – Sat 4 November.

Just married. Bored already. Hedda longs to be free…

This vital new version of Ibsen’s masterpiece by Olivier and Tony Award®-winning playwright Patrick Marber (Closer, Three Days in the Country) is directed by Ivo van Hove, one of the world’s most exciting directors.  Olivier and Tony Award®-winning  van Hove made his National Theatre debut with Hedda Gabler, which is running in repertoire at the NT’s Lyttelton Theatre until 21 March 2017.  His acclaimed production of A View from the Bridge recently played to sold out houses at the Young Vic, in the West End and on Broadway.  Van Hove’s next production for the NT will be the world premiere of Network based on the Oscar-winning film.  It will feature a UK stage debut for Bryan Cranston.

Set and lighting design for Hedda Gabler is by Jan Versweyveld, with costume design by An D’Huys and sound by Tom Gibbons.  The Associate Director for the tour is Jeff James.

Patrick Marber said:  ‘It has been a huge honour to work with the great Ivo van Hove on this version of Hedda Gabler at the National Theatre. I am thrilled that this tour will enable more people to see his incredible production.’

Casting will be announced soon.

Listings Info
Hedda Gabler
Mon 30 October- Saturday 4 November
Times: 7.30pm, Sat 2pm
Box office: 0843 208 6000
Website

Casting announced today for Guards at the Taj by Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph

Guards at the Taj

 

Written by Rajiv Joseph
Directed by Jamie Lloyd
Designed by Soutra Gilmour

Bush Theatre
7 April – 20 May
Press Night 12 April
Casting is announced today for the European premiere of Guards at the Taj, written by Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph and directed by Jamie Lloyd. Danny Ashok (Disgraced, Bush Theatre; Capital, BBC) will play Humayun and Darren Kuppan (East is East, West End/ UK Tour)will play Babur. A new image of the cast has been released today and is now available to download here.

This darkly comic play will open the 2017 season at the Bush Theatre, following its major £4.3m capital project to revitalise the building. Guards at the Taj takes an enduring legend about the Taj Mahal and prompts audiences to explore questions about art, privilege and duty. The play premiered at the Atlantic Theater in New York to great acclaim in 2015 and is the recipient of both the Obie Award for Best New American Play and the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play.

“If we hadn’t done our jobs tonight, we’d be hanging by our necks in the royal courtyard getting our eyes pecked out by the royal crows. So excuse me if I don’t wallow in some misbegotten guilt all night. Was it fucked up? Yes, it was. But I don’t have to feel terrible about it.”

It’s 1648. Agra, India. Imperial guards Humayun and Babur keep watch as the final touches are put to the mighty Taj Mahal behind them. The emperor has decreed that no one, except the masons, labourers and slaves who exist within those walls, shall turn to look at the building until it is complete.

Guards at the Taj is written by Rajiv Joseph, directed by Jamie Lloyd and designed by Soutra Gilmour. Lighting design is by Richard Howell with sound design and music composed by George Dennis. Fight direction is by Kate Waters.

Danny Ashok’s credits at the Bush Theatre include the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Disgraced, which transferred to Broadway and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play. Most recently at the Bush he appeared in Zaida and Aadam, part of last season’s This Place We Know. Elsewhere his theatre credits include The Djinns of Eidgah (Royal Court), Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 (Theatre Royal Bath) and Blood and Gifts (National Theatre). He most recently appeared in the International Emmy Award-winning BBC Drama Capital. Further television work includes The Five, Chasing Shadows and the BAFTA-winning The Dumping Ground. He has recently finished shooting the lead role in Finding Fatimah, directed by Oz Arshad, which will be released this spring.

Darren Kuppan most recently appeared on stage in The Tempest (Shakespeare’s Globe). Previous credits include Cymbeline (Shakespeare’s Globe), as Maneer Khan in East Is East (West End/ UK Tour), An August Bank Holiday Lark (Northern Broadsides), England Street (Oxford Playhouse), Great Expectations (English Touring Theatre/ Watford Palace), Rafta Rafta (Bolton Octagon/ New Vic Stoke), the lead in Theatre Royal Stratford East’s Aladdin, Arabian Nights (New Vic Stoke) and Bollywood Jane (West Yorkshire Playhouse). Television work includes Spooks and Britannia High.

Jamie Lloyd (director) has directed many productions in the West End for The Jamie Lloyd Company, including Doctor Faustus, The Maids, The Homecoming, The Ruling Class (Evening Standard Award for Best Actor for James McAvoy), Macbeth (Olivier nomination for Best Revival), The Hothouse, Richard III and The Pride. He won the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical for Passion while he was Associate Director of the Donmar Warehouse (2008 to 2011) and the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre for The Pride (Royal Court). Lloyd’s other extensive credits include Urinetown (St. James Theatre/ West End), The Commitments (West End/ UK Tour), The Duchess of Malfi (Old Vic), She Stoops to Conquer (National Theatre), The Faith Machine,  Inadmissible Evidence, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Polar Bears (all Donmar Warehouse), Piaf (Donmar Warehouse/ Vaudeville/Teatro Liceo, Buenos Aires/Nuevo Teatro Alcala, Madrid; Olivier nomination for Best Musical Revival, Hugo Award for Best Director, Clarin Award for Best Musical Production, ADEET Award for Best Production) and Three Days of Rain (West End; Olivier nomination for Best Revival).  He is currently directing a double bill of Philip Ridley’s work, Killer and The Pitchfork Disney, at Shoreditch Town Hall.

Rajiv Joseph (playwright) became a Pulitzer Prize finalist (2010) for his Broadway play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, which starred Robin Williams in his Broadway debut. Other plays include Gruesome Playground Injuries, Animals Out of Paper and All This Intimacy (Second Stage Theatre). Screen credits include seasons 3 & 4 of the TV series Nurse Jackie and he was the co-screenwriter of the film Draft Day, starring Kevin Costner and Jennifer Garner.

Soutra Gilmour (designer) is an award-winning designer whose extensive credits include many productions in collaboration with Jamie Lloyd. She has designed several productions for The Jamie Lloyd Company in the West End including Doctor Faustus, The Maids, The Homecoming, The Ruling Class, Richard III, The Pride, The Hothouse and Macbeth. Previous work at the Bush Theatre includes Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Qur’an.

Lizzie Review

Greenwich Theatre 22 February – 12 March.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

The UK premiere of Lizzie brings one of the bloodiest pieces of American folklore to the stage with blistering energy and a high-octane rock score. The trial and acquittal of Lizzie Borden for the 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother has led to speculation about her guilt and motives. Tim Maner’s book focuses on the theories about Mr Borden abusing Lizzie, the Borden sisters’ hatred for their stepmother, and Lizzie’s sexual orientation.

With the six-piece band on stage and the show’s semi-staged action adding to the rock concert vibe, the production needs a strong cast to grab the audience’s imagination, and here they have hit solid gold.

Bjorg Gamst reprises her role as Lizzie with intense passion, looking like an angel and singing like a banshee. Her emotional range is stunning and surprising with this material, and she has you rooting for Lizzie from the very first number. Eden Espinosa is a powerhouse of sheer class as Lizzie’s older sister Emma, and Bleu Woodward is deceptively sweet as Lovelorn friend Alice. Jodie Jacobs clowns around as Bridget the gleefully mercenary maid, milking every comic moment. The power and range of the women’s voices are phenomenal, and their harmonies are fantastic.

Steven Cheslik-Demeyer, Alan Stevens Hewitt and Tim Maner’s music is thumping and frenetic, building throughout the first act into near hysteria when Lizzie finally flips – in Why Are All These Heads Off? – Lizzie’s reaction to her father chopping off her beloved pigeons’ heads is a frankly insane piece of music which ramps up the tension before the final bloody number of act 1. (During which the front row covered themselves with plastic sheets – fantastic use of stuffed watermelons as a gory substitute!)

The second act sees the cast change their Victorian costumes for rock chick corsets and leather, and sees Lizzie take control, her new-found freedom from her father overriding any fear of incarceration. The machinations of the women backing Lizzie’s varying alibi, and covering up of evidence makes for some intense and vitriolic numbers, the standout being Eden Espinosa’s What The F**k Now Lizzie? There’s even a country style jailhouse ballad that would make Johnny Cash smile.

Not to everyone’s taste, I will admit, but Lizzie is a fresh and stunning new musical that gives a gothic twist to classic rock opera and is a much-needed shot in the arm for the modern musical. GET A TICKET TODAY.

Auditions for young actors and a dog at York Theatre Royal

York Theatre Royal announces auditions for a young company and a very special dog in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
Audition Date – Saturday 11 March 2017
York Theatre Royal is seeking a young company of two boys to play the role of Arthur, the son of Helen, in brand new stage adaptation of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Deborah McAndrew, a co production with the Octagon Theatre Bolton.
We are looking for two boys with the maximum playing age of 7 years old for the role. Only one boy will be needed per performance and the performances will be split equally between the two chosen boys. The chosen boys will be working alongside a dog on stage, so must be comfortable working with animals. The boys must be available between Monday 24th April & Saturday 6th May 2017 for technical rehearsals and performances. They will be looked after by a York Theatre Royal licenced chaperone.
We also need a very special dog to appear alongside the boys. The dog should be medium sized, border collie type working dog, who is very obedient and will take instruction from its owner.  The dog will also need to have a calm temperament and be capable of adapting to working on stage with lights and an audience.
Based on the 1848 novel by Anne Bronte, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is set in nineteenth century Yorkshire, where a mysterious young widow Helen Graham and her son Arthur arrive at the desolate estate of Wildfell Hall.
Isolating herself from the village, Helen soon becomes the subject of local speculation. Intrigued by this beautiful and enigmatic woman, a young farmer, Markham, gradually falls in love. Torn apart with her attraction to Markham and the secrets of her past, Helen finally reveals the shocking history she thought she’d left behind…
Auditions will take place during the afternoon on Saturday 11 March 2017
To attend auditions please download and complete The Tenant of Wildfell Hall audition application form available at www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

Narvik Review

York Theatre Royal – 23 February 2017.  Reviewed by Marcus Richardson

Narvik is a new play with songs, set in World War Two the the play focuses on a Liverpudlian man and his love for a Norwegian Girl and how their relationship is affected by the war

The performance was set in a black box studio, so as soon as you walked in all the attention was on the set and how they presented the stage, needless to say that I loved the concept of the stage of having an area that resembles a boat however there were some piles that restricted our view from certain scenes and I couldn’t see some of the actors faces at certain points

The acting was very modern with the main character Jim (Joe Shipman) starting out as a 90 year old man ready to die looking for Else (Nina Yndis), which then he goes back to the moment they first meet and it develops their story and creates this world that is torn apart by war. The other actor who played characters, Lucas Smith, became the best friend of Jim whilst he was on the boat and also his father; I have to say I found that he was very good at creating a lot of depth to each character and made sure that you could see the difference between both of them. The three actors were supported by a band of three who were all dressed as sailors in grey overalls and berets, they helped set the scene with sounds being made from the set and sing song that fit into certain scenes.

This was one of the the best productions I had seen in a while, but it was a shame from where I was sat. It started out being rather bland and very same old, but I grew to rather like it, and I loved the end with the great use of how the play plays with time and our perception. I would highly recommend to go and see this show, as it is a great case of new material and new actors

On tour around the UK

SIENNA MILLER AND JACK O’CONNELL IN CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF

THE YOUNG VIC AND THE YOUNG ONES PRESENT

SIENNA MILLER AND JACK O’CONNELL TO LEAD CAST IN

BENEDICT ANDREWS’ YOUNG VIC PRODUCTION OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS’

C A T   O N   A   H O T   T I N   R O O F

OPENING IN THE WEST END JULY 2017

 

TICKETS NOW ON SALE FOR THIS STRICTLY LIMITED TWELVE WEEK RUN

£10 GOOD SEATS FOR 25S AND UNDER FOR EACH PERFORMANCE

VIA YOUNG VIC BOX OFFICE

75 TICKETS AT £20 OR LESS FOR EVERY PERFORMANCE

 

Sienna Miller and Jack O’Connell will lead the cast as Maggie and Brick in Benedict Andrews’ Young Vic production of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof which will begin previews in the West End at the Apollo Theatre on 13 July 2017.  With press night on 24 July, this strictly limited twelve-week run is booking to 7 October 2017.  Set designs are by Magda Willi with costume designs by Alice Babidge and lighting by Jon Clark.  Further casting will be announced at a later date.

Tickets go on public sale today, 24 February 2017, at 10am.  For this Young Vic production, there will be seats available at £10 for under 25s for each performance, booked through the Young Vic Box Office, with 75 tickets at £20 or less for every performance.

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof marks the Young Vic’s first production to debut directly in the West End and is presented by the Young Vic and The Young Ones.  Previously the Young Vic have transferred A View from a Bridge, Golem, The Scottsboro Boys, Simply Heavenly, Tintin and A Doll’s House.

The truth hurts. On a steamy night in Mississippi, a Southern family gather at their cotton plantation to celebrate Big Daddy’s birthday.  The scorching heat is almost as oppressive as the lies they tell.  Brick and Maggie dance round the secrets and sexual tensions that threaten to destroy their marriage. With the future of the family at stake, which version of the truth is real – and which will win out?

 

Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer prize winning play received its world premiere in 1955 at the Morosco Theater on Broadway with Barbara Bel Geddes and Ben Gazzara as Maggie and Brick.  The UK premiere, directed by Peter Hall, opened at the Comedy Theatre in 1958 with Kim Stanley and Paul Massie in the same roles.  The 1958 Academy Award nominated film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman was directed by Richard Brooks.

Sienna Miller (Maggie) trained at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York.  She was last on stage in the West End as Patricia in Flare Path at the Haymarket Theatre and was previously seen at Wyndham’s Theatre as Celia in As You Like It.  Her New York theatre credits include After Miss Julie, Cabaret, Independence and Cigarettes and Chocolate.  Her many film credits include Live by Night, Mississippi Grind, Layer Cake, Alfie, Casanova, Factory Girl, American Sniper, Foxcatcher, The Edge of Love, G.I. Joe, Yellow and the forthcoming The Lost City of Z.  On television her credits include The Girl, Bedtime and Keen Eddie 

 

Jack O’Connell (Brick) was last seen on stage in The Nap at Sheffield Crucible Theatre.  His other theatre credits include Scarborough for the Royal Court and The Spiderman, The Musiciansand Just for NT Shell Connections.  His film work has garnered him multiple awards, including the 2015 EE BAFTA Rising Star Award, the New Hollywood Award and the Chopard Trophy Award at the Cannes Film Festival.  Most recently, his project Home won the BAFTA for British Short Film in 2017.  His other film credits include Money Monster, 300: Rise of an Empire, Unbroken, ’71, Starred Up, Liability, Private Peaceful, Tower Block, Weekender, Wayfaring Stranger, Eden Lakeand Black Dog.  O’Connell will next be seen on screen in Tulip Fever, The Man with the Iron Heartas well as starring in the Netflix TV series Godless.  His television credits include Skins, United, The Runaway, This is England, Dive and Wuthering Heights.

 

For the Young Vic, Benedict Andrews has previously directed his own version of Three Sisters, which won the London Critics’ Circle Best Director Award, and A Streetcar Named Desire, with Gillian Anderson and Ben Foster, which transferred to New York in 2016.  His first production for the Young Vic was Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses, a co-production with ENO – where he has also directed La Boheme and Detlev Glanert’s Caligula.  His many directing credits for Sydney Theatre Company include The Maids with Cate Blanchett and Isabelle Huppert, which toured to the Lincoln Centre Festival in New York; and Big and Small which came to the Barbican, also starring Cate Blanchett.  Andrews has also worked extensively at the Schaubühne Berlin, Komische Oper, National Theatre Iceland and Belvoir Street Sydney.  His first feature film, Una,starring Rooney Mara and Ben Mendelsohn, premiered at the 2016 Telluride Film Festival and will be released later this year.

 

The Young Vic, one of the UK’s leading theatres, produces new plays, classics, forgotten works, musicals and opera. It co-produces and tours widely in the UK and internationally while keeping deep roots in its neighbourhood.  It frequently transfers shows to London’s West End and invites local people to take part at its home in Waterloo. In 2016 the Young Vic became London’s first Theatre of Sanctuary. Recent productions include Simon Stone’s new version of Lorca’sYerma which returns to the Young Vic with Billie Piper reprising her multi award-wining performance in July, the premiere of Charlene James’ multi-award-winning play Cuttin’ It and Ivo van Hove’s production of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge (West End & Broadway transfers), as well as Horizons, a season of work exploring the lives of refugees.  David Lan is Artistic Director with Lucy Woollatt as Executive Director.  www.youngvic.org

 

LISTINGS INFORMATION  

 

Theatre:                  Apollo Theatre, 31 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 7ES

Dates:                    13 July – 7 October 2017

Press Night:             Monday 24 July 2017 at 7pm

Performances:          Monday – Saturday at 7.30pm, Wednesday and Saturday matinees at 2.30pm

Prices:                    in previews Monday – Thursday £10-£55, Friday & Saturday £10-£57,

from 25 July 2017 Monday – Thursday £10-£65, Friday & Saturday £10-£67

Box Office:              Apollo 0330 333 4809

Young Vic 020 7922 2922

Website:                 www.youngvicwestend.com

Twitter/Instagram:    @youngvictheatre

Facebook:               youngvictheatre

Cast announced for Chinglish at Park Theatre – March

Cast announced for Chinglish by David Henry Hwang

Park200, Park Theatre, Clifton Terrace, Finsbury Park, London N4 3JP Wednesday 22nd March – Saturday 22nd April 2017 

Gyuri Sarossy (The Rover RSC, Two Noble Kinsmen RSC, The Absence of War Headlong) and Candy Ma (Project New Earth, Chinese Arts Centre and Yellow Earth Theatre) have been announced to lead the talented bilingual cast of Chinglish. Tony Award-winning and Pulitzer Prize finalist David Henry Hwang returns to Park Theatre with the European premiere of his Broadway hit Chinglish following the sell-out success of Yellow Face (Park Theatre 2013, National Theatre 2014).

The result of an exhaustive four-month casting process, Sarossy and Ma are joined by Lobo Chan, Duncan Harte, Siu-see Hung, Minhee Yeo and Windson Liong. Producer Tim Johanson comments, So much of the joy of Chinglish hinges on East-West mis-translation, so we’re delighted to have assembled such a talented group of bilingual actors

It’s so conscientious in leading us through the maze of cultural confusion at its center — with “you are here” signs at every new twist in the labyrinth — that we’re never allowed to feel lost ourselves (New York Times).

Hwang’s hilarious comedy about the misadventures of miscommunication explores the modern difficulty of doing business between East and West. Daniel, an American, wants to pg. 2 open up China for his business. There are only three things standing in his way: he can’t speak the language, he can’t learn the customs, and he’s falling in love with the one woman he can’t have.

David Henry Hwang comments, I’m thrilled that Chinglish will receive its European premiere at the Park Theatre, who did such an excellent production of my play Yellow Face. America’s current political turmoil only serves to strengthen China’s power and influence, which perhaps makes this play even more timely than when it first ran on Broadway.

Acclaimed director Andrew Keates (As Is, Dessa Rose Trafalgar Studios) makes his Park Theatre debut.

A stage adaptation of Tarsem Singh’s The Fall comes to Portobello Market

EmpathEyes presents:


THE FALL
March 17th – March 19th 2017, Acklam Village Market


The Fall is a breathtaking one hour visual spectacle which blends theatre with original animations, live music and projection to unfold a story about one man’s struggle with depression and his unusual path to hope. This play is a new adaptation by EmpathEyes, inspired by Tarsem Singh’s 2006 film, also entitled The Fall.

★★★★★“Intense and powerful (…) a triumph” Fringebiscuit

★★★★★ “Physically impressive and deeply disturbing” FringeGuru

After a failed suicide attempt, a bedridden man tricks a young girl in the hospital to bring him painkillers with the intention of overdosing. He manipulates her attention by telling vibrant stories about the journeys of 5 heroes (represented by ever-changing animation on a screen behind him). As the young girl becomes attached to these characters, the man finds himself inspired by her goodwill and innocence. Yet he finds his cynicism and dejectedness seeping into his storytelling – the fate of the heroes kept hostage by his increasingly despondent mind-set.

Alongside the show there will be an exhibition on ‘Depression and Hope’ which follows the emotional journey of the play, starting with the beginnings of a mental illness, the experience when in the depths of psychosis and the emergence of hope.

★★★★ “This production will send your mind into overdrive” The Scotsman

★★★★ “Slick, sexy and utterly terrifying” The List

EmpathEyes are a performing arts company that thrives on making work that is raw, honest and has at its core the desire to collaborate with others and fundamentally challenge ourselves and audiences. Their projects stem from the desire to expose and explore the deep crevices of inequality and injustice. They have been drawn to epic stories like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Goat, 1984 and Kafka’s The Trial and have brought these to life on stage by adding their own touch of original live music, animation, and film to the mix. They are deeply inspired by art that makes us question and not sit idle and they beckon their audiences to do the same.