A well-orchestrated spectrum of moods is portrayed throughout, transitioning between comedy, poetry, sing-a-longs and romance to heartbreak and hardship. This is enforced by the marvellous sensory experience, incorporating smells and tastes in addition to usual theatrics. In contrast, the set remained primarily unchanged, which was a good way to ensure there wasn’t confusion of the audience as a result of sensory overload. That being said, the clever movement of the furniture allowed recognition of different settings, the arrangement of which was incorporated into the play, allowing seamless transition between scenes.
These factors all paid tribute in fully immersing the audience into the childhood of Nigel Slater, who was accurately depicted by Giles Cooper (Nigel), even though the story began with his 9-year-old self and spanned through to his mid-teenage years. Due to the breadth of the story, many characters were featured, although all were represented by only 5 cast members. Here I would add a special mention to Stefan Edwards (Josh) who portrayed a diverse range of characters through a brilliantly animated performance. One of the most significant characters was Nigel Slater’s mum (played by Katy Federman), who brilliantly demonstrated a mother’s warmth and kindness, and the unbreakable bond they have with a child, also reinforced by the time spent together in the kitchen. Blair Plant (dad) excellently instilled dread into the audience through a slow build-up of unsolicited frustration towards his son. Added to this chaotic mix, was Joan (played by Samantha Hopkins) who convincingly adopted the ‘evil stepmother’ role as such, providing a source for the audience to channel their dislike, alongside the central protagonist.
Overall, a great sample of a new kind of theatre experience, combined with a brilliantly compassionate storyline, made all the more touching by its sincere reflection of Nigel Slater’s childhood.
VIDEO: Come From Away’s Gander residents announce date and venue for Olivier Awards 2020 with Mastercard
Click the link below to watch the cast of Come From Away, winner of Mastercard Best New Musical at the 2019 Olivier Awards, announce the date and venue for next year’s ceremony!
The Olivier Awards 2020 with Mastercard will take place on 5 April at the Royal Albert Hall. Stay tuned for further announcements.
Established in 1976, the Olivier Awards celebrate the world-class status of London theatre. For further information visit: OlivierAwards.com
Society of London Theatre (SOLT) is the not-for-profit organisation representing the London theatre industry. SOLT runs the Olivier Awards with Mastercard, Official London Theatre, West End LIVE, TKTS, Theatre Tokens, Kids Week and the New Year Sale. For further information: SOLT.co.uk
NEEDS A BIT OF HELP FROM BRIAN’S FRIENDS TO HIT TARGET
Less than two weeks left to support legacy campaign
A Crowdfunder campaign to create a lasting legacy to former Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein has less than two weeks left to reach its target– and organisers are appealing for the support of the public.
The team behind The Brian Epstein Statue Project are urging Beatles fans, music fans, and local residents and worldwide supporters to throw their support behind the campaign.
The Brian Epstein Statue Project aims to create a world first with a statue honouring the man fondly known as the Fifth Beatle, Brian Epstein.
Almost £10,000 has already been pledged – but there is still a long way to go to reach the appeal’s £60,000 target.
The Crowdfunder appeal will close at 6pm on Thursday 21 November 2019 – so time is running out fast.
Pledges of any amount can be made and will be gratefully received, and a number of new rewards and incentives have also been announced as part of the appeal countdown.
A Beatles experience for the ultimate Fab Four fan includes a two-night stay for two people in the Lennon Suite at Hard Days Night Hotel in Liverpool, including breakfast and dinner, as well as tickets to The Cavern Club, The Beatles Story, The Magical Beatles Museum, and Magical Mystery Tour. Suggested pledge £1,300.
Enjoy a ride in a replica of John Lennon’s vintage Rolls Royce. A personal driving tour from the owner will make it an unforgettable experience in this striking classic car. Suggested pledge £150.
Pledge £25 to own a limited edition mounted print signed by artist Tom Donahue and author Marie Darwin from the book, What Did Grandad Paul Do When He Was Little? There are just 10 prints available.
Various levels of donation are also available including the Hall Of Fame, Certificate Of Support, and Add Your Own Clay. A full list of rewards and incentives is available on the Crowdfunding page.
The Beatles’ former manager, Liverpool-born Brian Epstein, is credited with catapulting the Fab Four to global success. Yet there is no lasting tribute to recognise and celebrate the vital role he played in the band’s history, nor how he changed the face and sound of popular music. Brian Epstein made history.
The Crowdfunder campaign was launched at the Epstein Theatre, located on Hanover Street in Liverpool city centre, which also marked Brian Epstein’s 85th Birthday.
Project manager and cultural activist Tom Calderbank commented:“Brian needs a bit of help from his friends. We’re encouraging, urging and pleading that people come together and be part of something special to celebrate Brian’s legacy. We’ve worked tirelessly since the appeal went live – but it’s proving to be quite a task. But we’re not beaten – we’ve still got time. We hope the fantastic new incentives and rewards will generate more interest.
“We think we’ve reached more than a million people worldwide through our appeal and media coverage – but it’s just not enough. A big thank you to everyone who has already pledged, people have been very generous and understand what we are striving to achieve in Brian’s name. If you believe in us and want to see this project happen, then please get involved.
“Each and every one of us have something to thank Brian for – he changed the course of music and social history. That deserves a fitting lasting tribute in his honour.”
The Brian Epstein Statue Project committee have wealth of experience and expertise across public art, publishing, theatre production, and the local Beatles industry. Collectively they have a strong desire to ensure the project is successful and are passionate that a lasting tribute to Brian and all he achieved in the history of popular music should be created in Liverpool to celebrate his role in history.
The committee includes cultural campaigner and activist Tom Calderbank; Beatles’ fan Marie Darwin who waspart of a group who campaigned for a plaque to be placed on the birthplace of Brian Epstein; Beatles’ historians, researchers and authors Kevin and Julie Roach, and son Robert;Larry Sidorczuk was the personal assistant to the late Joe Flannery, Brian Epstein’s original business partner and bookings manager; and Bill Elms, a producer of the smash hit play Epstein: The Man Who Made The Beatles, which was staged in Liverpool and London’s West End.
Brian Epstein owned NEMS record shop in Whitechapel. It was a lunchtime visit to The Cavern Club in the heart of Liverpool to watch a four-piece rock and roll band on 9 November 1961 which would change the course of history. Music and life in Liverpool would never be the same again. That band was The Beatles – who Brian would go on to manage.
In addition to managing The Beatles, Brain Epstein is credited to creating and developing the Merseybeat movement. He also signed a number of other performers including Cilla Black, Gerry And The Pacemakers, Billy J Kramer And The Dakotas, and The Moody Blues.
The Brian Epstein Statue Project has the support of Brian Epstein’s family, and the Willis family representing the late Cilla Black.
The project is also being backed by Liverpool-born actor Andrew Lancel, who appears in a short video on the appeal’s Crowdfunder page. The former Coronation Street and The Bill actor portrayed Brian in the smash hit play Epstein: The Man Who Made The Beatles on stage in Liverpool and London’s West End to critical acclaim. He later played Brian again in the recent tour of Cilla The Musical –and is a huge advocate of recognising all Brian achieved.
Author Kevin Roach recently published his latest book, Brian Epstein And The Beatles 1964: The Year That Changed The World – proceeds of which will be donated to The Brian Epstein Statue Project.
Sculptor Andy Edwards has been commissioned to create the state of Brian Epstein. Andy is best known for his iconic sculpture of The Beatles located at Pier Head Liverpool, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Andy sculpted The Truce, which can be found in the grounds of St Luke’s Church, depicting the historic moment on Christmas Day 1914 during the First World War ceasefire when a game of football spontaneously broke out between British and German soldiers. He also co-sculpted the statue of Cilla Black on Mathew Street.
NOR WOMAN NEITHER Tristan Bates Theatre, November 25th – December 14th 2019
Written and performed by RADA graduates Ingrid Schiller and Verity Kirk, Nor Woman Neither is a 60 minute dark comedy with a kick about growing up and womanhood. Nor Woman Neither was first performed at the RADA Festival, and will now run for three weeks at the Tristan Bates Theatre.
In a world burdened with the pressure of success, how far would you go to get what you want? Meet Laura, an actress: failing – but failing confidently whilst drowning in a torrent of love, lust and ambition. Faced with a life-changing dilemma, Laura rollercoasters through her torrid past in deciding what to do. Through a series of individually striking and absorbing vignettes we follow Laura’s developing womanhood from her early girlhood sexual flutter upon sighting Ursula Andress on television to her adult, struggling actress self.Writer and performer Ingrid Schiller was born in South Africa, then moved to Germany and was part of the Dresden State Theatre Youth Group. She trained at City Lit and RADA. Writer and performer Verity Kirk is from Harrogate, and also studied at RADA. Ingrid and Verity first wrote together for their final showcase at RADA. Ingrid began writing a scene about a lonely little girl who desperately wants the attention of her inattentive Dad, and the moment she starts thinking that as a girl the only way to power is to appeal to those at the top: men. This starts her off on a comedic journey in which every scene leads her deeper down the rabbit hole of laughter and despair.
Nor Woman Neither is directed by Stephen Doolan. “When first reading Nor Woman Neither I was instantly hooked by the brutally honest, black humour that had been so deftly carved into this comically moving tale,” he says. “The major theme of the play is the idea of how women are surreptitiously manipulated and often coerced by a patriarchal society into following certain paths and patterns of behaviour from childhood onwards.”Nor Woman Neither is produced by Undivided Pictures and JR Theatre for Killer Shirk. it was important for the producers that the show was made accessible to low income households and blind, partially sighted audience. They have raised over £3.5k to give free tickets as well as hiring audio describing equipment for 5 performances. Undivided Pictures and JR Theatre are happy to support accessible arts for all and hope this new writing is given the platform it deserves to excel.
Iris Theatre, the resident theatre company of the Actors’ Church in Covent Garden, today announces the appointment of Paul-Ryan Carberry as Artistic Director and Paul Virides as Executive Director. They take up their roles from the company’s founder Daniel Winder, who has moved on to become venue director of Stanley Halls, after 12 years with the company.
Paul-Ryan Carberry, Artistic Director of Iris Theatre said today, “I feel very honoured to have been appointed artistic director of this exciting and ambitious company. We are determined to support the next generation of theatre practitioners and creatives, creating transformational opportunities for them and their work. Together with our incredible executive director, Paul Virides and alongside our wonderful team, Iris Theatre will continue to create bold, courageous and relevant work in our unique home in Covent Garden, and we’re really looking forward to announcing our plans in the new year. As a charity, we want to ensure that Iris is a genuine home for emerging artists in the heart of central London. I want to say now, to those artists: our doors are open.”
Simon Grigg, Chair of the Board, added “St Paul’s has been known as the Actors’ Church since the 1660s, so I was so thrilled when Iris Theatre became our resident company, continuing and adding to our role. Daniel Winder created the company in 2007, with a marvellous production of Murder in the Cathedral and it has grown and grown ever since, now producing a major summer season of two fantastic shows each year. I would like to thank Daniel for his incredible input not just to Iris Theatre, but also to the life of the church. I also want to welcome aboard Paul Virides and Paul-Ryan Carberry as Executive and Artistic Directors of the company as it enters a new era, which I’m sure will be as exciting as the past twelve years have been.”
Paul-Ryan Carberry’s credits as a director include Dead Dog in a Suitcase & other love songs (Backstage Theatre, Peckham), A Serious Business (Luton Hat Factory/The Pleasance), The Nativity (St James’s Church, Paddington), Touched (Bernie Grant Arts Centre), The Outback Games (Edinburgh Festival Fringe – nominated for an MTN Award), Star Jumps Are Not Essential (The Lost Theatre), Little Shop of Horrors (Central Academy of Drama, Beijing), Half A Sixpence, James Joyce’s The Dead, Heathers, Ourselves Alone, Into The Woods and Parade (Mountview). As an associate director his credits include Grease (UK tour); and as assistant director, Strangers on a Train (UK tour). As an actor, his theatre credits include The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Octagon Theatre), A Christmas Carol (Birmingham Rep/West Yorkshire Playhouse), As You Like It (Grosvenor Park Open Air), Billy Liar (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Everybody Loves a Winner (Royal Exchange Theatre) and All the Fun of The Fair (UK tour); and for television, A Song For Jenny and The Village.
Paul Virides was previously Iris Theatre’s marketing manager in 2017-18. He also runs Paul Virides Productions and is the recipient of a Stage One Bursary for New Producers. With this support he has produced Silk Road (Trafalgar Studio 2/Live Theatre Newcastle/VAULT Festival), All in a Row (Southwark Playhouse) and Ages of the Moon (associate producer, The Vaults). His other credits include Underground (VAULT Festival/59E59 Theaters) and the first London revival of Honk! (Union Theatre). His credits as associate producer with Hartshorn-Hook Productions include the Olivier Award-winning Rotterdam (Trafalgar Studios, Theatre503, 59E59 Theaters), American Idiot (Arts Theatre) and Away From Home (international tour). He also produced York Theatre Royal’s TakeOver Festival in 2011/12, which featured work from companies including Paines Plough, Actors Touring Company and Frantic Assembly.
IRIS THEATRE
Iris Theatre is a charity and the resident theatre company of the Actors’ Church, committed to developing the careers of emerging artists. As well as its annual outdoor summer season which has run for 10 years, Iris presents new work through the year at the Actors’ Church and creates opportunities for training for artists of all backgrounds and disciplines.
ST PAUL’S COVENT GARDEN, THE ACTORS’ CHURCH Known affectionately as the Actors’ Church because of its long association with the theatre community, St Paul’s is located in the heart of the West End on Covent Garden Piazza. Designed by the theatre designer and architect Inigo Jones and built in 1633, St Paul’s serves as the Parish Church of Covent Garden and much of Theatreland. As well as Iris’s events, the church hosts a wide variety of theatre, memorial services and concerts, totalling around 300 events a year.
Designs are by Lizzie Clachan with lighting by Peter Mumford, sound by Carolyn Downing, music by Marc Tritschler and casting by Robert Sterne.
How might a son feel to discover that he is only one of a number of identical copies? What happens when a father is confronted by the results of an outrageous genetic experiment?
Roger Allam, who plays the father, Salter, is best known on television as Fred Thursday in the ITV series Endeavour. He has a wide and extensive range of work in film, TV, theatre and radio. On stage he has played Macbeth and created the role of Javert in Les Misérables for the Royal Shakespeare Company. He played Prospero and Falstaff for Shakespeare’s Globe, and has appeared in many productions for the National Theatre including Summerfolk and most recently Rutherford and Son. He starred in Aladdin at the Old Vic, the musicals City of Angels and La Cages Aux Folles, as well as Art and Boeing Boeing in the West End. His film credits include The Queen, Tamara Drewe, The Lady In The Van and The Hippopotamus. His television credits include Parades End, The Missing and The Thick of It for the BBC. His many radio credits include Cabin Pressure, the Government Inspector, and How Does That Make You Feel?
Colin Morgan, who plays all of Salter’s sons, was last on stage at the Old Vic in All My Sons. His previous theatre credits include Translations at the National Theatre, Gloria at Hampstead Theatre and Mojo at the Harold Pinter Theatre. His television credits include Humans, The Fall, The Living and The Dead, Merlin for which he was the recipient of the Best Drama Performance at the National Television Awards. On film his credits include The Happy Prince, Benjamin, Testament of Youth.
Caryl Churchill’s playwriting credits include Owners, Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, Traps, Cloud Nine, Top Girls, Fen, Serious Money, Ice Cream,Mad Forest, The Skriker, Blue Heart, This is a Chair, Far Away, A Dream Play, Drunk Enough to Say I Love You?, Seven Jewish Children, Love and Information, Here We Go, Pigs and Dogs, Escaped Alone and Glass.Kill.Bluebeard.Imp. Her Music theatre credits include Lives of the Great Poisoners and Hotel, both with Orlando Gough. Caryl Churchill has also written for radio and television.
Polly Findlay’s more recent directing credits include The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Limehouse for the Donmar Warehouse, The Alchemist and The Merchant of Venice for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Rutherford and Son, Beginning and As You Like It for the National Theatre.
A Number won Best Play at the 2002 Evening Standard Drama Awards.
PHILIP PULLMAN’S
T H E B O O K O F D U S T
– L A B E L L E S A U V A G E
IN A NEW STAGE ADAPTION BY BRYONY LAVERY
TO BE DIRECTED BY NICHOLAS HYTNER
Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust – La Belle Sauvage will be directed by Nicholas Hytner in Bryony Lavery’s new stage adaptation. Designs are by Bob Crowley, video designs by Luke Halls, lighting design by Bruno Poet, puppetry by Barnaby Dixon and music by Grant Olding. The associate directors are Emily Burns and James Cousins who is also movement director. Casting will be announced at a later date.
Previews begin on 11 July with opening night on 23 July. The final performance will be on 10 October 2020. Booking opens today for Priority members and public booking opens at 10am on 22 November 2019.
La Belle Sauvage takes place twelve years before Pullman’s epic His Dark Materials trilogy.
Two young people and their dæmons, with everything at stake, find themselves at the centre of a terrifying manhunt. In their care is a tiny child called Lyra Belacqua, and in that child lies the fate of the future. And as the waters rise around them, powerful adversaries conspire for mastery of Dust: salvation to some, the source of infinite corruption to others.
La Belle Sauvage was published in 2017 and was followed last month by The Secret Commonwealth. His Dark Materials, which had a ground-breaking production sixteen years ago by Hytner at the National Theatre, is currently being broadcast on BBC1. Philip Pullman was knighted this year for his services to literature.
For the stage Bryony Lavery’s work includes the internationally critically acclaimed Frozen as well as Stockholm, Kursk, Dirt and Beautiful Burnout. Last year her adaptation of David Walliams’ The Midnight Gang was presented at Chichester Festival Theatre where her previous adaptations The Hundred and One Dalmatians and A Christmas Carol were also seen.
Nicholas Hytner co-founded the London Theatre Company with Nick Starr. He was Director of the National Theatre from 2003 to 2015, where the productions he directed included The History Boys, Hamlet, One Man, Two Guvnors, and Othello. His films include The Madness of George III, The Lady in the Van and The History Boys. Hisbook Balancing Acts is published by Jonathan Cape. For The Bridge, Hytner has directed Young Marx, Julius Caesar, Allelujah!, Alys, Always, A Midsummer Night’s Dreamand Two Ladies.
MARIANNE ELLIOTT AND STEVEN HOGGETT TO DIRECT
PAULA VOGEL’S NEW PLAY
T H E Y S H O O T H O R S E S , D O N ’ T T H E Y ?
Marianne Elliott and Steven Hoggett will direct They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? in Paula Vogel’s new play based on the novel by Horace McCoy. Previewing at The Bridge Theatre from 31 October 2020 with opening night on 17 November, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? will run until 30 January 2021. Booking opens today to Bridge Priority members and public booking opens at 10am on 22 November 2019.
Set design is by Bob Crowley with music by Charlotte and Mike Truman and casting by Charlotte Sutton. Casting will be announced at a later date.
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? is a co-production between London Theatre Company and Elliott & Harper Productions, Brandon Millan and Rick Sparks.
American playwright Paula Vogel received the Pulitzer Prize for her play How I Learned to Drive. Her other plays include Indencent (Tony Award Nomination for Best Play) The Long Christmas Ride Home, The Mineola Twins, The Baltimore Waltz, Hot ‘N’ Throbbing, Desdemona, And Baby Makes Seven, The Oldest Profession, and A Civil War Christmas.
Marianne Elliott most recently co-directed Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (alongside Miranda Cromwell) at the Young Vic which, following its West End transfer, is currently playing at the Piccadilly Theatre. Previously Elliott directed the award-winning production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company which transfers to Broadway next year and the West End premiere of Heisenberg: The Uncertainty Principle for Elliott & Harper. During her time as Associate Director at the National Theatre her award-winning productions include Angels in America, War Horse (co-directed with Tom Morris) and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. She was previously Artistic Director at the Royal Exchange Theatre and has also directed for the Royal Court Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Old Vic and the Donmar Warehouse.
Steven Hoggett was most recently the movement director for Ocean at the End of the Lane at theNational Theatre. His previous credits for the National Theatre include Pinocchio, Light Princess, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (also on Broadway and West End), Dido Queen of Carthage, The Hot House and Market Boy. His West End theatre credits include Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre (also performed internationally), Close To You – Bacharach Reimagined at the Piccadilly The Twits at the Royal Court and Once at the Phoenix Theatre (also performed on Broadway). His Broadway theatre credits include Joan of Arc: Into the Fire at the Public Theatre, The Crucible at the Walter Herr Theatre, Angels in America and The Last Ship at the Neil Simon Theatre, Rocky at the Winter Gardens The Glass Menagerie at A.R.T and the Booth Theatre, Peter and the Starcatcher at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre and American Idiot at the St James Theatre. Opera includes Rigoletto at the Met. Hoggett was a founding co-artistic director of Frantic Assembly for which his credits include The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,Lovesong, Othello, Little Dogs, Beautiful Burnout, Stockholm, Pool (No Water) and Dirty Wonderland. His film credits include How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Freak Show.
Elliott & Harper Productions was founded in 2016 by Marianne Elliott, Chris Harper and Nick Sidi. Elliott & Harper’s London production of Company at the Gielgud will transfer to Broadway, opening at The Bernard Jacobs Theatre in March 2020. Their other recent credits include the highly acclaimed co-production of Death of a Salesman at the Young Vic Theatre (directed by Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell) which is now playing in the West End. Elliott & Harper co-produced the Broadway transfer of the National Theatre’s production of Angels in America directed by Marianne Elliott. Other productions include Heisenberg: The Uncertainty Principle at the Wyndham’s Theatre directed by Marianne Elliott and their production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, directed by Sally Cookson at the Leeds Playhouse and now in previews at The Bridge.
Rick Sparks is the recipient of 20 American theatre awards. He directed and adapted I Love Lucy Live On Stage for its long running American regional sit-downs and national tours. This followed producing & directing A Clockwork Orange (Drama Critics’ Circle Award), Psycho Beach Party (L.A. premiere), Clutter, Highballs Ahoy!, Sheila Sands Live At The Roxy co-produced by Lily Tomlin and Off-Broadway’s Down South. Sparks may be best known for his critically acclaimed adaptation & direction of They Shoot Horses Don’t They?, which galloped away as the commercial and critical hit of its Los Angeles season. As an actor, his Broadway credits include Cats, Les Misérables and Sunset Boulevard.
SIMON RUSSELL BEALE TO PLAY
J O H N G A B R I E L B O R K M A N
IN A NEW VERSION OF IBSEN’S CLASSIC BY LUCINDA COXON
John Gabriel Borkman, once an illustrious entrepreneur, has been brought low by a prison sentence for fraud. As he paces alone in an upstairs room, bankrupt and disgraced, he is obsessed by dreams of his comeback. Downstairs, his estranged wife plots the restoration of the family name. When her sister arrives unannounced, she triggers a desperate showdown with the past.
Simon Russell Beale has most recently been seen on stage in The Lehman Trilogy at the National Theatre and in the West End with the production due to open on Broadway in March next year. His previous credits for the National Theatre include King Lear, 50 Years on Stage, Timon of Athens, Collaborators, London Assurance, Major Barbara, Much Ado About Nothing, The Life of Galileo, The Alchemist, Jumpers also West End and New York, Humble Boy also in the West End, Hamlet, Battle Royal, Candide, Summerfolk, Money, Othello, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and Volpone. For the Royal Shakespeare Company his credits include The Tempest, King Lear, Ghosts, the title roles in Richard III and Edward II, The Seagull, Troilus and Cressida, The Man of Mode and Restoration.In the West End his credits include Monty Python’s Spamalot, Privates on Parade and Death Trap. On television his credits includeVanity Fair, Legacy, Parkinson: Masterclass, Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, Spooks, John Adams, Dunkirk, The Young Visiters, Great Historians: Gibbon, A Dance to the Music of Time, Persuasion and The Mushroom Pickers and on film The Death of Stalin, My Week with Marilyn, The Deep Blue Sea, The Gathering, Alice in Wonderland, An Ideal Husband, The Temptation of Franz Schubert and Hamlet.
Lucinda Coxon previously collaborated with Nicholas Hytner at The Bridge on the world premiere of Alys, Always. Her other theatre writing credits include Herding Cats, Happy Now,The Eternal Not, Nostalgia, The Shoemaker’s Wife, Vesuvius, Wishbones, Three Graces, The Ice Palace and Waiting at the Water’s Edge. Her screen writing credits include the award-winning The Danish Girl starring Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander, The Little Stranger starring Domhnall Gleeson and Ruth Wilson, The Crimson Petal and The White starring Romola Garai for the BBC, Wild Target starring Emily Blunt and The Heart of Me starring Paul Bettany and Helena Bonham-Carter.
Nicholas Hytner directs. His previous collaborations with Simon Russell Beale include The Alchemist, Much Ado About Nothing, Major Barbara, Collaborators, London Assurance and Timon of Athens at the National Theatre.
LISTINGS INFORMATION
Address: Bridge Theatre, 3 Potters Fields Park, London, SE1 2SG
Kiln Theatre today announces their programme as part of Sadiq Khan’s wider Brent London Borough of Culture 2020. The programme includes the world première of Zadie Smith’s The Wife of Willesden directed by Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham,renewing their collaboration following the acclaimed world première stage adaptation of Smith’s White Teeth in 2018, Footholds: NW Stories;a trilogy of short plays by Moira Buffini, Suhayla El-Bushra and Roy Williams, and the fourth annual Mapping Brent project, supported by the Brent 2020 Culture Fund. Kiln Theatre will also lead The Agency, a programme for young people in Brent to workshop and pitch unique business and social enterprise ideas for funding and support.
Brent 2020 will present high profile cultural events throughout the year across the Borough exploring the spirit and creativity of Brent, with hundreds of the Borough’s local residents taking a leading role in shaping the programme.
With a population of 335,000 and embracing such well known areas of London as Wembley, Kilburn, Harlesden, Willesden, Neasden, the London Borough of Brent is perhaps one of the most diverse communities in London, and covers a huge area of the city, bordering Harrow in the north west, Camden to the east, Westminster in the south east and Kensington & Chelsea in the south.
Brent will be the second London Borough of Culture in 2020, a major initiative launched by the Mayor of London in June 2017 inspired by the UK City and European Capital of Culture programmes. More than 20,000 people backed Brent’s bid to be London Borough of Culture 2020.
THE WIFE OF WILLESDEN
by Zadie Smith
Directed by Indhu Rubasingham
Coming to Kiln Theatre in 2020
Acclaimed author Zadie Smith will write a new work as a gift to her home borough. Smith has been praised as one of the finest chroniclers of contemporary London, presenting a vivid picture of a multicultural city through her depictions of the North West London neighbourhoods where she grew up. For Brent 2020 she has reimagined Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath’s Tale as The Wife of Willesden. The work, penned 630 years after the original, will raise important questions about the place of women in society and will be performed at Kiln Theatre, directed by artistic director Indhu Rubasingham.
Kiln Theatre presents
FOOTHOLDS: NW STORIES
A trilogy of short plays by Moira Buffini, Suhayla El-Bushra and Roy Williams
Directed by Taio Lawson and Susie McKenna
Coming to Kiln Theatre in 2020
In the tradition of The Great Game: Afghanistan and Women, Power and Politics, Kiln Theatre presents a unique evening of three independent stories with common roots in Brent. Presented together, these kaleidoscopic stories re-investigate the different neighbourhoods of our local area and celebrate the important local events and people that went on to change the world.
Kiln Theatre presents
MAPPING BRENT
The Mapping Brent Festival is a Kiln Theatre community outreach project, working with young people from every corner of the borough, giving young people a platform to tell their stories, showcase their talents, and participate in the transformative power of theatre.
This year’s Festivalis supported by the 2020 Culture Fund – a funding scheme which will support local people and organisations in Brent to produce their own cultural activities as part of the London Borough of Culture year.
THE AGENCY
The Agency at Kiln Theatre will work with young people aged 15-25 from St Raphael’s, Chalk Hill and the surrounding neighbourhoods in Brent to develop their unique ideas into business or social enterprises in the local area.
The programme will provide training, support, funding and advice from industry professionals, to develop participants’ passion into a project that benefits their local community. This could be anything from a boxing workshop, to a music festival.
Following workshops, participants will then pitch their idea to a panel of experts for the chance to win £2000 to fully develop their business idea.
The Agency runs nationwide and takes place in London, Manchester, Cardiff and Belfast.
The King’s Head Theatre, Making Productions and RGM Productions are delighted to announce the full cast for the return of Kevin Elyot’s Coming Clean to Trafalgar Studios 2.
Lee Knight will star as Tony. His theatre credits include A Very Very Very Dark Matter (The Bridge Theatre), Adam & Eve (Hope Theatre) and Much Ado About Nothing (Wyndhams Theatre, West End). Film credits include Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, The Spiritualist, Away With Me, Misrule, and The Doorman.
Elliot Hadley will play the role of William / Jurgen. He was an original cast member of the award-winning verbatim drama 5 Guys Chillin’ and, after touring with it nationally and internationally (New York’s Soho Playhouse), won the Micheál Mac Liammóir Award for Best Male Performance. Previous performing credits include Alfred Cummins in the BBC’s Preston Passion, Dark Matters for Discovery Channel USA, Thomas Kyd in The Dead Shepherd, ITV’s The Halcyon, and Far From The Madding Crowd with Michael Sheen and Carey Mulligan.
Stanton Plummer-Cambridge will play Greg. He has recently appeared in Macbeth, The Tempest (Southwark Playhouse), Queers (King’s Head Theatre), Richard III, Much Ado About Nothing (Handlebards Summer Tour), and As You Like It (Shakespeare in the Squares). His television and film credits include Black Earth Rising (BBC), The Durrells in Corfu (ITV) and Have We Met Before (BBC 4, BFI Born Digital Series).
Jonah Rzeskiewicz will play the role of Robert. He graduated from RADA only this year. Coming Clean will mark his West End and professional London debut. His previous theatre credits include Edward II (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester). He will soon appear in Kenneth Branagh’s Death On The Nile and Netflix’s The Dig, both to be released in 2020.
In 2017, Adam Spreadbury-Maher directed the 35th anniversary production and the first London revival of Coming Clean, Kevin Elyot’s first play, which transferred to Trafalgar Studios 2 earlier this year. The play premiered at the Bush Theatre on 3 November 1982. Coming Clean looks at the breakdown of a gay couple’s relationship and examines complex questions of fidelity and love.
The play is set in a flat in Kentish Town, north London, in 1982. Struggling writer Tony and his partner of five years, Greg, seem to have the perfect relationship. Committed and in love, they are both open to one-night stands as long as they don’t impinge on the relationship. But Tony is starting to yearn for something deeper, something more like monogamy. When he finds out that Greg has been having a full-blown affair with their cleaner, Robert, their differing attitudes towards love and commitment become clear.
In his foreword to Kevin Elyot: Four Plays (Nick Hern Books, 2004), Elyot writes, “From 1976 to 1984 I’d acted in several productions at the Bush Theatre, and Simon Stokes, one of the artistic directors, had casually suggested I try my hand at a play. I presented them with a script entitled Cosy, which was passed on to their literary manager Sebastian Born. He responded favourably and, largely through his support, it finally opened on 3 November 1982 under the [new] title Coming Clean.”
Written 12 years before his most famous play, My Night With Reg, Coming Clean won Elyot the Samuel Beckett Award for writers showing particular promise in the field of the performing arts.
Theatre critic Michael Coveney wrote of Elyot in his obituary for The Guardian in 2014, “In writing about the human heart and the art of living… Elyot transcended categorisation and produced a small body of stage plays that will reward revival, and not just as period pieces.” Coveney goes on to describe Coming Clean as “an elegiac play about sexual relationships at a time when Aids was still a barely credible rumour in Britain, but there was a sense of foreboding in the final scene.”
Coming Clean is directed by Adam Spreadbury-Maher, with set designed by Amanda Mascarenhas and lighting by Nic Farman.
This productionis being produced in the West End by King’s Head Theatre, Making Productions and RGM Productions in association with DeVere Productions.
Dennis and Gnasher are coming to Bradford! Rory Maguire to star as Dennis Alhambra Theatre, Bradford Wednesday 8 – Sunday 12 July 2020 Recommended age 5+
British actor Rory Maguire will star as Dennis in Selladoor Family and Beano Studios’ new stage production Dennis & Gnasher The Musical! which opens on 23 January 2020 at the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury before embarking on a UK tour throughout 2020.
Rory is currently starring as Gerard in American Idiot (UK Tour & New Zealand). His previous theatre credits include Summer Holiday (UK Tour), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Avalon, Canada), Mamma Mia! (UK Tour), Peter Pan (Greenwich Theatre & Rickmansworth), George’s Marvellous Medicine (88 London Road, Brighton), Grease (BKL), Ushers (Arts Theatre & Edinburgh Festival), Aladdin (Brighton Emporium) and Shrek (UK Tour).
The musical tells the story of the iconic duo Dennis & Gnasher who along with their best friends, Rubi, JJ and Pieface, have a mission to save Beanotown from the grips of the evil W Corps! Featuring live music, hilarious pranks, and of course, Dennis’ trademark skateboard, this brand new, high-octane musical is perfect for pranksters young and old.
The stage production follows on from the success of Beano Studios’ International Emmy-nominated TV series Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed!
BAFTA-winning writer/producer-director Will Brenton will write and direct the show which will feature Dennis and Gnasher’s imitable sense of fun and ageless humour delivered with a repertoire of songs. The creative team will also include set and costume designer Jean Chan and choreographer Kendra Horsburgh.
Please call the Box Office on 01274 432000 or visit bradford-theatres.co.uk for more information.
The British Library and Trafalgar Theatre Productions presents
Peter Nichols: A Celebration
In collaboration with the British Library and the critically-acclaimed production of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Trafalgar Studios is very excited to be presenting a celebration of Peter Nichols’ works in this special event on Wednesday 27th November.
Directed by his grandson, George Nichols, and with special guest stars yet to be confirmed, we will take a look at Peter Nichols’ vast literary contribution with excerpts from his much loved television and stage plays including Promenade, The National Health, Forget-Me-Not-Lane and Poppy, as well as passages from his personal diaries and rare unproduced plays, kindly provided by the British Library.
George Nichols said: “Alongside the production of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, I’m delighted to be bringing a selection of my Grandfathers work to the stage at Trafalgar Studios for this special event to celebrate his life. It will forever be a great sadness to me that he’ll never see me direct any of his plays, but I’m delighted to be continuing his legacy by presenting this work to new audiences.”
All tickets are priced at £5 and are available to purchase from ATG Tickets on Tuesday 12th November at 10am.
With thanks to the British Library Collections Trust for supporting this event. The full Archive and Oral History of Peter Nichols is accessible at the British Library for the public to view.
Peter Richard Nichols CBE, playwright, born 31 July 1927; died 7 September 2019, aged 92.
The British Library and Trafalgar Theatre Productions presents Peter Nichols: A Celebration
