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Jacksons Lane announces 10 UK tour dates
for new Circus production Luminosa
Touring from September 2021

Jacksons Lane, with leading circus ensemble Lost in Translation, have announced UK touring dates for new show Luminosa – at a time when there are very few new touring circus shows in the UK, this major production offers high quality, accessible circus in the form of a brand-new circus cabaret for the 21st Century. The production, directed by Adrian Berry (Artistic Director of Jacksons Lane) and Massimiliano Rossetti (Artistic Director of Lost in Translation) will tour to venues including Worthing, Bristol and Manchester

A sizzling, scintillating night of daring feats with fun and fantastic performance, Luminosa is a ‘don’t miss’ night out with aerial, acrobatics, Chinese pole, live music by Peter Reynolds and more. Expect cutting-edge dance in the sky, jaw-dropping juggling, tipsy hoop swirling and laughter in this feel-good show from some of the very best of British and international circus artists.

Opening in the newly redeveloped Jacksons Lane building following its £4.5 million capital development, the company will work with Extraordinary Bodies and Upswing to employ a revolving cast of freelance circus artists and creatives throughout the tour. Keeping the show adaptable and relevant, local guest artists will join the core cast of seven for each venue giving it a bespoke edge. Luminosa will take many guises on tour, also offering family-friendly weekends, evening cabarets and experimental late nights with post-show DJs.

Artists will lead free circus outreach programmes in areas of social deprivation throughout the tour.

Cast to be announced shortly!

FOLLOWING PHENOMENAL DEMAND

FOURTH WALL LIVE ANNOUNCES AN ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCE OF

BONNIE AND CLYDE IN CONCERT

STARRING LAURA OSNES AND JEREMY JORDAN

AT THE THEATRE ROYAL DRURY LANE

MONDAY 17 JANUARY 2022 AT 7.30PM

Fourth Wall Live is delighted to announce an additional performance of BONNIE AND CLYDE IN CONCERT starring Laura Osnes and Jeremy Jordan at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Monday 17 January 2022 at 7.30pm following phenomenal demand during the pre-sale period for the originally announce Tuesday 18 January performance. Tickets will be made available on Thursday 29 July at 10.00am to those signed up to the initial pre-sale, who will receive an email from LW Theatres shortly, tickets will be available on general sale from Friday 30 July at 10.00am. www.bonnieandclydeconcert.com

BONNIE AND CLYDE IN CONCERT has a book by Ivan Menchell (Blended [movie], The Cemetery Club, The Prince and The Pauper Musical), music by Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll and Hyde, The Scarlett Pimpernel), lyrics by Don Black (Tell Me On a Sunday, Sunset Boulevard, Mrs Henderson Presents) and is directed by Nick Winston (Rock of Ages, Fame, Chess in Concert, Royal Variety Performance) with musical direction by Katy Richardson (SIX, Rent, Jersey Boys). BONNIE AND CLYDE IN CONCERT is produced by Fourth Wall Live and co-produced by DLAP Group, Jason Haigh-Ellery and David Treatman Creative.

LIVING THE DREAM – EXPLORING THE FUTURE FOR AUDIENCES AND LIVE THEATRE

#DreamOnline21

Over 65,000 people across 92 countries watched the premiere of Dream during the ten live performances in March.  Created by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in collaboration with Manchester International Festival (MIF), Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF) and Philharmonia Orchestra the performance used motion capture as the culmination of a major piece of cutting-edge research and development (R&D) exploring how audiences could experience live performance in the future. 

A recorded version of Dream is now available to view on the dream.online platform, which was created for the Audience of the Future project. Audiences explore the world of the virtual midsummer forest and the production harnesses live performance, virtual production and gaming technology. Under the shadow of gathering clouds at dusk, lit by the glimmer of fireflies, Puck acts as the guide as audiences take an extraordinary journey into the eye of a cataclysmic storm. The pioneering collaboration explores how audiences could experience live performance in the future in addition to a visit to a performance venue. Audience reaction to the live premiere included:

“Something very different and very cool. I could tell a lot of thought, hard work, and love went into it.” 

“Exciting to imagine the future prospects for this kind of work.”

“It was a phenomenal experience. I felt connected to the rest of the audience even though I could not see anyone physically.”

Created under strict Covid protocols the company of seven actors worked alongside motion capture specialists, special audio designers, 3D Houdini artists and movement director to make Dream. The project is one of four Audience of the Future Demonstrator projects, supported by the government Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund which is delivered by UK Research and Innovation. A major piece of research runs throughout the project led by i2media research at Goldsmiths, University of London and NESTA.  One focus of the research is the potential for making similar online performances financially viable for the arts sector.  All findings and research are currently being analysed and will be released in September and shared with the wider UK cultural sector.

Cast and creatives: Robin McNicholas – Director, Pippa Hill – Script Creation, Robin Mc Nicholas & Pippa Hill – Narrative, Esa-Pekka Salonen – Music Director & Composer, Jesper Nordin – Composer, Interactivity Designer and Creative Advisor, Music, Sarah Perry – Movement Director 

Maggie Bain (Cobweb), Phoebe Hyder (Understudy Puck and Mustardseed), Durassie Kiangangu (Moth), Jamie Morgan (Peaseblossom), Loren O’Dair (Mustardseed), EM Williams (Puck), Edmund Wood (rehearsal assistant, Understudy Moth, Cobweb & Peaseblossom).

Cast announced for new BSL-integrated
musical The Princess and the Pauper
Mowlem Theatre, Shore Road, Swanage, BH19 1DD
Tuesday 17th – Saturday 28th August 2021

The cast has been announced for the exciting new family musical, The Princess and the Pauper. Leading this fully BSL-integrated production will be Rhiannon Jones (Silent Witness, BBC) as Tess Canty and Hannah Brownlie (The Offenders, Amazon) as Bess Tudor. They will be joined by David King Yombo (The Visit, National Theatre), Alex Scott Fairley (Blood Brothers, West End and UK tour) and Julie Wood (Radio Sea Breeze, TV).

Tess Canty and Elizabeth Tudor may look alike, but their lives could hardly be more different. Elizabeth is Princess and heir to the throne; Tess is a miserable pauper. That is, until one day fate intervenes. For a while, each must see how the other lives. This exciting new production enhances the magic and musicality of the story with British Sign Language and incorporates deaf* and hearing actors, BSL-inspired choreography and sign song. Suitable for the whole family, this is an entertaining and rollicking tale of mistaken identities.

In-keeping with the story which interrogates a society plagued by inequities, Hordern Ciani has worked to create an equal experience through the production. By gender swapping the title roles and by including a deaf actress among the small cast of five, the company has created more equality on stage. The inclusion of an integrated interpreter and the choreographing of all songs with sign song has created an equal experience for deaf and hearing audiences.

Katherine Mount, producer with Hordern Ciani, comments, As a professional actress and singer with a deaf child, I was profoundly affected by my initial belief that Ethan would never be able to access music. Alongside advice to keep background noise to a minimum to encourage listening skills, when Ethan was still a baby, I stopped playing music and found singing an emotional impossibility for years. But when sign song came along, it was life changing. Ethan joined The Kaos Signing Choir for Deaf and Hearing Children at the age of six and it was a revelation. Not only did he discover music for the first time, he also gained a new form of expression and had opportunity to perform in amazing venues, culminating in the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics 2012 and his very own CBBC documentary. After many years of struggling to find accessible shows to take my son to watch, producing theatre myself and experimenting with the use of British Sign Language in song, the idea for a fully integrated musical was developed and The Princess and the Pauper was born.

Director Robert Marsden adds, I am delighted to be returning to direct for Hordern Ciani once more. Reframing the Mark Twain story with a re-gendered approach and setting it in Elizabeth I’s reign allows for a fresh telling. The piece is about survival, and the fear that comes with seemingly not being able to survive outside of your own world, class, and environment, which of course these characters learn that they are able to do. Our production goes back to the origins of storytelling: our six actors, including deaf and hearing actors and integrated signers, tell the story of these two young girls, thrust into new situations, aiming to return to their original habitats, forging new friendships as they come of age and understand the world around them.

Producing company, Hordern Ciani, is grateful for its support from Arts Council England and the Culture Recovery Fund.

• The company uses the term deaf to include individuals with all levels of deafness.

Hampstead Theatre, London – until 28 August 2021

Reviewed by Alun Hood

4****

It’s not absolutely essential to carry out some background reading about tortured genius Tennessee Williams before exposing yourself to this late-career play, revived at the very theatre where it had it’s world premiere in 1967… but it would probably help. At times grim, at others downright rollicking, The Two Character Play was regarded with great affection by the author himself, who claimed it was his most beautiful work after A Streetcar Named Desire but also noted that he was hurtling towards mental breakdown during the decade it took him to write it.

Set in an unspecified theatre as a brother-and-sister acting team struggle to mount a performance of an unnamed script (a doomy Southern Gothic affair that’s almost a parody of Williams’s own work at it’s most overwrought) on an unfinished set, with no props or costumes, deserted by the rest of the cast, technical crew and, increasingly, their own sanity, the atmosphere is of creeping unease, suddenly shot through with flashes of blind panic. It’s not an easy play to grasp; the tone is wildly uneven, the Beckett-like inertia sitting strangely alongside the languid, poetic misery of vintage Williams and more strangely still alongside the Noël Coward-esque theatrical bitchery  the siblings descend into during lighter moments, and the plot of the play-within-a-play bleeds in and out of the actor’s real lives to bewildering effect.

And yet, despite all that, The Two Character Play proves oddly compelling and haunting, like a theatrical fever-dream that never fully wakes up. It may be too strange and just plain hard work for some theatregoers, but it is impossible to write off.

Director Sam Yates has thrown everything bar the kitchen sink at it in technical terms, from Lee Curran’s evocative lighting, Daniel Balfour’s threatening sound design, to ingenious, occasionally terrifying video work by Akhila Krishnan and an inspiredly jumbled set by Rosanna Vyze that renders the  Hampstead stage simultaneously cavernous and claustrophobic, and the overall effect is pretty astonishing. This is an intensely theatrical experience right up to the almost apocalyptic conclusion where we glimpse just how desperate and lost the central characters actually are.

Far from being overwhelmed by such thrilling, all-encompassing theatricality, actors Kate O’Flynn and Zubin Varla deliver vivid masterclasses in gallows humour and lightning fast transformation between characters, and succeed in building a complex, utterly convincing relationship, rich in mutual loathing and adoration (but mainly loathing!), between these flailing yet self-regarding thespian siblings. Varla gives Felice a sweaty desperation shading into bitter resignation that becomes really moving. O’Flynn delivers her theatrical asides like a young Maggie Smith, and impressively contrasts the gamine-like vitality of the character Clare performs in the ‘Play’ with the dead-eyed despair of Clare herself. Both actors acquit themselves magnificently.

It may seem like an obvious thing to say, but this is the sort of experience you can only have in a theatre. Yes it’s wilfully obscure at times (thanks, Tennessee!) but it also has a boldness and immediacy that would be impossible to replicate in any other medium. The Two Character Play will seldom, if ever, be spoken of in the same breath as, say, The Glass Menagerie or Cat On A Hot Tin Roof – it’s too unwieldy, too esoteric – but Yates and his cracking team make the most persuasive case imaginable for it here.

EAST IS EAST

BY Ayub Khan Din

FULL CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT

FOR THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY PRODUCTION

SOPHIE STANTON AND TONY JAYAWARDENA WILL TAKE ON THE ROLES OF ELLA AND GEORGE AND BIRMINGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR IQBAL KHAN WILL DIRECT

PLAYING AT THE REP FROM 3-25 SEPTEMBER.

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW AT WWW.BIRMINGHAM-REP.CO.UK

Birmingham Repertory Theatre is excited to announce the full casting for its 25th anniversary production of East Is East, the classic comic family drama of the British-Asian experience.

The cast is led by Tony Jayawardena as George and Sophie Stanton as Ella. The rest of the cast  is completed by Amy-Leigh Hickman as Meenah; Irvine Iqbal as Mr Shah/Dr; Adonis Jenieco as Saleem; Rachel Lumberg as Annie; Noah Manzoor as Sajit; Joeravar Sangha as Maneer; Gurjeet Singh as Tariq and Assad Zaman as Abdul.

George Khan wants to raise his family the proper Pakistani way but hasn’t counted on the distractions of 70s Salford. Abdul and Tariq aren’t ready to be married off, Saleem is pushing artistic boundaries, Meenah’s skirt is too short and Sajit just wants to hide in his parka. Can mum Ella keep the family together? 

Since premiering on The REP’s stage in 1996, East Is East has sold out three London runs, been adapted into a BAFTA Award-winning film and become a modern classic of comic-drama. The smash-hit comedy-drama now returns home for its 25^th anniversary before going onto the National Theatre.

The full creative team has also been announced today, with the previously announced Director Iqbal Khan being joined by Bretta Gerecke (Set, Projection and Lighting Design), Susan Kulkarni (Costume Design), Felix Dubs (Composer), Jon Nicholls (Sound Design), Stuart Burt CDG (Casting), Natasha Kathi-Chandra (Associate Director) and Max White (Video Associate).

East Is East will play at Birmingham Repertory Theatre from 3-25 September. Tickets are from £12.50 and are on sale now at www.birmingham-rep.co.uk

In line with current Government regulations, The REP is now open to full capacity, but we continue to take a number of carefully managed steps and precautions to help audiences feel safe and enjoy their chosen performance. The wearing of masks is encouraged throughout the building, additional cleaning will continue and some performances will still have socially distanced seating.

York Theatre Royal – until Saturday 31 July 2021

Reviewed by Marcus Richardson

4****

Ralph Fiennes is a seasoned British actor, a name most of us know from his cinematic roles. I got the opportunity to see him perform in person, at the York Theatre Royal with Four Quartets. An adaptation of T.S. Elliot’s work, which he created during World War Two, with themes of existentialism and time. The performance lasts for around an hour and twenty minutes.

Fiennes was incredible to watch, the dedication to both the written material and the performance itself was inspiring. He was the only performer onstage and had so much text to get through, so he certainly had such a burden to carry. While his performance was outstanding and I can’t find any fault in it, the material is a different story. Whilst Elliot is a renowned and popular poet, the whole performance seemed to be really heavy and hard to take in.

The stage itself was fairly simple, with a table, two chairs and two giant blocks which could spin, it did give a lot more focus on Fiennes and the text itself, which is what the performance is about. I should note that I’m using performance rather than play for this show as it was poetry being performed, rather than a play about poetry.

I do have some conflict in this show, as I’ve said that Fiennes is an amazing performer and it’s certainly something to witness. But I would say you’d have to be over 18 just to understand some of the performance, though it is technically suitable for all ages. If you want to see an amazing performance and learn what it means to be a great actor, then I would suggest this in a heartbeat. A fantastic opportunity to see a stellar, world renowned craftsman in action. It will be at the York Theatre Royal until July 31st

Leeds Playhouse – until 7 August 2021

Reviewed by Dawn Smallwood

4****

With the Leeds Playhouse now being opened and staging repertoire productions again, Pam Gem’s Piaf, a Leeds Playhouse and Nottingham Playhouse co-production, comes alive on stage. It tells the story of Edith Gassion whose incredible talent became the voice which is remembered then and today. Her journey, professionally and personally, is equally extraordinary and the story begins with her humble beginnings from singing in the Paris streets to singing at top international concert halls.

It doesn’t primarily focus on the singing however it looks closely at Piaf’s vulnerability as far as herself, her friends and her peers are concerned and the emotional rollercoasters are felt and shared. The musical numbers fit so well to Piaf’s life and features with her well-known songs particularly with Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien, which in the end summarises and reminisces her short but extraordinary life.

Jenna Russell’s portrayal as Piaf is superb with an energetic and down to earth presence and her incredible and powerful voice performs to some infamous numbers. The award-winning performer’s presence on stage is felt confidently and yet warmly radiates and one is emotively moved with the vulnerability and fragility. The supporting cast are excellent and their presence is well choreographed to the roles they play and performing the key musical numbers. The show is complemented with Frankie Bradshaw’s staging.

With adult themes and its language throughout, Piaf, is raw and real as it comes. It is dark and honest and at the same time there is light and hope. With the singer’s extraordinary journey, it is a reminder about how talent can transform one’s life and dispel any preconceptions.

It is an excellent and entertaining performance, under the direction of Adam Penfold, and gives an opportunity to get an insight into the life of Piaf as well as her legendary and incredible voice.

Following the announcement that theatres in Northern Ireland can now open to audiences for indoor performances, UK Theatre and SOLT Chief Executive Julian Bird issued the following statement:

‘We welcome the news that indoor theatres and concert halls in Northern Ireland can now open to audiences for the first time since the start of the pandemic. The fact that social distancing and audience capacity restrictions remain in place, however, means that many venues will be operating at a loss while some are unable to open at all; the sector still needs government support to survive and recover. 

‘We are also concerned that inconsistent restrictions across the four UK nations present an issue for national tours and confusing messaging for theatregoers, at a time when it is vital we build audience confidence. We hope that theatres in all four nations will soon be able to open at full capacity.’

BE MORE CHILL

THE MUSICAL COMEDY PHENOMENON AT THE SHAFTESBURY THEATRE

Limited Season must end 5th September 2021

“whizzy cyber musical [that] feels like it comes from somewhere real“

★★★★

The Daily Mail

“a giddily glorious explosion of teen angst with real heart”

★★★★

The Express

“glorious misfit musical…filled with astute observation alongside delightfully silly humour”

★★★★

The Guardian

“A Universal Story with an absolutely terrific young British cast”

★★★★

The Daily Telegraph

Be More Chill, the mind-bendingly, exhilaratingly fun, acclaimed hit musical is delighted to announce two new cast members for the final 5 weeks in its strictly limited 10 week run at The Shaftesbury Theatre; Grace Mouat [& Juliet, SIX the Musical] will play Chloe Valentine and Mountview graduate Nathania Ong, making her professional debut, will play Jenna Rolan. They will be joining Scott Folan (Jeremy Heere), Blake Patrick Anderson (Michael Mell), Miracle Chance (Christine Canigula), Stewart Clarke (The Squip), Eloise Davies (Brooke Lohst), Christopher Fry (Mr Heere, Mr Reyes), James Hameed (Rich Goranski), Gabriel Hinchliffe (Ensemble), Eve Norris (Ensemble) Miles Paloma (Jake Dillinger) and Brandon Lee Sears (Ensemble),

Be More Chill tells the atypical love story of a boy, a girl….and the supercomputer inside the boy’s head guiding him every step of the way. The boy; desperate to be loved. The girl: longing to be noticed. And the supercomputer…just wants to take over the world.

Be More Chill, based on the ground-breaking 2004 cult novel of the same name by Ned Vizzini, with a book by Joe Tracz and Tony Award-nominated original score by Joe Iconis is packed with addictively catchy songs like More than Survive, Be More Chill and the showstopping Michael in the Bathroom. This glorious musical races along with infectious energy while tackling the weird, confusing, often tumultuous time of being a teenager and the increasingly complicated role of technology. The harsher realities of life sit alongside the humour and fantasy of the story which offers believable life lessons leaving its audience totally energized and hopeful by the end.

Be More Chill is an international sensation. When the original cast recording was released, millions of people streamed the album and formed a passionate community of Be More Chill fans. When the 2019 Broadway Cast Recording was released, it debuted at #2 on the Top Cast Albums Chart. Songs from the musical have been heard over 611 million times across digital platforms, with the breakout track Michael In The Bathroom amassing over 42 million streams and 8 million YouTube views alone. Tumblr has ranked Be More Chill as the #2 most talked-about musical on their platform, behind Hamilton. A film adaptation is currently in the works.

Bill Kenwright with Jerry Goehring, Lisa Dozier and Paul Taylor-Mills are proud to be reviving the show this summer. The production is directed by Stephen Brackett, choreographer is Chase Brock, set designer Beowulf Boritt, costume designer Bobby Frederick Tilley, lighting designer Tyler Micoleau, sound designer Ryan Rumery and projection designer Alex Basco Koch.  Associate Director is Gavin Mitford, Musical supervision and orchestrations are by Charlie Rosen, music vocal arrangements by Emily Marshall andUK casting is by Will Burton.