THE AWARD WINNING MUSICAL TO RE-OPEN ON FRIDAY 24 SEPTEMBER 2021
New cast members announced to join company including Olivier Award winners MIRIAM-TEAK LEE, CASSIDY JANSON & DAVID BEDELLA
Booking period extended through to 12 February 2022 at Shaftesbury Theatre, London
www.andjulietthemusical.co.uk
This is the moment we’ve waited for…. & JULIET makes a joyous return to London’s West End!
The award-winning musical – which had been thrilling audiences before the closure of theatres last March – will return to the Shaftesbury Theatre from Friday 24 September.
Miriam-Teak Lee – who was awarded the Olivier Award for Best Actress in 2020 for her performance as Juliet – leads a cast including Cassidy Janson, who also won an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Anne Hathaway, Oliver Tompsett as William Shakespeare, David Bedella, who also won an Olivier Award for his performance in the show as Lance, Jordan Luke Gage as Romeo, Melanie La Barrie as Nurse,and Tim Mahendran as Francois. Alex Thomas-Smith will be joining the principal cast in the role of May.
The ensemble includes Roshani Abbey, Jocasta Almgill, Josh Baker, Ivan De Freitas, RhianDuncan, Kieran Lai, Nathan Lorainey-Dineen, Jaye Marshall, Grace Mouat, Antoine Murray-Straughan, Billy Nevers, Kerri Norville, Christopher Parkinson, Kirstie Skivington, Alex Tranter,Sophie Usher and Rhys Wilkinson.
As well as the three Olivier Awards, throughout the last year & Juliet also won 6 Whatsonstage Awards – the most of any production in 2020 – and won further awards at The Black Theatre Awards and The Mousetrap Theatre Awards. The show also performed on BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing in the coveted slot in ‘Musicals Week’.
Romeo who?! With her bags packed and ready to escape Verona, Juliet recovers from heartbreak in the best way possible… by dancing the night away with her best friends by her side! But when the sparkle fades, the confetti falls and reality catches up, it’s clear that Juliet needs to face her past in order to find her future. Can she reclaim a story that has been written in the stars? Is there really life after Romeo… or could he be worth one more try?
Come along for the ride as the original Anne Hathaway takes on her husband William Shakespeare to remix his legendary play. As comedy meets tragedy, will Juliet get the ending she truly deserves? And most importantly, can their love survive this battle of wills?
Fabulously fresh and riotously funny, & JULIET explodes with dozens of pop anthems you already know and love by legendary songwriter Max Martin, including …Baby One More Time, Since U Been Gone, Roar, It’s My Life, I Want It That Way, and Can’t Stop the Feeling! The show also includes the brand new song One More Try, written especially for the show by Max.
Brought to life by an award-winning creative team, this vibrant, colourful and timely musical is directed by Luke Sheppard (In the Heights, Rent) with a story by David West Read (Netflix’s Schitt’s Creek), electrifying choreography from Jennifer Weber and stunning set design from Soutra Gilmour.
Max Martin and Tim Headington present & Juliet, which is produced by Martin Dodd, Tim Headington, Max Martin, Jenny Petersson and Theresa Steele Page.
Music: Max Martin and friends Book: David West Read Direction: Luke Sheppard Choreography: Jennifer Weber Set Design: Soutra Gilmour Costume Design: Paloma Young Musical Supervisor/Orchestrator/Arranger: Bill Sherman Lighting Design: Howard Hudson Sound Design: Gareth Owen Video Design: Andrzej Goulding Casting Director: Stuart Burt
THEATRE INFORMATION
The Shaftesbury Theatre 210 Shaftesbury Avenue London WC2H 8DP
ETT (English Touring Theatre), today announce the full programme for Trailer Story –a travelling outdoor performance space touring across the UK, a joyful, and safe, way of bringing communities together in their local public spaces to celebrate theatre.
Inspired by ETT’s origins as Century Theatre, who toured the UK in a pop-up space, Trailer Story performances will be housed in a truck, usually used to tour production sets around the country, but reimagined as a space for artists and audiences to meet. Designed by Jon Bausor with Tina Torbey, and Lighting Design by Natasha Chivers. Trailer Story opens in Newcastle, 30 July – 1 August, before visiting Keswick 5 – 8 August 2021, in partnership with Northern Stage and Theatre by the Lake.
The touring programme includes theatre with Nouveau Riche’sdance-theatre piece, Resonate, written and performed by Ntonga Mwanza; Lung Theatre’s Who Cares by Matt Woodhead whichexplores the experience of young carers; the bike-powered family comedy, How to Save a Rock, written by Conky Kampfner, Alex Rugman and Pigfoot; and Tim Crouch’s reimagining of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night from the point of view of its most notoriously abused steward in I, Malvolio.
There is comedy with the country’s best comics performing for an audience of children and their families in Comedy Club 4 Kids.
Figs in Wigs host cosmic game show, Astrology Bingo; and there is ARain Walk,a self-guided tour accompanied recorded voices of children from across the UK and Ireland.
With music and beatboxing from Grace Savage who performs her award-winning beatbox routines and distinguished back catalogue of songs; and Testament also brings his spoken word, rap and beatbox show.
In addition, the programme offers a platform for local artists in each area to take over the space, including TheBonBons Cabaret,Mam Tackles The Climate Crisis, BRASH’s Raising Shame and A case in point by What’s That Dance in Newcastle. Keswick’s local programming to be announced.
Richard Twyman, Artistic Director, and Sophie Scull,Executive Producer of ETT today said, “This programme curated by the team at ETT and our partners at Northern Stage and Theatre by the Lake offers audiences a rich selection of entertainment for all ages, from theatre and dance to comedy and spoken word. In this, its inaugural year, we hope that our touring truck will provide the opportunity for artists and audiences to reconnect and celebrate the communal act of theatre-making. We, and all the artists involved, are so excited to be back making work, touring and meeting audiences in their local community again.”
Trailer Story is made possible with support from the Cultural Recovery Fund, the Weston Culture Fund, Urban Green and the National Trust.
Music by Christopher Brett Bailey; Graphic Design by Will Brady
Newcastle: 30 July – 1 August – available throughout the day
Keswick: 5 – 8 August at 9.30am
We invite you to a rain walk – a walk in the rain accompanied by the recorded voices of children from across the UK and Ireland. With their guidance the rainfall will become your own private theatre, a space in which to observe, imagine and play. Whether in a drizzle or a deluge, we invite you to step outside, feel the rain on your face, and think about your place in a world that is changing so swiftly around you.
Andy Field is an artist, writer and curator. He creates unusual, interactive projects that invite viewers to consider their relationships both to the spaces they inhabit and the people around them. Field’s work has been presented across the UK and internationally by organisations including the Southbank Centre (London), the Natural History Museum (London), The Arches (Glasgow), Arnolfini Gallery (Bristol), Abrons Arts Centre (New York), Culturgest (Lisbon), BIOS (Athens), FOLA (Melbourne), Northern Stage (Newcastle), Warwick Arts Centre, Mayfest, Cambridge Junction, Festival B:om (Seoul), New Visions Arts Festival (Hong Kong) and Mayfest (Bristol). His key works include Nocturne (LIFT Festival), News News News (Cambridge Junction/Norfolk and Norwich Festival), Six Duets: The Incidental Plays (Forest Fringe), Non in Luce (Wellcome Collection), Zilla (SHUNT/Apiary Studios) and Motor Vehicle Shutdown (International Tour). Field is also the co-director of the award-winning Forest Fringe, and a regular contributor to publications including The Guardian, Exeunt and This Is Tomorrow.
Beckie Darlington is a creative producer. She works closely with artists and organisations to conceive, develop and deliver new work, including festivals, touring theatre performances, participatory art works, installations, and one-off live events. Her theatre credits include News News News (Cambridge Junction/Norfolk and Norwich Festival), Lookout (The Arches/Unicorn Theatre/International Tour), Super Duper Close Up (The Yard/UK tour), PSYCHODRAMA (Centro Conde Duque/UK tour), Insane Animals (HOME Manchester), Familiar (Fierce Festival Birmingham/Dance City Newcastle) and Kissing the Shotgun Goodnight (Ovalhouse/UK tour). For film, her credits include The Dream Agency.
It’s a comedy club, right, but for kids. Also any adults who enjoy a swear-free hour with the international circuit’s best stand-ups, cabaret stars and sketch acts. Non-patronising. Pure awesome.
Written by Conky Kampfner, Alex Rugman and Pigfoot
Newcastle: 30 July – 1 August at 12pm
Keswick: 6 – 8 August at 12pm
It’s 2026. We’ve found a letter from the last ever polar bear. He’s somehow ended up at the top of Scotland. We’re going to save him.
Join us on a wild polar bear chase, through peat bogs and protests. How To Save A Rock is a bike-powered family comedy about how to still have hope.
Recommended age: 7-13
Conky Kampfner is a playwright and journalist. How to Save a Rock is her professional writing debut.
Alex Rugman is a playwright, director, and co-Artistic Director of Freight Theatre. He is currently a trainee producer with Heavy Entertainment. How to Save a Rock is his professional writing debut.
Pigfoot is a multi award-winning theatre company, dedicated to making collaborative, carbon-neutral theatre. They make work with and for those grappling with the climate & ecological crisis. Their theatre ‘practices what it preaches’ (The Sunday Times on Pigfoot) & protests from within an industry which, in London alone, has been shown to have a carbon footprint of 50,000 tonnes a year. Recent works include How to Save a Rock in collaboration with Slung Low, Poplar Union, Camden People’s Theatre, Pound Arts & The Albany, and HOT IN HERE (Camden People’s Theatre).
I, Malvolio re-imagines Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night from the point of view of its most notoriously abused steward. It’s a charged, hilarious and sometimes unsettling rant from a man adrift in front of a cruel audience. Part abject clown, part theatre-hating disciplinarian, Malvolio asks his audience to explore the pleasure we take in other people’s suffering.
Age recommended: 11+
Tim Crouch is an award-winning theatre artist, playwright and director, and previously an actor. His credits as a writer, performer and director include I, Cinna the Poet (Unicorn Theatre), I, Marvolio (Brighton Festival/Singapore Arts Festival), The Author (Royal Court Theatre), England (Edinburgh Fringe), An Oak Tree (Edinburgh Fringe/Barrow Street Theatre), My Arm (Traverse Theatre/International tour), Shopping for Shoes (St. Bride’s Centre) and Fairymonsterghost (Bath International Shakespeare Festival).
Resonate is a solo dance-theatre show following Jacob, a young man trying to turn away from his life as a hard-living and loving party animal, through a new found faith and spirituality . However, constant interruptions from his friends and ex-girlfriends leads to a crisis of confidence, and a breakdown in his mental state due to him being torn between two extremes. Resonate plunges into the mania of lust, faith and sexual-addiction-affliction, merging physical theatre, hip hop dance, clowning, mime and spoken word. A pulsating lyrical journey into the soul of a young man.
Age recommended: 14+
Ntonga Mwanza is an actor, writer and dancer. His credits as an actor and writer include Resonate (Vault Festival, and for theatre, The Meet Up (Royal Court Theatre), Hotel (National Theatre Studio), Romeo and Juliet (et al), 33% – No Free Parking (Ovalhouse Theatre), and 9 Rooms (Old Vic Tunnels). His television credits include Leave 2 Remain, and for film, Honeytrap.
The Lowry and LUNG in partnership with Gaddum present
Sitting at the back of the bus, skipping the lunch queue and skiving lessons. At school Nicole, Jade and Connor are just like everybody else. But when they get home, things are very different.
Nicole started caring for her mum when she was four. Every morning Nicole helps her get washed, put on clothes and eat breakfast. Jade has always cared for her brother, but she never expected to look after dad as well – now she juggles two lots of appointments, two lots of prescriptions, two lots of assessment forms. Connor cares for his mum. But he doesn’t like to talk about it.
Adapted from real-life testimonies, award-winning theatre company LUNG examines the impact of austerity, our failing social care system and what happens when a child becomes the parent.
Winner of: Sit Up Award for social impact, Mervyn Stutter Spirit of the Fringe Award and Summerhall Lustrum Award. Who Cares was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2021.
Age recommended: 12+
Matt Woodhead is a director. He is co-Artistic Director of LUNG, who are Associate Artists at The Lowry. Making theatre by communities, for communities and with communities, LUNG is a national touring theatre company, developing innovative and politically driven work that broadens horizons and investigates modern Britain. His credits include Trojan Horse (Summerhall), Who Cares?, The 56 (The Lowry), One Day (Sheffield Theatres Fuse Festival), Chilcot (Battersea Arts Centre), E15 (Battersea Arts Centre/UK tour), Dolly Wants to Die (Edinburgh Fringe) and Edges: A Musical Comedy (Montgomery Theatre).
Alt-Pop, Singer-Songwriter, Live Looping, 4 x UK Beatbox Champion Grace Savage will deliver an hour-long performance showcasing her award-winning beatbox routines and distinguished back catalogue of songs supported by the likes of BBC Radio 1 and 6Music. She will also be giving a fun and informal masterclass in the basic sounds and techniques of beatboxing.
Grace Savage is a singer-songwriter, actor and beatboxer. She is four times UK beatbox champion and creator of her own blend of electronic-pop that has heard her music on the likes of BBC Radio 1, Radio 6 Music and many more. She recently showcased her song writing skills on Redbull UK’s online song writing competition “The Cut” and was shortlisted for “Best Songwriter” and “Best Female Solo Act” at the Unsigned Music Awards 2018. Her theatre credits include Big-Up! (Theatre Rites), Slug (Nabokov/Latitude), HOME (National Theatre), Blind (Soho Theatre), The Lost Voice (Southbank Centre) Jamie Blake (Edinburgh Fringe/Ravenrock Theatre Company). For television, her credits include Staff Room Rap Battles and Henry IX.
Join Figs in Wigs for Astrology Bingo – a cosmic game show for astrology lovers, bingo wingers and their sceptic friends. It’s already written in the stars if you will win because instead of numbers you’ll be playing with your own astrological birth chart! It’s totally out of this world!
Figs in Wigs are a theatre company and dance troupe. Their credits include Little Wimmin (HOME Manchester/Cambridge Junction), Often Onstage (Battersea Arts Centre), The Wind in the Willows (Cambridge Junction), Giants (LSE Festival), Dance Peas (Camden People’s Theatre) and Show Off (Incoming Festival).
Delve into the mind of the multi-talented rapper and writer Testament, with new pieces, extracts from his theatre show and uplifting songs all brought to you with looping and world record holding beatboxing!
Testamentis an acclaimed rapper, world record breaking human beatboxer and music producer. His work includes album Homecut:No Freedom Without Sacrifice. Testament is writer and composer of the acclaimed play Black Men Walking which was nominated for Best Play at The Writer’s Guild Awards 2019 and Best New Play at the UK Theatre Awards 2020. His radio play The Beatboxer was nominated for the Imison Award at the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2020. Testament is a Roland sponsored musician and his current show Orpheus In The Record Shop is available on BBC iPlayer.
LOCAL PROGRAMME – NEWCASTLE
In association with Alphabetti Theatre, Bonnie and The Bonnettes and The House of Love present
THE BONBONS CABARET
30 July at 3.30pm
Step through the doors and join drag trio Bonnie and The Bonnettes, singer/songwriter MXYM, burlesque babe Mama Rhi, and appetising queen Vol-Au-Vent Love for a glitter-fuelled, foot-stomping, pant wetting cabaret riot!
MAM TACKLES THE CLIMATE CRISIS
Written and directed by Tracy Gillman
Performed by Jackie Lye
31 July at 3.30pm
Mam is trying to recycle everything, including her relationship with her daughter.
Mam is sitting on the steps of the church knitting torn up carrier bags, telling her story. She cannot deal with recent events; the pandemic, working two jobs and all the recycling she has to do. Her daughter Maisie, who has recently had a baby and wants to get married soon, thinks Mam is just making a lot of unnecessary fuss.
Can the climate crisis bring them closer together again? Or will Mam stay on the church steps forever? Will Maisie get the wedding dress she has dreamt of or something quite different and what will they call the new baby?
Tracy Gillman is an actor, writer and director. As an actress her credits include Locker Room Talk, Me and Cilla, The Lovers, (Live Theatre), Rutherford and Son (Threshold Theatre Co), A Walk on Part (Live Theatre/Soho Theatre).
Jackie Lye plays Mam. For theatre, her credits include Wet House (Hull Truck Theatre/Live Theatre/Soho Theatre), Julie and Paul (LOST Theatre), Christmas Office Party (Hull Truck Theatre). For television, her credits include Brush Strokes, Harry’s Mad and Vera.
BRASH present
RAISING SHAME
1 August at 3.30pm
BRASH is a bold, educational theatre company for young people that strives to make sex and relationships education relevant, empowering, and unafraid. Here they present lyrical highlights from Raising Shame, a show about local experiences of period poverty and stigma, and from upcoming show Ankles, a theatrical Book of Spells through which teenagers protest against victim-blaming culture.
What’s That Dance present
A CASE IN POINT
1 August at 4.20pm
a case in point… An estimated 1.5 million young women lost income since the start of the pandemic.
a case in point… Mothers were 23% more likely than fathers to have temporarily or permanently lost their jobs during the pandemic and 14% more likely to be furloughed.
a case in point… Women perform 76% of the total hours of unpaid care work globally.
a case in point… In the UK, 77% of frontline workers are female with a 17.3% gender pay gap with their male counterparts.
a case in point… is a dance duet created with women of Heaton. What’s That Dance stands together with women in their community to challenge the shocking statistics of the increased inequality women have faced because of the pandemic. They want to raise awareness of the ongoing fight celebrating the strength and resilience of local women.
TRAILER STORY
LISTINGS
Newcastle – Leazes Park Bandstand, Richardson Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4BJ
Fifty freelancers who will shape the future of creative employment in the capital announced
Fifty performing arts freelancers have been appointed to an initiative to improve conditions for Londoners working in the creative sector through a programme funded by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.
They join Creative Freelancers: Shaping London’s Recovery, a City Hall research project, supporting the future of freelancing in the capital. It will provide immediate employment for the cohort while they work with partner organisations to help remove the inequalities facing creative freelancers, who have been hugely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since March 2020, up to 60% of the city’s freelancers have lost all their income. This loss affected a broad range of roles across the performing arts sector. The appointed freelancers represent this breadth and the diversity of London’s workforce.
The cohort have been appointed following a call out in May and an extensive recruitment process. To further their research and foster links between the freelance community and London’s leading creative and cultural organisations, each freelancer has been matched with a Partner Organisation. Together they will collaborate on how to improve working practices and opportunities.
Supported by the Mayor of London, the programme aims to feed into the work to improve job creation and retention for freelancers, including the development of a new Freelancers’ Charter and take part in advocacy and lobbying.
Championing the programme, Justine Simons OBE, Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries said: “London is a world centre for culture and the creative industries and our success is powered by creative freelancers who make up nearly half of the workforce. We know that culture will drive our recovery, so it’s more important than ever that we invest and support freelancers now. This programme places creatives in the driving seat as we all work to re-set how we value and support freelancers as the country reopens.”
The freelancers and their organisations are:
Seifeidin Abdel Salam Battersea Arts Centre
Emily Beecher Theatre Centre
Shaniqua Benjamin Boundless Theatre
Laura Caldow Little Angel Theatre
Jessica Carter Vital Xposure
Emma Clark Actors Touring Company
Emily Collins Old Diorama Arts Centre
Rhys Cook aka Oberon White The Yard Theatre
Natasha Davis Barbican Centre
Stefano Di Renzo VAULT Festival
Sara Doctors WeMakeEvents
Eleesha Drennan The Place
Carole Edrich Paddington Development Trust
Elles Elliott Raw Material Music and Media
Tanja Erhart Spare Tyre
Richard Evans Tamasha Theatre Company
Sarah Farnsley Siobhan Davies Dance
Alex Fernandes Headlong Theatre Limited
Jonathan Glew Camden People’s Theatre
Fauzia Habib Serious
Ali Hunter The Old Vic
Tash Hyman National Theatre
Caroline Jeyaratnam-Joyner A New Direction
Chloe Kennedy Turtle Key Arts
Anne Langford Stratford Circus
Nathalie Alison Layton-McIntosh Roundhouse
Gael Le Cornec LIFT
Del Mak Akademi
Sarah Meadows Parents and Carers in Performing Arts
Cole Morrison Sound and Music
Olivia Munk Turtle Key Arts
Aston New Talawa Theatre Company
Seeta Patel Royal Opera House
Mary Paterson Serpentine
Joanna Pidcock Headlong Theatre Limited
Sarah Poekert artsdepot Ltd
Megan Prescott Polka Theatre
Nancy May Roberts Rambert
Cory Shipp National Youth Theatre of Great Britain
Lauren Silver Young Vic Theatre
Kunal Singhal UK Music
Beth Sitek Fitzrovia Noir CIC
PJ Stanley Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Hannah Tookey Lyric Hammersmith Theatre
Shamira Turner Bush Theatre
Eve Veglio-White Sadler’s Wells
Krista Vuori Theatre Royal Stratford East
Beth Watson English Touring Opera
George Williamson Studio Wayne McGregor
Kyley Winfield tiata fahodzi
Responding to their appointment, freelance theatre maker, facilitator and clown Lauren Silver said “I am thrilled to be a Cohort member and collaborate with Fuel, the Mayor of London and the team to support our creative community.”
Referring to the ideas she outlined in her application, she added: Due to the detrimental effects of Covid-19, there’s never been a more crucial time to advance proactive and accessible Mental Health support for our creative freelancers, and I am passionate for our industry to be able to make space to focus on just that.
The Organisations involved are similarly committed and enthused about the huge potential of the programme. Speaking on behalf of #WeMakeEvents, a partner organisation, Simon Prior who is himself a freelance technical director commented:
We’re very excited to be working with such an extraordinary group of people to develop the role of freelance staff in so many aspects of the creative industries. Freelancers carry their skills and experience all around our business, providing fresh inspiration along the way, and they have been sadly neglected during the last eighteen months. It is good to know that the GLA understands their importance and is hoping to provide a more reassuring infrastructure for freelance talent.
Echoing these sentiments from a venue perspective , Head of Theatre and Dance at the Barbican, Toni Racklin added At the Barbican we’re committed to supporting artists and companies who challenge what theatre can be, so we’re thrilled to be part of this important programme to reimagine the industry’s working practices. We’re looking forward to collaborating with our freelancer, seeing and hearing their ideas whilst sharing with them our unique arts centre perspective. We believe that through this new relationship we can positively contribute to the industry’s support and development of our vital freelance ecology.
The Freelance Cohort and Partner Organisations are supported by a freelance Facilitation Team – Jessica Antwi-Boasiako Facilitator, Charlotte Mafham Communication and Administration Coordinator, Marie Wilson Bookkeeper and Miranda Yates Access Manager – as well an Advisory Group of industry experts Jamie Beddard, Lily Einhorn, Lilli Geissendorfer, Ameena Hamid, James Hodgson, Tarek Iskander, Jeanefer Jean-Charles, Jennifer Jackson, Chi-chi Nwanoku and Jo Tyabji.
About the programme:
Creative freelancers, particularly those in the performing arts, have been hit hard by COVID-19. From the very start of restrictions, up to 60% of freelancers had lost all of their work, and it is estimated that at least 200,000 Londoners have been excluded from any Government support. The pandemic has also highlighted existing inequalities facing creative freelancers – including a lack of security at work, unequal access to freelance opportunities, and a lack of a basic safety net.
This Mayor of London programme will enable this diverse group of freelancers in the culture sector to come together to explore and make recommendations on the future of freelancing. It will support the Mayor’s ambitions to improve working conditions and training, as well as advocating for the statutory changes needed for freelancers.
Creative Freelancers: Shaping London’s Recovery will amplify the voices of the self-employed in the culture sector, giving space for freelancers to shape and demonstrate their role in the recovery of London’s creative and cultural industries, as well as in wider civic spaces.
How will it work?
The Freelance Cohort and their Partner Organisations will develop new plans to improve working conditions and job and training support for freelancers. They will collaborate in focused working groups during this six-month research project, supported by the Facilitation team. The cohort will feed into the work to improve job creation and retention for freelancers, including the development of a new Freelancers’ Charter and take part in advocacy and lobbying.
The programme builds on the first national Freelance Task Force initiated by Fuel as a pilot in April 2020, in which 150 organisations sponsored 169 freelancers across the country. It builds on the evaluation and recommendations by independent evaluators Morris Hargreaves McIntyre, which highlighted the positive impact of the pilot, its promising potential, and suggested that external funding would improve future work in this area.
Programme Aims
This project will empower creative freelancers in the performing arts sector to make recommendations for London’s recovery from COVID-19 in these distinct areas:
Improving job conditions, creation and retention for creative freelancers
Advocating for an improved statutory position for creative freelancers
Establishing skills and training opportunities for creative freelancers
This programme will support the civic role of creative freelancers in London’s recovery from COVID-19, in policymaking and in delivery.
Credits:
Enabled by Fuel.
Funded by LEAP, the London Economic Action Partnership, and supported by the Mayor of London. The LEAP brings entrepreneurs and businesses together with the Mayoralty and London Councils to identify strategic actions to support and lead economic growth and job creation in the capital.
Returning to Park Theatre, London after playing Boris Johnson in the sell-out run of The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson, Will Barton will star as John Blondel and Alex Phelps as The Speaker in the spine-chilling ghost story, WHEN DARKNESS FALLS. The show will run for a limited season from Wednesday 18 August until Saturday 4 September, with a national press night on Monday 23 August 2021. Written by James Milton and Paul Morrissey, the production will be directed by Paul Morrissey.
The London run will then tour to Theatre Royal Winchester, MAST Mayflower Studios in Southampton and Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford.
On the small island of Guernsey, local history teacher, John Blondel, runs the Island’s only Historical Society. Tonight, as part of the Society’s weekly vlog, a young writer who has been researching the island’s mysterious and often frightening folklore, has been invited to give a talk. As his seemingly innocent stories unfold – many of which are based on true events – it isn’t long before they reveal dark pasts, disturbing truths and unforgettable terrors.
Will Barton’s most recent theatre includes the title role in The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson (Park Theatre & National Tour), The Libertine (Theatre Royal Haymarket) and Toast (Park Theatre and New York). He also played Boris Johnson in the 2017 BBC 2 drama Theresa V Boris. Other television includes A Confession, Vanity Fair and two series of How Do You Want Me?.
Alex Phelps’s theatre work includes Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night and Reynaldo/Priest and understudy Hamlet in Hamlet (both Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre), Raleigh in Journey’s End for Mesh Theatre Company, and Dennis Dutton in The Vertical Hour, Bob Acres in The Rivals and Orestes in Elektra (all at Theatre By The Lake).
The show’s illusions will be designed by John Bulleid, an Associate of the Inner Magic Circle with Silver Star, whose other theatre credits include Harry Potter and The Cursed Child (Palace Theatre, London – current Magic & Illusion assistant), The Ocean At The End Of The Lane (The National Theatre – associate to Jamie Harrison) and The Prince of Egypt (Dominion Theatre, London – associate to Chris Fisher).
WHEN DARKNESS FALLS is James Milton’s first full-length play. Paul Morrissey’s other writing includes the play Bingo! and the new musical Toys.
WHEN DARKNESS FALLS is directed by Paul Morrissey and designed by Justin Williams, with lighting by Bethany Gupwell and sound by Daniel Higgott.
WHEN DARKNESS FALLS is produced at Park Theatre by Paul Morrissey Limited, Chris Wheeler and Molly Morris, in association with Glynis Henderson Productions, Jason Haigh-Ellery, Dawn Smalberg and Bev Ragovoy and Park Theatre.
With the return to full live performance, Disney Theatrical Productions is introducing a wealth of new initiatives to welcome audiences back to the theatre, and to increase accessibility across their productions.
Simon Vickers, General Manager Disney Tickets, said today, “As we return to the stage. with The Lion King reopening at the Lyceum Theatre at the end of the month, and brand-new productions of Frozen and Beauty and the Beast to begin performances in August, we aim to ensure that as many people as possible can enjoy these shows. Theatre is here to be shared and we want to open our doors to audiences in London and across the UK, enabling access for all so that we can join together in the much-needed joy these timeless classic stories provide.”
To celebrate Frozen rehearsals beginning in London, ahead of opening next month at the newly refurbished Theatre Royal Drury Lane, further tickets are being released across all performances for the first booking block from 27 August to 22 April 2022. These will be released from Wednesday 14July at 10am, with availability now across previously sold-out performances.
For Frozen, Beauty and the Beast opening on tour next month; and The Lion King returning to the West End and on tour, a new rush programme will be introduced across all three productions with tickets available at just £20 for every performance. Disney Day Seats will be available to purchase on the day of the performance from 10am, beginning with The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre on 29 July, with other productions added later. Guests will need to register in advance to access Disney Day Seats by visiting www.DisneyTickets.co.uk/DaySeats
Also announced today, Disney Tickets is launching an exclusive Flexible Group Ticket pricing policy which allows options to be tailored to particular group bookings. Group organisers can discuss bespoke pricing and payment plans with Disney Tickets Group Sales, to enable group bookings to suit a range of budgets.
Additional relaxed performances are announced across Disney productions with further planned for future booking blocks.
The current full relaxed performance schedule is:
For London:
The Lion King at 1.30pm on 5 September 2021 at Lyceum Theatre
Frozen at 12.30pm on 19 December 2021 at Theatre Royal Drury Lane
The Lion King on tour:
Alhambra Theatre, Bradford at 5pm on 24 May 2022
Wales Millennium Centre at 1.30pm on 18 August 2022
Mayflower Theatre, Southampton at 1.30pm on 12 October 2022
Palace Theatre Manchester at 1.30pm on 27 November 2022
Electrifying musical phenomenon SIX by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss will move to it’s ‘forever home’ in the West End when it transfers to the Vaudeville Theatre on The Strand from Wednesday 29 September, 2021.
Initial booking period to 1 May, 2022, with a Christmas schedule of performances also on sale.
SIX has been running at the Lyric since 21 May, where it has been playing to socially distanced audiences since it moved from the Arts Theatre.
SIX will perform an 8-show week at the Vaudeville Theatre and will continue with its current cast until Sunday 14 November. An all-new cast (to be announced) will perform from Tuesday 16 November.
Tickets for SIX at the VAUDEVILLE THEATRE will go on sale at 8am Thursday 15 July via sixthemusical.com or www.nimaxtheatres.comThe musical simultaneously continues its sold-out UK Tour and reopens at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Broadway on Sunday 3 October.
Cambridge Arts Theatre, Cambridge – until 17th July 2021.
Reviewed by Steph Lott
5*****
My review in summary is, go and see this play! However I do need to preface all of my comments with a caveat: I’m not a scientist or historian and any misunderstandings or errors are entirely my own! Having said that, although this play would be especially powerful for those with an interest in quantum and nuclear physics, and their origins and history, it’s not necessary in order to go and see it and anyone who’s not a scientist or a historian can thoroughly enjoy this production. It’s wonderful in so many ways and not what I was expecting at all; I was rather afraid it might be turgid and dry which was not the case. I came away from seeing this play with so much to consider and ponder, and a desire to know more about Heisenberg, and Bohr, their relationship and what was witnessed by Bohr’s wife Magrethe. I found it very moving, so much so that at a few points I came close to welling up, which is an indication of the calibre of the cast and the quality of the production.
I don’t think this play can be easy to put on. The story is told on a very simple set with only 3 characters, who are all on the set at all times. In the wrong hands, the intricate structure of the play, the fabulous rich dialogue and interplay of the 3 characters could be lost with the wrong timing and pace. This was not the case with what I saw. A lot of this play’s power is in its stillness which lets the words, the story, the space and the emotion unfold. The cast’s diction, their timing and skill as actors meant that the story and themes can spill out for the audience to enjoy.
This play is very intense and there is a lot of detail to follow. Covering as it does events in history, complicated scientific and philosophical ideas conveyed through a lot of dialogue it could run the risk of being dull and dry. It most certainly is not that. It is an amalgam of historical fact, science, and existential musings on the nature of uncertainty, and how history could spin on the outcome of one conversation. I was struck by the skill of all involved – the director Emma Howlett, and the 3 actors Philip Arditti (Heisenberg) Haydn Gwynne (Margrethe) and Malcolm Sinclair as Bohr. Together, on a simple yet evocative set, they allow the audience to be transported into explorations of the past and alternative explanations for events. The cast and director weave together the question of what happened that destroyed an old friendship, with the origins of quantum physics, and events that took place during WW2 and the lead up to it. The morality of scientific discovery is explored, against the backdrop of war and Nazi Germany.
I found this play and its production thoroughly enjoyable and came away with so many thoughts and areas that I now want to examine further; I almost want to see the play again!
Hope Mill Theatre’s acclaimed RENT is BACK on stage!
Announcing six new members of cast as rehearsals start
Hope Mill Theatre’s smash-hit, critically acclaimed production of the classic rock musical RENT is to return with LIVE performances at the Manchester venue from August 6 to September 19, 2021.
As rehearsals start, we reveal six new members of cast:
Luke Bayer (Mark) was alternate Jamie New in ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ in the West End and starred as Robbie in ‘Soho Cinders’ at Charing Cross Theatre.
Michael Ahomka-Lindsay (Benny) is making his professional stage debut after graduating from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where he was a recipient of the Andrew Lloyd Webber Scholarship.
Iona Fraser played Deloris in ‘Sister Act the Musical’ at Shanklin Theatre.
Alison Driver, Joe Foster, Karl Lankester are recent graduates making their professional stage debuts.
They join Tom Francis (Roger), Jocasta Almgill (Joanne), Dom Hartley-Harris (Collins), Millie O’Connell (Maureen), Maiya Quansah-Breed (MImi), Alex Thomas-Smith (Angel) and Isaac Hesketh who are returning to the production
RENT, directed by Luke Sheppard (‘& Juliet’), is a rock musical with music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larson, loosely based on Puccini’s opera ‘La Bohème’. It tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists living, loving and working in Manhattan’s East Village, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.
RENT premiered Off Broadway in 1996 before moving to Broadway later the same year. The show has been staged all over the world, including in the West End in 1998 and in 2005 was released as a motion picture. It features hit songs such as ‘Rent’, ‘Without You’, ‘La Vie La Bohème’ and the iconic ‘Seasons of Love’.
William Whelton, Executive Director of Hope Mill Theatre, said: “It was so heart-breaking to have to close our 2020 production of RENT after only five shows, due to entering another lockdown. We were so thrilled that we managed to capture the show and share it with audiences online. The reaction to the show both critically and with audiences alike was truly overwhelming. However, we built this show to be experienced live and there is still a lot of unfinished business with this special show. It is with much excitement that we are bringing back ‘Rent’ to Hope Mill Theatre for another run, and once again share this truly electric, heart-warming and unique version in person with our audiences.”
Creative Team:
Directed by Luke Sheppard
Choreographer: Tom Jackson Greaves
Musical Supervisor: Katy Richardson
Set & Costume Designer: David Woodhead
Lighting Designer: Howard Hudson
Sound Designer: Paul Gatehouse
Projection Designer: George Reeve
Musical Director: Chris Poon
Assistant Director: Priya Patel Appleby
Casting: Pearson Casting
LISTINGS INFORMATION
RENT
Hope Mill Theatre
Hope Mill
113 Pollard Street
Manchester M4 7JA
6 August – 19 September, 2021
Previews
6 & 7 August, 2021
Tickets
From £25
Running time: 2.5 hours
Interval: Yes, 15 minutes
Age Restriction: 13+
Warnings:
Drug-use, strong language &
themes of adult content.
Parental guidance required for
children under 15.
Presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International (Europe) Limited
RENT was originally produced in New York by New York Theatre Workshop and on Broadway by Jeffrey Seller, Kevin McCollum, Allan S. Gordon and New York Theatre Workshop.
Sonia Friedman Productions today announces casting for the return performances of Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt as rehearsals begin. Directed by Patrick Marber,Leopoldstadt returns to Wyndham’s Theatre for a 12-week run from 7 August – 30 October 2021.
Cara Ballingall (Jana), Arty Froushan (Leo)Aidan McArdle (Hermann)and Macy Nyman (Hermine) join original cast members Sebastian Armesto (Jacob/Nathan/Ludwig), Jenna Augen (Rosa), Rhys Bailey (Young Nathan),Faye Castelow (Gretl),Joe Coen (Policeman/Zac), Felicity Davidson (Hilde),Mark Edel-Hunt (Civilian/Fritz), Clara Francis (Wilma), Ilan Galkoff (Pauli),Caroline Gruber (Emilia), Sam Hoare (Percy), Natalie Law (Hanna), Avye Leventis (Sally), Noof Ousellam(Otto), Dorothea Myer-Bennett (Eva), Jake Neads (Mohel/Policeman), Aaron Neil (Ernst), Alexander Newland (Kurt), Sadie Shimmin (Poldi), Griffin Stevens (Aaron) and Eleanor Wyld (Nellie).
The children’s cast comprises Noa Alberts, Rocco Brenner, Atticus Collier, Willa Collier, Aidan Greenberg, Mae Sarner Henson, Aidan Herrmann, Lexi Hudaly, Audrey Kattan, Ollie Kohn, Max Lester, Mace Phoenix, Leo Roberts, Osian Salter, Raphael Shbero and Shoshana Shbero.
At the beginning of the 20th Century, Leopoldstadt was the old, crowded Jewish quarter of Vienna. But Hermann Merz, a manufacturer and baptised Jew married to Catholic Gretl, has moved up in the world. Gathered in the Merz apartment in a fashionable part of the city, Hermann’s extended family are at the heart of Tom Stoppard’s epic yet intimate drama. By the time we have taken leave of them, Austria has passed through the convulsions of war, revolution, impoverishment, annexation by Nazi Germany and – for Austrian Jews – the Holocaust in which 65,000 of them were murdered. It is for the survivors to pass on a story which hasn’t ended yet.
Set designs are by Richard Hudson, with costume designs by Brigitte Reiffenstuel, lighting by Neil Austin, sound and original music by Adam Cork, and movement by EJ Boyle. Casting is by Amy BallCDG,with children’s casting by Verity Naughton.
Leopoldstadt received its world premiere on 25 January 2020. As initial casting was announced the run was extended due to public demand and was scheduled to play a 20 week run until 13 June 2020. The final performance before lockdown was 14 March 2020.
Leopoldstadt is the sixth collaboration between SFP and Tom Stoppard.It reunites Stoppard, Marber and Friedman and is co-produced with Gavin Kalin Productions, Tulchin Bartner Productions,
Scott M. Delman/Patrick Gracey in association with Rupert Gavin, 1001 Nights Productions, Nica Burns, Burnt Umber Productions, Bradford W. Edgerton, Eilene Davidson Productions, Richard Winkler
Leopoldstadt is fully committed to the safety of our audience, performers, staff and everyone who works at or visits our theatre. To help us welcome audiences back safely, we are taking care to meet Government and industry COVID-19 guidelines and are partnered with Society of London Theatre’s ‘See It Safely’ campaign.
Artistic Director Gareth Machin and Executive Director Sebastian Warrack today announce the full cast for Wiltshire Creative’s brand-new production of John Godber’s September in the Rain – Ian Kelsey and Nicola Sloane. Machin’s production opens on 17 September, with previews from 16 September, and runs until 9 October.
Following the run of September in the Rain, Michael Grandage will direct Ian McDiarmid in Julian Barnes’ The Lemon Table from 14 to 23 October, ahead of a UK tour.
SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN
by John Godber
16 September – 9 October
Cast: Ian Kelsey, Nicola Sloane
Director Gareth Machin; Designer Toots Butcher; Lighting Designer Johanna Town Sound Designer Andrea J Cox;Casting Director Gabrielle Dawes CDG
1950. Blackpool. Newly-wed Yorkshire couple, Jack and Liz have crossed the Pennines for their first trip to the seaside mecca. Beneath an uncertain September sky, they holiday in a world of stripy deckchairs, sandy sandwiches and stroppy donkeys. As the Wurlitzer organ plays they sway together on the dance floor of the Tower Ballroom.
For thirty years, come rain or shine, they never miss their annual week-long holiday on the Blackpool sands. Three decades of boarding houses, talent contests and fish and chips on the prom.
Moving backwards and forward through time, a married life unfolds through squabbles, children, laughter and tears against the backdrop of the heyday of the British seaside.
Ian Kelsey plays Jack. For theatre, his work includes Legally Blonde (Curve, Leicester), The Shawshank Redemption (UK tour), Chicago (Cambridge Theatre), Same Next Year (Theatre Royal Windsor), Kes (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Grease (UK tour and West End). For television, his work includes as series regular Vinny Ashford in Coronation Street, Lovesick, as series regular Alex Wakefield in Doctors, Dustin Baby, as lead regular Richard Mayne in Blue Murder, Hotel Babylon, as lead regular Jack Clayton in Where the Heart Is, as lead regular in Matt Brewer in Down to Earth, as series regular Dr. Patrick Spiller in Casualty and Holby City, Murder in Mind, Touching Evil, Adams Family Tree, Men Behaving Badly, and as series regular Dave Glover in Emmerdale; and for film, Black Beauty and Wild Justice.
Nicola Sloane returns to Wiltshire Creative to play Liz – she previously appeared in Two Cities. Her theatre work includes GHBoy (Charing Cross Theatre), The Butterfly Lion,Strife, Way Upstream, The Gondoliers and The Waterbabies (Chichester Festival Theatre), Our Town (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Frankenstein,To Kill a Mockingbird (Royal Exchange Manchester), Love in Idleness, A Little Night Music (Menier Chocolate Factory and West End), London Road, 50th Anniversary Gala, Anything Goes and Love’s Labour’s Lost (National Theatre), Flowers for Mrs Harris, My Fair Lady and Me and My Girl (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield), Enter the Guardsman (Donmar Warehouse), and The Sound of Music, Acorn Antiques, Spend Spend Spend, Martin Guerre, Les Miserables and The Woman in Black (West End). For television, her work includes Maigret, Black Mirror, Home Fires, Call the Midwife, Parade’s End, Dancing on the Edge and Home Again; and for film, Red Joan, The Danish Girl, The Tale of Tales, London Road, Mr Turner, The Theory of Everything, Les Miserables, Broken and Season of the Witch.
John Godber is a writer and director. His credits as a playwright include Scary Bikers, Bouncers, Up ‘n’ Under (Olivier Award for Best New Comedy), April in Paris, Teechers, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Cramp, Happy Jack, September in the Rain, Salt of the Earth, Passion Killers, Happy Families, Up ‘n’ Under ll, Gym and Tonic, Dracula, Lucky Sods, Hooray for Hollywood, Weekend Breaks, It Started With a Kiss, Unleashed, Thick As a Brick, Big Trouble in the Little Bedroom, Seasons in the Sun, On a Night Like This, Our House, Departures, Men of the World, Reunion, Screaming Blue Murder, Black Ties and Tales, Perfect Pitch, Going Dutch, Christmas Crackers and Crown Prince. Film writing credits include My Kingdom for a Horse (starring Sean Bean).
Gareth Machin Director Gareth is the Artistic Director of Wiltshire Creative. Previously, he was studio associate at the National Theatre, artistic director of Southwark Playhouse and associate director at Bristol Old Vic. For the company, his work includes Making Massinger,Robin Hood, Her Naked Skin, Moonfleet, Little Robin Redbreast, Worst Wedding Ever, The Night Before Christmas, A Little of What You Fancy, Hedda Gabler, Can’t Buy Me Love, The Magna Carta Plays, Little Shop of Horrors, Separate Tables, Bedroom Farce, London Calling, The Recruiting Officer, A Man of No Importance, Dangerous Corner, The Spire and Epsom Downs. His other directing credits include Fanta Orange (Finborough Theatre), Three More Sleepless Nights (National Theatre), The Canterville Ghost, Gaffer!, The Canterbury Tales, The Chimes, The Archbishop’s Ceiling (Southwark Playhouse), The Real Thing (Royal Theatre, Northampton), Macbeth (Creation Theatre), The Wizard of Oz (Hall for Cornwall), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Look Back in Anger, Betrayal, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, The Beggar’s Opera, Molly Sweeney, Up the Feeder Down the ‘Mouth and Back Again, Sea Life, Croak Croak Croak, A Tender Prayer, Anatomy of a Madman, Bitter With a Twist, Krapp’s Last Tape and Spring Awakening (Bristol Old Vic). As a playwright, his work includes The Tailor of Gloucester, Moonfleet, Little Robin Redbreast, The Night Before Christmas (Salisbury Playhouse), Pinocchio, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom Thumb and Other Giant Stories and The Canterbury Tales (Dukes Playhouse, Lancaster).
September in the Rain is kindly supported by:
Christopher & Frances Wain, long-standing Members of Salisbury Playhouse.
Ticket Sales: 01722 320333 (Tuesday to Saturday 10am – 12pm)
Tickets from £12
SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN
16 September – 9 October
THE LEMON TABLE
14 October – 23 October
Members who book for The Lemon Table and September in the Rain at the same time before the 26 July enjoy double the membership with 20% off up to 4 tickets
SEE IT SAFELY -We have been granted the use of Society of London Theatre & UK Theatre’s See It Safely mark. The mark certifies that we are complying with the latest Government and industry COVID-19 guidelines, to ensure the safety of our staff and audiences. You can find out more here https://officiallondontheatre.com/see-it-safely/ about the measures we have been putting in place ready for your visit, and what you will need to know beforehand.
