Trafalgar Studios until 25 May, then touring until 22 June, beginning at Richmond Theatre 27 May – 1 June
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
4****
Joshua Harmon’s scathing comedy skewers the hypocrisy and shallowness of diversity programmes in a system based on white (male) privilege. Sherri (Alex Kingston) is the admissions officer in a New Hampshire private school, while her husband Bill (Andrew Woodall) is the head. When their son Charlie (Ben Edelman) doesn’t get into Yale, but his best friend Perry does, the fallout has huge repercussions for the family. Perry’s father is mixed race, and both Charlie and Sherri think that this ticked more boxes on Yale’s admissions policy, making it easier for him to get in. Sherri is obtuse and discussing this with Perry’s mother Ginnie (Sarah Hadland), but Charlie launches into a spectacular rant about race and gender full of bitterness, bile, hate and self-pity that white boys like him always miss out. Filled with remorse and shame – his father congratulates Sherri that they’ve raised a Republican! – and with the dramatic self-assured certainty of youth that he can atone, Charlie makes decisions that shock and horrify his parents and they scrabble to save his future.
Harmon’s writing is clever and sharp, with lots of cringe-inducing lines of self-justification from Sherri as she realises that her career is built on visuals rather than actual change. At one point in an argument with her son we see the flip side of the old chestnut about liking a race, but here she’s shouting that she likes white people. The play begins with Sherri confronting Roberta (Margot Leicester) about the new school catalogue containing no photos of students of colour. Roberta is older and her family has been connected with the school for a century, and she is obviously there to represent the casual racism of previous generations, horrified and bemused that that words she’s always used are now unusable. But her analysis of students, counting each race in photographs, serves to highlight Sherri’s hypocrisy as she categorises by race, along with the myth of happy diversity in a school where only the most gifted students of colour need apply, while a rich daddy can open the door for the most unpromising white boy.
None of the characters are likeable, only sweet old racist Roberta, who will remind you of those dotty old aunts you see at family gatherings, and even though there are fantastic performances all round, you do feel that director Daniel Aukin could have given them a little more to do. Alex Kingston does the gradual descent from blazing certainty to self-doubt brilliantly, but Sherri could be so much more interesting. That’s my only gripe really – I loved the play, and it was wonderful watching the (predominantly white) audience squirm at familiar phrases that we hear in everyday life. Charlie’s willingness to make a sacrifice to help change the injustice of the system, set against his parents’ smug actions which don’t actually impact on them, and Sherri’s reaction when the policies she prides herself on prove to be damaging for her own child, all pose painful questions about the audience’s own privilege in a heavy handed but extremely entertaining way.
This piercingly provocative play is jam packed with antagonistic humour, forcing the audience to take a long hard look at themselves even as they are wiping away tears of laughter. If you’re in London, grab a ticket while you can – or you may be lucky enough to catch the play on its short 4 venue tour, starting at Richmond Theatre.
Director: Indhu Rubasingham;Designer: Richard Kent;Lighting Designer: Guy Hoare
Sound Designer: Alexander Caplen; Composer: David Shrubsole
Movement Director: Diane Alison-Mitchell; Casting Director: Sarah Bird
Celebrating one year since the re-launch as Kiln Theatre, Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham today announces the full cast for Samuel Adamson’s Wife. Rubasingham directs Richard Cant (Peter/Ivar at 58/Landlord), Karen Fishwick (Daisy/Clare), Pamela Hardman (Character Actress /Marjorie/Embassy Assistant), Joshua James(Robert/Finn/Ivar at 28), Calam Lynch (Eric/Cas) and Sirine Saba (Suzannah). The production opens on 4 June, with previews from 30 May, and runs until 6 July, coinciding with London’s Pride parade.
‘Nora slammed the door on a broken, obsolete system for us, and now a hundred years later we have this free, independent union.’
1959. 1988. 2019. 2042. Four couples intersect with a production of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. When it comes to identity, gender and unrequited love, how do societal expectations and pressures change over time?
Samuel Adamson maps a constellation of four queer stories within four generations in one family. The world première of this captivating study of sexuality across the ages is directed by Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham.
Artistic director of Kiln Theatre and director of Wife, Indhu Rubasingham said today, “I am very proud that Wife is receiving its world première at Kiln Theatre. The play explores the changes within the institution of marriage, from the 1950s to today to an imaginative future, and we are excited to ignite discussion around queer identities and the boxes society tries to put us in.”
Writer Samuel Adamson added, “I’m delighted that the world première of Wife is taking place at the Kiln, and that Indhu Rubasingham is directing the play. It’s a particular honour to be a part of the opening season of the beautifully refurbished theatre, which is such a welcoming space for communities – local, national and international – to come and share stories.”
Samuel Adamson’s plays and adaptations for the stage include Running Wild (Chichester Festival Theatre/Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), My Name is Frida (Hoard Festival, New Vic Stoke), Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya (West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Light Princess (National Theatre), Gabriel (Shakespeare’s Globe), Ostrovsky’s Larisa and the Merchants (Arcola Theatre), Frank & Ferdinand (National Theatre Connections), Decade (Headlong Theatre), Mrs Affleck (National Theatre), Some Kind of Bliss (Trafalgar Studios), All About My Mother (Old Vic), A Chain Play (Almeida Theatre), Southwark Fair (National Theatre), Fish and Company (National Youth Theatre/Soho Theatre), Ibsen’s Pillars Of The Community (National Theatre), Schnitzler’s Professor Bernhardi (Arcola Theatre), 24 Hour Plays (Old Vic), Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (Southwark Playhouse), Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard (Oxford Stage Company/Riverside Studios), Chekhov’s Three Sisters (Oxford Stage Company/Whitehall Theatre), Drink, Dance, Laugh and Lie (Bush Theatre), Grace Note (Peter Hall Company/Old Vic) and Clocks and Whistles (Bush Theatre).
Richard Cant plays Peter/Ivar at 58/Landlord.His theatre credits After Edward, Edward the Second(Shakespeare’s Globe), Maydays, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing (RSC), Saint Joan (Donmar Warehouse), My Night with Reg (Donmar Warehouse/Apollo Theatre), Medea (Almeida Theatre), The Trial (Young Vic), War Horse (New London Theatre),Salome (Headlong), Troilus and Cressida, Cymbeline (Cheek by Jowl), Original Sin, The Country Wife (Sheffield Theatres), Other People (Royal Court Theatre), Pera Palas (Gate Theatre), The Canterbury Tales (Garrick Theatre) and Charley’sAunt (York Theatre Royal). His television credits include Taboo, Outlander, Bleak House and The Way We Live Now; and for film, Mary Queen of Scots, Stan & Ollie, Sparkle, (Past Present Future) Imperfect and The Lawless Heart.
Karen Fishwick plays Daisy/Clare. Her theatre credits include Romeo and Juliet, The Merry Wives of Windsor(RSC), Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour (Edinburgh Festival Fringe/UK tour/National Theatre/Duke of York’s Theatre – Olivier Award nominated for Best Supporting Actress), Glasgow Girls (Citizen’s Theatre), Caucasian Chalk Circle (Royal Lyceum Theatre), Dirt Under the Carpet (Òran Mór), Hello, Dolly!, Present Laughter, A Chorus of Disapproval, Lady Windermere’s Fan, Whisky Kisses, The Yellow on the Broom, The Admirable Crichton and Mr Bolfy (Pitlochry Festival Theatre). Her television credits include Badults.
Pamela Hardman plays Character Actress /Marjorie/Embassy Assistant. Her theatre credits include North by Northwest (Bath Theatre Royal/Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto), The Dresser (UK tour/Duke of York’s Theatre), Taken at Midnight (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Mother Clap’s Molly House (National Theatre/Aldwych Theatre), It Run’s in The Family, Funny Money (Playhouse Theatre), An Inspector Calls, Noises Off, Talking Heads, Lettice and Lovage, Equus, Quartet and Single Spies (UK tour).
Joshua James plays Robert/Finn/Ivar at 28. His theatre credits include Lady Windemere’s Fan (Vaudeville Theatre) King Lear (Shakespeare’s Globe), Life of Galileo (Young Vic), Mary Stuart (Almeida Theatre), Platnov/The Seagull, Here We Go, Light Shining In Buckinghamshire, Treasure Island (National Theatre), The War Has Not Started Yet (Theatre Royal Plymouth), Fathers and Sons (Donmar Warehouse), and Bring Up the Bodies and Wolf Hall (RSC). His television credits include McMafia, Black Mirror, Utopia, Whites and Identity; and for film, Darkest Hour, Criminal and Summer in February.
Calam Lynch plays Eric/Cas. His theatre credits include Much Ado About Nothing (Rose Theatre Kingston). His television credits include Derry Girls and Mrs Wilson; and for film, Dunkirk.
Sirine Saba plays Suzannah. Her theatre credits include The Winter’s Tale, King Lear, Holy Warriors, Anthony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare’s Globe), Goats, The Crossings Play, Fireworks, The Rise and Fall of a Lebanese Pop Princess (Royal Court Theatre), Why it’s Kicking off Everywhere (Young Vic), TheIntelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Socialism (Hampstead Theatre), Another World, Nation (National Theatre), The Invisible (Bush Theatre), Next Fall (Southwark Playhouse), The Winter’s Tale (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), The Keepers of Infinite Space(Park Theatre), TheFearof Breathing (Finborough Theatre), Testing The Echo (Tricycle Theatre) and Baghdad Wedding (Soho Theatre). Her television credits include Unforgotten and Footballers Wive$: Overtime; and for film, I Am Slave.
Artistic Director of Kiln Theatre Indhu Rubasingham directs. Her work for the company includes HolySh!t, White Teeth, Red Velvet (which transferred to New York and later to the Garrick Theatre as part of the Kenneth Branagh Season) and Handbagged (winner of Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre – also West End, UK tour and Washington DC). Other productions for Kiln Theatre include The Invisible Hand, A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes, Multitudes, The House That Will Not Stand, Paper Dolls, Women, Power and Politics, Stones in His Pockets, Detaining Justice, The Great Game: Afghanistan, Fabulation and Starstruck. Other theatre credits include Ugly Lies the Bone, The Motherf**cker with the Hat (Evening Standard Award for Best Play), The Waiting Room (all National Theatre), The Ramayana (National Theatre/ Birmingham Rep), Belong, Disconnect,Free Outgoing, Lift Off, Clubland, The Crutch and Sugar Mummies (Royal Court), Ruined (Almeida), Yellowman and Anna in the Tropics (Hampstead Theatre), Secret Rapture and The Misanthrope (Minerva, Chichester),Romeo and Juliet (Chichester Festival Theatre ), Pure Gold (Soho Theatre), The No Boys Cricket Club and Party Girls (Theatre Royal Stratford East), Wuthering Heights (Birmingham REP), Heartbreak House (Watford Palace Theatre), Sugar Dollies and Shakuntala (Gate Theatre), A River Sutra (Three Mill Island Studios), Rhinoceros (UC Davis, California) and A Doll’s House (Young Vic). Her production of The Great Wave is currently running at the National Theatre in a co-production with Kiln Theatre.
WILLY RUSSELL’S EDUCATING RITA STARRING STEPHEN TOMPKINSON Alhambra Theatre, Bradford Monday 6 – Saturday 11 May 2019 Captioned performance: Fri 10 May, 7.30pm, Audio Described performance: Sat 11 May, 2.30pm Call the Box Office on 01274 432000 or visit bradford-theatres.co.uk
A major new stage production of Willy Russell’s EDUCATING RITA is coming to the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford from Monday 6 to Saturday 11 May. Starring Stephen Tompkinson as Frank and introducing Jessica Johnson as Rita, the play will be directed by Max Roberts.
EDUCATING RITA tells the story of married hairdresser Rita, who enrols on an Open University course to expand her horizons. She encounters university tutor Frank who is a frustrated poet, brilliant academic and dedicated drinker, and he is less than enthusiastic about teaching Rita. However, Frank soon finds that his passion for literature is reignited by Rita, whose technical ability for the subject is limited by her lack of education, but whose enthusiasm Frank finds refreshing. The two soon realise how much they have to learn from each other.
The play was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and played at the Warehouse Theatre, London in 1980, starring Julie Walters and Mark Kingston. Julie Walters reprised her role in the BAFTA, Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning film opposite Michael Caine.
Born in Liverpool in 1947, Willy Russell left school at 15 and became a women’s hairdresser and part-time singer/songwriter before returning to education to retrain as a teacher. Russell’s other writing credits include the Olivier Award-winning musical Blood Brothers, and the hugely successful play Shirley Valentine, which won the Olivier Awards for Best New Comedy and Best New Actress, and a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play. The play was adapted for film and nominated for a host of BAFTA and Academy Awards. Willy Russell continues to be one of the most celebrated writers of his generation with works constantly in production throughout the world as well as in the UK.
Stephen Tompkinson’s television credits TV’s Torvill & Dean, BBC’s The Split, five series of DCI Banks, four series of Trollied, seven series of Wild at Heart, six series of Drop the Dead Donkey (British Comedy Award Winner for Best TV Comedy Actor) and three series of Ballykissangel, and his films include Phil in Brassed Off. His theatre work includes Spamalot, Rattle of a Simple Man and Arsenic and Old Lace in the West End, Cloaca and A Christmas Carol (Old Vic), Art and Tartuffe (National Tours).
Jessica Johnson’s theatre credits include Call Me Mary Poppins, Goth Weekend, Kings and Queens, Each Piece and Anti-Gravity at the Live Theatre, Newcastle. She previously played Rita in Rebecca Frecknall’s 2017 production of Educating Rita at the Gala Theatre, Durham. Her television credits include Wire In The Blood (ITV), Coronation Street (ITV) and Cuckoo (Channel 4).
Max Roberts is Emeritus Artistic Director of Newcastle’s Live Theatre. Under his direction, the Live Theatre has become one of the country’s most successful theatre companies with an outstanding reputation for developing new work. His Olivier Award nominated production of Lee Hall’s Cooking With Elvis transferred to the West End’s Whitehall Theatre (now Trafalgar Studios) before touring nationally. He also directed The Pitman Painters, which transferred to the National Theatre and won Best Play at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards before opening on Broadway.
EDUCATING RITA will have set and costume designs by Patrick Connelan, lighting design by Drummond Orr and sound design by David Flynn.
EDUCATING RITA is produced by David Pugh & Dafydd Rogers, and co-produced by Theatre by the Lake.
Please call the Box Office on 01274 432000 or visit bradford-theatres.co.uk for more information.
Almost unheard of in the UK, the shamisen is a traditional three-stringed Japanese instrument that has become increasingly popular around the world. In the final concert in this year’s Avex Recital Series, celebrated shamisen player HONJOH Hidejiro is proudly welcomed back to London’s renowned Wigmore Hall after blowing audiences away during his spectacular debut.
Characterised by its long neck and guitar-like body, the shamisen’s energetic and versatile nature makes it the perfect instrument to use for a range of genres including jazz, folk and rock music. With Hidejiro’s utterly unique blend of visceral musicality and virtuosic technique, Hidejiro was the first shamisen performer to receive the prestigious Idemitsu Music Award.
This concert will comprise an incredible programme of works that have been specifically written, or newly adapted, for the shamisen. In addition to performing the world premiere of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s new composition, Hidejiro will perform Dai Fujikura’s newly composed Neo; a passage which follows the classical style, it has also been crafted to induce an adrenaline rush in the listener as the exhilarating melody relentlessly chases and looms upon them.
With a new and captivating approach, the lively repertoire continues with a kabuki-style piece in Hamlet to be or not, combining Hamlet’s Soliloquy with vocals and an exaggerated recitation. The music follows the style of gidayubushi and the traditional puppet theatre music, often used in popular dramas. Initially written to be performed in Japanese, Hidejiro has chosen to chant and sing the original English script.
Showcasing the global appeal of the shamisen, Hidejiro will perform Jiva – a rhythmic and ethnic piece reminiscent of Indian music. With its geometric allure, it fuses the acoustic function of “Sawari” with “Javari” which refers to the power of sound encompassing a force of life. With Hekitan No.2, audiences are urged to use their imaginations and to picture a scene that is held dear inside your heart, perhaps a Japanese garden, or a landscape painting.
HONJOH Hidejiro comments, The significance of music as an expression of the moment requires that it adapts flexibly to a multitude of different scenes and people, but to make this possible an unparalleled musical talent is crucial. The shamisen had been a unique and global presence for the people since as far back as the Edo era, and has a history of assimilating its surroundings and cultures with a flexible and accepting attitude. In these rapidly changing times when artists are constantly transcending linguistic boundaries with the medium of expression, I felt inspired to test how much of Hamlet’s inner conflict I could convey through a candid musical performance of shamisen and chants. It’s exciting to perform new compositions and work closely composers, such as Dai Fujikura who is unique; I have never met anyone so enigmatic and modest despite his brilliance. Do not miss the cutting-edge music of the Japanese traditional instrument!
Commenting on his adaptation of the well-known piece, Neo, renowned composer Dai Fujikura says, Until now, I have never written for the shamisen. My attraction to the shamisen was the concept of adding ‘noise’ to the sound, which is unthinkable in western classical music. I loved it. I immediately thought of it as a bit like distortion with an electric guitar, so I treated this piece like a guitar solo in a rock concert. I hope you are cheering and screaming when he finishes this piece, like you would in a rock concert.
Club Tropicana the Musical is set in the 1980s and loosely revolves around the story of Lorraine (Karina Hind) who calls off her wedding to Olly (Cellen Chugg Jones) and then goes off on her honeymoon to the Club Tropicana with her two best friends. Of course in musical land nothing is that simple so throw in the jilted bridegroom turning up at the same hotel, some unrequited love, a rogue Spanish worker and a possible hotel inspector, mix it all up with fabulous 1980s music and some cracking dancing and you have a fantastic night out at the theatre.
Written by Michael Gygnell, Mark Goucher and Gavin Kalin’s production of Club Tropicana The Musical is an affectionate tribute to the 1980s, when anything seemed possible and if you were young life was fun and vibrant (and that was just the neon clothes!). The story is full of humour and kitsch and asides about what might be in the future, which the audience knows has come to pass. It moves on at a pace, with one song often moving swiftly into the next one. This young cast is full of verve and have cracked the 1980s dancing beautifully, the choreography is spot on, but I hadn’t quite realised how much dance styles had changed! Costumes that are absolutely right and a wonderfully cheesy backdrop took us right back to the 1980s.
Joe McElderry as Garry, the Entertainments Manager at the hotel, had the audience in the palm of his hands from the minute he walked on the stage. He was clearly loving every minute of the performance and his timing was superb as chaos reigned. His voice was always beautiful and Relax was one of my favourites, but it has to be said that the rendition of Making Your Mind Up will stay with me for a long time, for all of the right reasons.
Kate Robbins as Consuela owned the stage as the anarchic Spanish hotel cleaner/dogsbody. She uses all of her body to create the character and had the audience hooting with laughter just by the way she sat down. Of course there were some impressions along the way but these were performed as Consuela performing them – sheer brilliance. Her singing voice is wonderful and who knew that the Minder theme tune I Could Be So Good For You would work so well as part of a musical.
The musical numbers were performed superbly by all the cast, particularly Cellen Chugg Jones (Olly) and Karina Hind (Lorraine), the duet of Take On Me was stunning. Neil McDermott as Robert and Amelle Berrabah as Serena gel well as the hotel owners and Emily Tierney plays Christine wonderfully. Rebecca Mendoza (Tracey) performs a wonderfully funny version of The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
If you want serious theatre then this isn’t for you, if you are offended by some slightly dodgy jokes this isn’t for you either. This is a frothy vibrant cocktail of fun and fabulous music, providing a fantastic night out at the theatre. Monday nights at Hull New Theatre make for a hard audience, so how wonderful to watch the entire front stalls rise as one to give the cast a well-deserved standing ovation. Hull loved you – and we all went out buzzing with enjoyment and with one or two songs playing in our heads!
Churchill Theatre, Bromley – until 20th April 2019
Reviewed by Alexandra Sykes
5*****
When you get a phone call just before half 5 asking if you can review Rocky Horror Show that evening there is only one answer, “let me grab my fishnets”. Despite the short notice and the return journey to the venue being longer than the show it is impossible to say no to Rocky Horror Show.
Laura Harrison (the Usherette and Mangenta) starts the show off by singing Science Fiction/Double Feature with the audience cheering and singing along. Joanne Clifton and Ben Adams bring Janet and Brad to life respectively with Kristian Lavercombe playing the role of Riff Raff, a role he has played for over 1000 performances. With Miracle Chance as Columbia and Rose Chisari as Eddie and Dr Scott. Callum Evans plays Rocky and his background in gymnastics is used to advantage during the show with Evans incorporating gymnastic moves into various dance routines. Stephen Webb’s Frank N Furter is one of the best incarnations of the character I have seen but the true star of the show last night was Philip Franks as the Narrator. Franks took the heckles from the audience and had them laughing at his responses, especially after he encouraged the audience to come back in a few weeks to heckle Anne Widicome in the same way.
Despite a few technical hitches throughout the show the actors carried on as if it were completely normal. The audience participation made the show what it is and it is impossible to see the same show twice. All in all a good night out to a show that should be made compulsory viewing.
Directed by Samuel Hodges; Designer: Rosanna Vize; Sound Designer: Alexandra Faye Braithwaite
Lighting Designer: Jackie Shemesh; Movement Director: Tom Jackson Greaves
Casting by Annelie Powell CDG
Nuffield Southampton Theatres – NST City
24 May – 22 June 2019
With SS Mendi, a co-production with Isango Ensemble, opening this week at Royal Opera House, Director ofNuffield Southampton Theatres, Samuel Hodges, today announces the full cast for a new staging of Peter Morgan’s The Audience. Samuel Hodges directs Lizzie Hopley as Margaret Thatcher and Bobo MacDonald, Paul Kemp as all other Prime Ministers, Sharon Singh as The Equerry and Fay Burwell and Maddie Farmer share the role of Young Elizabeth, joining the previously announced Faye Castelow as Queen Elizabeth II. The production opens on 30 May, with previews from 24 May, and runs until 22 June.
65 Years. 13 Prime Ministers. One Queen.
For 65 years, the Queen has met her Prime Minister every week in an Audience at Buckingham Palace. Both parties agree never to repeat what is said. Not even to their spouses.
What is discussed? What secrets are shared? Does her Majesty have her favourites?
Sometimes intimate, often confessional, occasionally explosive, The Audience imagines the private moments that define a changing Britain. One head of state. Endless heads of government. This play asks where the real power lies.
Nuffield Southampton Theatres Director Samuel Hodges directs an intimate and re-worked production of the smash hit play from Peter Morgan, the writer of the critically acclaimed TV series The Crown and the Oscar award winning film The Queen.
Samuel Hodges, Director of Nuffield Southampton, said today, “This is a play that interrogates where power lies. Is it in the parade of middle aged, almost entirely male prime ministers or the unchanging, unwavering woman they meet with? For that reason I knew I wanted to cast one actor to play all of the male PMs from the start.
I’m really pleased to have such a strong local presence in the cast with Sharon, who grew up minutes from our new theatre, and both of our young Elizabeths from the local area, one a member of our youth theatre.”
Peter Morgan’sother work for theatre includes Frost/Nixon. His television work includes The Crown, The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies, The Jury, The Special Relationship, Longford, Colditz, Henry VIII and The Deal; and for film, Rush, 360, Hereafter, State of Play, The Damned United, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Last King of Scotland and The Queen.
Faye Castelow plays Queen Elizabeth II. Her theatre credits include TheRover, The Witch of Edmonton, The White Devil, The Roaring Girl (RSC), Man and Superman, After the Dance, Time and the Conways (National Theatre), Nijinsky, The Deep Blue Sea (Chichester Festival Theatre), How to be Another Woman (Gate Theatre), Mountain Hotel and The American Clock (Orange Tree Theatre). Her television credits include Pure and Rellik.
Lizzie Hopley plays Margaret Thatcher and Bobo MacDonald. Her theatre credits include The Taming of the Shrew (US tour), Roaring Girls (RSC), Tis Pity She’s a Whore (international tour), Abigail’s Party, Twelfth Night (UK tour) and Six Characters in Search of an Author (Young Vic). For television, her credits include The Long Song, Little Boy Blue, Luther, Call the Midwife and Randall & Hoprick Deceased II; and for film, Day of the Flowers, Jane Eyre, Nowhere Boy and Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman.
Paul Kemp plays the Prime Ministers: Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, John Major and Harold Wilson. His theatre credits include Imperium (Gielgud Theatre), Richard III (Arcola Theatre), Wendy and Peter Pan (RSC), Ghost Stories (Arts Theatre), The Lady in the Van (UK tour), Seven Year Twitch, How to be Happy (Orange Tree Theatre), The Lady form the Sea (Royal Exchange Theatre), The Crucible (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), My Wonderful Day (Stephen Joseph Theatre/59E59, New York/UK tour), Woman in Mind (Stephen Joseph Theatre/Vaudeville Theatre). For television his credits include Maxwell, The Trial of Tony Blair, Life on Mars; and for film, When Saturday Comes.
Southampton’s Sharon Singh plays The Equerry. Her theatre credits include Arabian Nights (Hoxton Hall), The Game of Love and Chai (Tara Arts/UK tour), Death of Kings, The Misanthrope (Conservatoire National Supérieur D’art Dramatique), Cyrano de Bergerac (New Vic Theatre), Hamlet (Bussey Building), Titus Andronicus,Othello (UK tour) and Holes (Arcola Theatre); and for television, Vera.
Samuel Hodges is Director of Nuffield Southampton Theatres (NST). His productions for NST include The Shadow Factory, Dedication – Shakespeare and Southampton, and The Glass Menagerie. Previously he founded the HighTide Festival Theatre in 2007 and was the Artistic Director for five years, during which time he produced over 25 new plays, co-producing with the National Theatre, The Old Vic and the Bush Theatre, amongst others. Between 2012 and 2014, he ran the Criterion Theatre in London’s West End, for whom he curated a late-night programme and a one-off summer season of new work to celebrate the London Olympics.
Nuffield Southampton Theatres is one of the UK’s leading professional theatre companies. The company is led by Samuel Hodges, supported by a team of associates: directors Blanche McIntyre, Natalie Abrahami and Michael Longhurst, playwright Adam Brace, choreographer Drew McOnie and poet Inua Ellams. NST develops and produces work with some of the UK’s most exciting and dynamic regional theatres. NST’s awards include Best Director at UK Theatre Awards 2013 for The Seagull, Regional Theatre of the Year at The Stage Awards 2015, Best Design at UK Theatre Awards 2015 for The Hudsucker Proxy and the 2017 Renee Stepham UK Theatre Award for Best Presentation of Touring Theatre for Fantastic Mr Fox. In 2018 NST was nominated for three awards in the UK Theatre Awards 2018 – Best Design for The Shadow Factory; The Renee Stepham Award for Best Presentation of Touring Theatre for A Streetcar Named Desire, and Achievement in Marketing and Audience Development for the NST City opening campaign.
NST City is Nuffield Southampton Theatres new venue which opened in Southampton’s city centre in 2018. The theatre’s programme runs alongside NST Campus situated on the Highfield Campus at the University of Southampton.
Nuffield Southampton Theatres is an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation and a registered charity, receiving additional core funding from the University of Southampton and Southampton City Council.
All-female cast announced for the stage premiere of Adelle Stripe’s novel Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile
Freedom Studios are delighted to announce full casting for the premiere of Lisa Holdsworth’s new stage adaptation of Adelle Stripe’s novel about the defiant life of the celebrated playwright Andrea Dunbar – Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile.
The production’s all-female cast will feature Emily Spowage (Eaten by Lions, Mecca Films) as Andrea Dunbar; Lucy Hird (The Funfair, HOME) as the younger Andrea Dunbar, Claire- Marie Seddon (Tarzanne, Interplay) as Eileen/Sophie/cast; Balvinder Sopal (Partition, Leeds Playhouse) as Mo/Patsy/cast; and Laura Lindsay (Partus, Third Angel and Sheffield Theatres) as Alma/Liane/cast.
The Beacon, Buttershaw, Bradford, 1990. Andrea Dunbar, acclaimed writer ofRita, Sue, and Bob Too, mum, sister, best friend, is struggling with her latest work. Her aching head is full of voices, stories from her past which have to be heard.
A co-production between The Wardrobe Ensemble, Royal & Derngate, Northampton, and Shoreditch Town Hall Presented in the West End by Trafalgar Theatre Productions and Eilene Davidson
THE WARDROBE ENSEMBLE’S HIT COMEDY EDUCATION, EDUCATION, EDUCATION ARRIVES IN THE WEST END FOR STRICTLY LIMITED 4 WEEK RUN AT TRAFALGAR STUDIOS, 31ST MAY – 29TH JUNE
Acclaimed theatre company The Wardrobe Ensemble, in co-production with Royal & Derngate, Northampton and Shoreditch Town Hall, will bring the The Scotsman Fringe First Award andThe Stage Edinburgh Award winning, smash-hit production Education, Education, Education to London’s West End this summer.
“We in Germany, and Europe, have been watching somewhat envious as your country’s been undergoing a resurrection… Your newfound pride in your culture and your heritage… It’s so wonderful to see a country wearing its identity so proudly on its sleeve”
It’s May 1997.
The iPhone doesn’t exist, no one knows who Harry Potter is, Titanic is on the shelves of every Blockbuster and we have just won Eurovision. Britain is the coolest place in the world.
“First a Eurovision win and now Tony’s our new Prime Minister. I can barely recognize this country; you know I actually saw people smiling on the train this morning.”
At the local secondary school it’s a different story. It’s the last week of term and Tobias, the new German language assistant has just arrived in the UK. While political change occurs outside of the classroom, a revolution slowly starts to take place within it. Tobias is greeted by a group of eccentric schoolteachers just trying to make it through the day, including Miss Belltop-Doyle who can’t control her year 10s and Mr Pashley who is trying to keep a confiscated Tamagotchi alive.
Speaking on this momentous day the Prime Minister, Tony Blair said: “At a good school, children gain the basic tools for life and work. But they ought also to learn the joy of life: the exhilaration of music, the excitement of sport, the beauty of art, the magic of science. And they learn the value of life: what it is to be responsible citizens who give something back to their community.”
This whip-smart show is a love letter to education in the 90s and is jam-packed with more hits than ‘Now That’s What I Call 1997’ including Oasis, Katrina and the Waves, The Spice Girls. Crammed with Teletubbies references, jokes about Take That and the Macarena, Education, Education, Education plays a strictly limited 4 week season at the Trafalgar Studios.
The Wardrobe Ensemble uses its singular style of irreverent humour and inventive theatricality to dissect education and responsibility at the dawn of Blair’s Britain in 1997. In Education, Education, Education audiences are thrown back to the 90s; the music, the fads and the icons as well as issues that remain pertinent to the twenty-first century experience.
The cast of Education, Education, Education will include: Tom Brennan (Paul McIntyre), Ben Vardy (Tim Pashley), Jesse Meadows (Susan Belltop-Doyle), Emily Greenslade (Emily Greenslade), James Newton (Tobias) and Tom England (Hugh Mills). Education, Education, Education has been devised by The Wardrobe Ensemble and directed by Jesse Jones and Helena Middleton. Further casting will be announced in due course.
Education, Education, Education is a co-production between The Wardrobe Ensemble, Royal & Derngate, Northampton, and Shoreditch Town Hall, presented in the West End by Trafalgar Theatre Productions and Eilene Davidson.
LISTINGS
Education, Education, Education Trafalgar Studios 1, 14 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2DY 31 May – 29 June 7.30pm, matinees at 2.3opm on Thursdays and Saturdays* Press Night: 5th June Box Office: 0844 871 7632/ www.educationplay.com *No matinee performance on Sat 22 and Thu 27 June
Directed by Jesse Jones and Helena Middleton Written by The Wardrobe Ensemble Design: Lucy Sierra Lighting Design: Katharine Williams Sound Design: Ben Grant Dramaturg: Bea Roberts Associate Sound Design: Daniel Balfour Wardrobe Supervisor: Felicity Jones
Cast List:
Tom England- Hugh Mills Emily Greenslade- Emily Greenslade Jesse Meadows- Susan Belltop- Doyle James Newton- Tobias Tom Brennan- Paul McIntyre Ben Vardy- Tim Pashley
Coronation Street’s Sonia Ibrahim joins the cast of #BeMoreMartyn
Sonia Ibrahim, best known for playing Coronation Street’s Mel Maguire, has joined the cast of Hope Theatre Company’s ‘#BeMoreMartyn: The Boy with the Deirdre Tattoo.’ The play about Martyn Hett, who lost his life in the Manchester Arena bombing, is embarking on its second UK tour which finishes with a homecoming run at The Lowry Thu 20 – Sat 22 June.
The production is verbatim and all of the words spoken on stage are taken word-for-word from interviews with eight of Martyn’s closest friends. They will take audiences on a journey from the cobbles of Canal Street to his legendary Eurovision parties celebrating Martyn’s favourite divas along the way.
Coronation Street star Sue Nicholls (Audrey Roberts) and Pop Idol winner Michelle McManus are among those celebrities that feature in stories recounted by Martyn’s closest friends.
Nicholls’ portrayal of Coronation Street’s Audrey Roberts and the so-called ‘Audrey Roberts Noise’ was the focus of one of Martyn’s biggest social media hits – with over 580,000 views on YouTube. McManus, meanwhile, was one of Martyn’s favourite performers, the focus of a number of his social media posts, and one of the celebrities to perform at his funeral in June.
Michael Keating, one Martyn’s friends portrayed in the play, said: “This play beautifully encapsulated the legacy we’re left with and the message we want people to remember”
Ibrahim will take over the part of Rachel from Corrie alumni Paula Lane who is currently starring in the national tour of Kinky Boots. Rachel, Martyn’s school friend, talks of their first night out in the gay village, Martyn’s coming out and his idolisation of Coronation Street.
Commenting on the role, Sonia said; “I am truly excited to be joining the talented cast of #BeMoreMartyn. It is an honour and a privilege to share the story of this amazing young man’s life.
“The memories and legacy of Martyn and the other beautiful souls who we lost that day are proof that love will always endure against evil. I am thankful for the opportunity to share Martyn’s story with the world” she concluded.
The production will open in London during the second-year anniversary of the Arena bomb, prior to visiting Brighton, Newcastle and Sheffield. The tour will close at The Lowry, Salford with a special matinee performance specifically for schools.
Talking about the production Adam Zane, Artistic Director of Hope Theatre Company said; “Martyn’s family have been overwhelmingly supportive of the project from the very beginning, they put us in touch with the eight incredible friends that audiences get to know throughout the production. After hours of interviews with them, we are in awe of how Martyn transformed people and could have listened to them talk of how he changed the life of everybody he met over and over again.
“Rachel’s stories are just fantastic; heart-warming and funny so we’re absolutely delighted that Sonia is joining the cast and will be sharing them with our audiences” he added.
‘#BeMoreMartyn: The Boy with the Deirdre Tattoo’ is supported by Arts Council England and Manchester City Council.
Listings Information #BeMoreMartyn: The Boy with the Deirdre Tattoo Dates: Thu 20 – Sat 22 June Times: 8pm Tickets:£21.50 – £18.50. Concessions £2 off. Website
