Month: February 2016

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Relive the 80s in site specific theatre piece by Aled Pedrick

Robin Linde Productions presents:

ON THE LINE

March 2nd, Ivy House Nunhead / March 13th, Arcola Bar

In March, Robin Linde Productions invites you back to the 1980s in a new site specific show by award-nominated playwright Aled Pedrick. Join a group of proactive miners’ wives during the strikes collecting for hungry families, relive the trials and tribulations of Thatcher’s Britain – and dance the night away to Wham!

“This is immersive theatre at its least pretentious” (Little London Magazine)

It is 1985, and everyone’s invited to a festive fundraising party to help the needy. Babs and her best friend Jackie are putting on a night to remember. Drawing parallels between Thatcher’s “Divide and Rule” tactics and today’s political agenda, this new immersive production will open up a moment in recent history and explore how it has shaped the Britain we live in today. Celebrate a shared strength and dignity in unity, stand up against the injustice that threatens to destroy our homes, history and identity – and enjoy an evening of boogie, bingo and banter!

In this site specific show, the audience are invited to become part of the striker’s community and are encouraged to bring real food donations that will then go directly to those Londoners most in need. Partnered with a London foodbank, Robin Linde Productions is supporting parts of our own community that are being forced to live on the line today.

“a strong evening of theatre (…) great performances, original direction and insightful ideas” (Female Arts)

Writer Aled Pedrick’s work includes Y Twr, which was recently nominated for number of Wales Theatre Awards. Director Yasmeen Arden’s work includes the award winning Three Sillies. The cast includes Judith Amsenga (Mike Leigh’s Turner and Out of Joint’s Mixed Up North), Dominik Golding (Downton Abbey), Jeremy Hancock (All Bar Love) and Charlotte Jane Higgins (BBC Bitesize Shakespeare).

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Round The Horne 50th Anniversary Tour Review

Museum of Comedy 4 February – 12 March.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

Fantabulosa!

Watching Round The Horne is like wrapping yourself in a cosy old blanket – you’ll leave feeling warm and fuzzy with a huge smile on your face.

The classic radio show only ran for four series in the 1960s, but the superb material written by Barry Took and Marty Feldman has found new audiences ever since.

Tim Astley has chosen some of the best sketches and compiled them into 2 episodes, following the same pattern as the original show. At the interval you are invited to partake in the meagre BBC refreshments!

Two episodes means that the audience gets to enjoy double helpings of Dame Celia Molestrangler and aging juvenile Binkie Huckabuck, Julian and Sandy (they turn up in a James Bond spoof as polari spouting versions of Q) and Rambling Syd Rumpo (with sing-along version of Green Grow My Nadgers-O).

The writing is gloriously nonsensical, with filthy sounding gibberish, interruptions from Kenneth Williams complaining about the script, and Kenneth Horne continuing calmly with scathing putdowns delivered in the politest possible manner as he keeps the show on track despite the anarchy brewing behind him.

The atmosphere of the show is recreated thoughtfully with the stage set up as the BBC studio and a hapless sound engineer (Conrad Segal) bearing the brunt of the casts’ disapproving glares.

During the interval I overheard one older lady saying that she’d sat with her eyes closed for a while as that was how she’d originally experienced the show. But that meant that she’d missed out on the wonderful physicality of the actors. Jonathan Hansler as Hugh Paddick, Eve Winters as Betty Marsden and Colin Elmer as Kenneth Williams are just brilliant, with bizarre body language for each character, extraordinary facial expressions and knowing looks to the audience at each innuendo. Elmer’s cry of mortal agony is a thing of wonder. Julian Howard McDowell captures Hornes’s unflappable deadpan dependable manner and Nick Wymer’s Douglas Smith makes you wish that BBC announcers still spoke like that – a voice like melting chocolate.

This show will delight Round The Horne fans and those new to the material. An evening of silliness and laughter that takes you back in time to have fun with the gruntfuttocks and cordwanglers. Just look after your nadgers.

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Dirty Dancing Launch

Grand Opera House, York.  By Michelle Richardson

On a wet and windy Monday afternoon in York we were given a special preview at the launch of Dirty Dancing, which is touring the UK from August 2016, coming to York 17th to 22nd October.

The shows producer, Karl Sydow introduced us to a brand new production and showed us a short clip from the last tour, giving us a snap shot of what to expect. He gave us a history of how it all started 12 years ago in Australia and broken records all over the world ever since, until Harry Potter came out that is.

We were then treated to an excellent mumbo performed by Carlie Milner and Paul Michael Jones, previous cast members, playing the parts of Johnny and Penny. Carlie is going to be in the new production with the rest of cast to be announced shortly.

Dirty Dancing has previously toured the UK but this is the first time in York. This has made me want to get the old DVD out again, and watch it for the umpteenth time. I’m so looking forward to seeing Baby, Johnny and Penny, and not forgetting those water melons,on stage in October and “having the time of my life”. I’ll just have to make sure that I get my tickets early because it is sure to be a sell out success.

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LIFT 2016 Announces Full Programme

 

 

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LIFT 2016 ANNOUNCES FULL PROGRAMME

@LIFTfestival // #LIFT2016

  •        ARTISTIC DIRECTOR MARK BALL ANNOUNCES MORE COMMISIONS THAN EVER BEFORE
  •        THREE WORLD AND TEN UK PREMIERES TO BE STAGED DURING 4 WEEK FESTIVAL
  •        WORK FROM 14 COUNTRIES INCLUDING ARGENTINA, BELGIUM, GREECE, POLAND, CANADA, JAPAN, AUSTRALIA, THE USA, LEBANON AND SYRIA
  •        TAYLOR MAC KICKS OFF THE FESTIVAL WITH HIS UK PREMIERE AT HACKNEY EMPIRE ON 1 JUNE
  •        JAPANESE POP-IDOL TOCO NIKAIDO IN MISS REVOLUTIONARY IDOL BERSEKER
  •        ARGENTINIAN ARTIST LOLA ARIAS BRINGS TOGETHER ARGENTINIAN AND BRITISH FALKLANDS WAR VETERANS IN MINEFIELD
  •        DEPART FROM ACCLAIMED AUSTRALIAN COMPANY CIRCA SEES CIRCUS ARTISTS TAKE OVER TOWER HAMLETS CEMETERY PARK
  •        NEIL BARTLETT’S NEW WORK TELLS THE STORY OF A VICTORIAN CROSS DRESSING ARTIST IN STELLA
  •        THE CHILDREN’S CHOICE AWARDS APPOINTS SCHOOL CHILDREN FROM TOTTENHAM AS OFFICIAL FESTIVAL JURY

LIFT 2016 RUNS FROM WEDNESDAY 1 JUNE – SATURDAY 2 JULY

 

TICKETS ON SALE NOW HERE: http://bit.ly/LIFTPRESSPLAY

LIFT has travelled the world to curate a very special playlist of performances, politics and pop-culture for London, so go on – press play.

Meet wild Japanese pop fans, an outré performance star, a body builder, and teenagers with attitude. Waltz, keep secrets, see a brass band, take revenge and sleep with a stranger.  Visit Roma musicians, refugees, ancient Greeks via Sarah Kane, Falklands War veterans, a Victorian music hall and a circus in a cemetery where the undead welcome you in.

Rejoice, dance, mourn, laugh and cry in this most exhilarating of cities.  Walk into the lives of some of the remarkable people who make up London in 4 weeks of stylish, bizarre, moving, flirtatious, sensory performance, as LIFT 2016 celebrates the world in London and London in the world.

LIFT Artistic Director Mark Ball – “Does art help us belong? I have met pioneering artists and performers from around the world who connect to the astonishing range of international communities that make up London, and, asking that very question, have made a Festival that investigates how this amazing mix of people adds up to the London I love. The cultural influences and radical imaginations of our festival artists result in enthralling and joyful work that will be seen in spaces and venues that take us into the guts of the city – so make your own playlist and join us at LIFT 2016.”

Compelling, playful and provocative work comes from 14 countries, including Argentina, Belgium, Greece, Poland, Canada, Japan, Australia, the USA, Lebanon and Syria.  Over 30 events will be seen across the capital from an East End Cemetery to the Barbican and Hoxton Hall, from The Place to the Thames, and from the Royal Court and Sadler’s Wells to a Stratford car park.

New work is the engine of LIFT, and this year sees more commissions than ever before, including an exciting new partnership with the Royal Court Theatre.  The programme of World and UK premieres includes: a voyage through the American song book with Taylor Mac, New York’s politically-knowing, enormous of spirit, and outrageously entertaining performance artist; haunting encounters with the dead in a Mile End cemetery in gothic circus from acclaimed Australian company Circa and British electronic musician Lapalux; the UK debut of Poland’s great iconoclastic director Krzysztof Warlikowski in an epic multimedia production ofPhaedra(s), a revolutionary interpretation of the Greek masterpiece by Sarah Kane, Wajdi Mouawad and J M Coetzee starring Isabelle Huppert.

In STELLA, writer and director Neil Bartlett looks into the soul of Victorian cross dressing artist Ernest Boulton on the day of his death. Argentinian artist Lola Arias brings together both Argentinian and British Falklands War veterans to share their revelatory experiences with us and each other. Musicians, performers and dancers explode in a rollercoaster ride through the lives and experiences of Europe’s Roma people, led by choreographer and theatre maker Constanza Macras; and Tokyo based artist and pop-idol Toco Nikaido and 25 performers swarm the stage in a frenetic, multi-coloured, cacophonous paean to Japanese youth subculture.  Frank Van Laecke and Alain Platel march to the sound of a brass band; the UK’s first transgender choir sing for us, and On The Move, a series of new works co-commissioned by LIFT responding to the world’s greatest migration crisis, inhabits unexpected spaces at the Royal Court Theatre.

Throughout the festival, LIFT 2016 invites you to a series of conversations, talks and events built around the shows and the people LIFT works with and is inspired by. These include:

3 June at the British Library: The Wooster Group In Conversation. A screening of the Wooster Group‘s Hamlet is followed by Scott Shepherd, Kate Valk and Wooster Group founding member Elizabeth LeCompte in conversation.

15 June at the British Library:  Peter Brook and Associates on A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Peter Brook, original 1970 Dream company members Frances de la Tour and Ben Kingsley, and Shakespeare scholar Peter Holland discuss this and other productions. Keep watching the website for further announcements.

There is much, much more – please see the show by show list below for further information.

Full Festival line up in brief below – and please go to liftfestival.com for further details.

LIFT receives financial support from Arts Council England

LIFT 2016 SHOW BY SHOW       #LIFT2016

Taylor Mac    USA    UK Premiere
1 June at Hackney Empire
Press Night Wed 1 June at 8pm

“Fabulousness can come in many forms, and TAYLOR MAC seems intent on assuming each and every one of them.” New York Times

Bedazzled shaman, singer-songwriter, searing social critic and performance artist extraordinaire Taylor Mac kicks off LIFT 2016 in spectacular style with a politically-knowing, enormous of spirit, and outrageously entertaining romp through the great American songbook. Mac’s shows are like nothing you’ve ever witnessed: prepare for feathers and frivolity, a razor-sharp wit, a gorgeous voice, and serious glitter.

Presented by LIFT and Sharon Karmazin.
Produced by Pomegranate Arts.

Stella    UK    London Premiere    LIFT Co-commission
Written and directed by Neil Bartlett
1 – 18 June at Hoxton Hall
Press Nights Wed 1 & Thu 2 June at 7.30pm

“What’s the odds so long as you’re happy?”  Ernest Boulton 1869

Inspired by the true story of the strange life and lonely death of Mr Ernest Boulton – one half of the infamous Victorian cross-dressing duo Fanny and Stella  – STELLA is an intimate meditation on the fine art of keeping one’s nerve as the lights go out.  Performed amidst the newly restored splendours of one of London’s oldest surviving music-hall interiors, this is a theatrical love-letter to a truly remarkable person.

A LIFT co-commission with Brighton Festival and Holland Festival.

Everything By My Side    Argentina    UK Premiere
By Fernando Rubio
1 – 6 June at Canary Wharf and Southbank Centre

7 pristine double beds line the riverside – beautiful and enticing.

Slip between the crisp white sheets of a stranger’s bed and, for 15 intimate minutes, listen to the long-lost memory of a childhood tale.  This story is all for you.

Reawakening tales that have lain dormant somewhere in the recesses of your soul, these playful encounters become a place for daydreams, escaped memories, and silent connections.

Presented by LIFT, Canary Wharf Arts+Events and Southbank Centre.

Minefield    Argentina    London Premiere    LIFT Co-commission
By Lola Arias
2 – 11 June at the Royal Court Theatre

‘When I got back from the war I was a stone. I couldn’t feel anything.‘ Argentinian veteran

‘The islands looked very beautiful, much like Scotland with barren land and mountains.
But that was just a blurred image through my binoculars’ British veteran

On a stage 8,000 miles away from the battlefield on which they first met, Argentinian artist Lola Arias brings together soldiers who fought on opposite sides for 3 terrible months in 1982 in the Falklands/Islas Malvinas war. This is truth and reconciliation laid bare – a unique opportunity to share with us, and each other, the veterans’ first hand experiences of those fateful events and their life since. MINEFIELD merges documentary theatre, film and re-enactment to dig deep into the personal impact and real story of the war.

A LIFT co-commission with Royal Court Theatre, Brighton Festival, Le Quai Angers and Künstlerhaus Mousonturm. Produced by LIFT. A House on Fire project, supported by the Culture Programme of the European Union.

Adam’s Apple    UK    World Premiere    LIFT Commission
3 – 4 June at Hoxton Hall

Does the sound of our voice communicate who we are?

A brand new choir, specially created for this event, of transgender and LBGT singers led by Canadian performer Tristan Whiston, will sing Adam’s Apple, an original song cycle, which explores and celebrates the voice and gender identity. Inspired by in-depth conversations with transgender people and those who are closest to and support them, this joyful and mesmerizing music gives voice to a new community.

Presented by Thomas Carter Projects, with support from Wellcome Trust Small Arts Awards, Arts Council England, PRS and LIFT.

Without Blood    Belgium    UK Premiere    LIFT Commission
By Inne Goris and Dominique Pauwels
6 – 8 June at The Place
Press Night Mon 6 June at 8pm

A brief moment, almost like love at first sight.

In the course of a pitiless act of revenge, a young man and a girl exchange a single glance. Unwittingly, and without a word being spoken, they are forever bound to each other.  52 years later, in a twist of fate, they meet again.  Inne Goris, one of Europe’s most inventive theatre artists, has adapted Alessandro Baricco’s powerful, poetic novella Without Blood for the stage. An evocative and exquisite exploration of human relationships using sound, music and an eloquent movement vocabulary, this is a theatrical alchemy of extraordinary experiences.

A LOD muziektheater production, commissioned by LIFT and presented with Crying Out Loud in association with The Place. Supported by the European Union’s Creative Europe.

On The Move    Middle East/Europe    World Premieres    LIFT Co-commission
9 – 11 June at the Royal Court Theatre

Responding to one of the greatest humanitarian issues of our time, this collection of new works features artists from Germany, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Syria and the UK as they uncover the stories of people forced to leave their homes.

The work includes a durational piece by Chris Thorpe delving into the great British public’s attitude towards migrants and refugees; short plays exploring the impact of the migration crisis in Greece and Italy; a one-on-one experience in conversation with a refugee through a wall; a continually growing installation outside the building; a miniature museum of migrations; a Syrian filmmaker exploring loss; an installation and a promenade audio-tour created between London, Berlin, Beirut and Damascus mapping ideas of exile and belonging in the city.

A LIFT co-commission with Royal Court Theatre. A House on Fire project, supported by the Culture Programme of the European Union.

PHAEDRA(S)    Poland    UK Premiere   LIFT Co-commission
After Sarah Kane, Wajdi Mouawad and J M Coetzee
9 – 18 June at the Barbican (Theatre)Press Night Fri 10 June at 7.45pm

French screen star Isabelle Huppert’s Phaedra burns with illicit desire for her stepson, who remains forever out of reach.  But who is Phaedra?

Poland’s great iconoclastic director Krzysztof Warlikowski draws from his lifelong passion for the Greeks to scrutinise and evoke the mysterious queen and her many incarnations.  His new production is based on the complete text of Sarah Kane’s provocative Phaedra’s Love. Other content includes original material developed in collaboration with Lebanese-Canadian playwright Wajdi Mouawad and extracts from J M Coetzee’s novel Elizabeth Costello. The UK Premiere of this wild, explicit, experimental production from one of Europe’s most controversial directors.

Co-produced by LIFT, the Barbican, Comédie de Clermont-Ferrand – Scène Nationale, Les Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg and Théâtre de Liége – Belgium.

Empathy Museum    UK   LIFT Co-commission
By Clare Patey
11 June – 2 July at NOW Gallery, Greenwich Peninsula

‘To understand others, we need to walk in their shoes – literally’ Philosopher Roman Krznaric

What is it like to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes? Choose a pair, put on your headphones and find out.

Across the world our ability to empathise is decreasing.  How can we begin to understand the lives and needs of others while we’re distracted by Twitter updates, emails, 24 hour shopping and a constant stream of notifications. Empathy Museum re-awakens that spark and introduces us to the shoe box of life.

Co-commissioned by Artsadmin and LIFT.

YOUARENOWHERE    USA    UK Premiere
By Andrew Schneider
14 – 18 June at Shoreditch Town Hall

If you can’t keep a secret don’t come to Andrew Schneider’s new work.

YOUARENOWHERE arrives at LIFT following huge success in New York
‘A tour de force – both of acting and design’ Time Out
‘An extraordinary coup de théâtre.” NYTimes Critics’ Pick

A man with a nosebleed appears – possibly from the near future – to tell us what’s going on – but something unseen stops him telling us the thing which might prevent his imminent death. Microphones crackle and break. Signals get scrambled, transmissions glitch and modes of communication malfunction. In an extraordinary revelation (in the play’s second half) this rapid fire meditation of what it means to be here, now, is a manic, magical delight – but you can’t tell anyone …

Presented by LIFT, Shoreditch Town Hall and Gate Theatre Notting Hill. Produced by Shoreditch Town Hall. A House on Fire project, supported by the Culture Programme of the European Union.

Late Night    Greece    UK Premiere
By Blitz Theatre Group
15 – 18 June at the Barbican, The Pit
Press Night Wed 15 June at 7.45pm

In a dilapidated ballroom, six performers endlessly dance the waltz while they wait for the end. There’s music, singing, a drink, some tricks to pass the time, and always the same absurd sense of waiting.

With an otherworldly feel of a David Lynch film, Greece’s most innovative theatre collective have created a beautiful, poetic theatrical experience that unfolds to a nostalgic soundtrack.Late Night speaks of the past and the future, of hope and despair, of being on the edge of a Europe in ruins.

Presented by LIFT and the Barbican. A blitz theatre group and Onassis Cultural Centre co-production. A House on Fire project, supported by the Culture Programme of the
European Union.

En avant, marche!    Belgium    London Premiere

By NTGent / les ballets C de la B
16 – 17 June at Sadler’s Wells
Press Night Thu 16 June at 7.30pm

Celebrated directors Frank Van Laecke and Alain Platel, and their renowned dance theatre collective, completed by a full brass band, draw their inspiration from the music associations that are integral to communities throughout the world.

One by one the company arrive for rehearsal.  This is a group of people with only one thing in common – they all play in the brass band. Commanded by the dying trombonist in his last rehearsal, they revel in the pure, life affirming joy of making music.

Presented by Sadler’s Wells as part of LIFT 2016.


Open For Everything    Germany    London Premiere
By Constanza Macras | DorkyPark
16 – 18 June at the Royal Court Theatre

Who are the true nomads of the 21stcentury?

Musicians, performers and dancers explode out of a packed Louis Vuitton clad car and straight into a journey through the Roma Communities of Europe.

Choreographer and theatre maker Constanza Macras has travelled across Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, seeking out the remnants of Europe’s last nomadic tribe, creating a large ensemble of Roma musicians, and five dancers from her own company, for this unexpected celebration of life and music.

With music, dance and irrepressible humour they reveal prejudices, clichés, traditions, hopes, poverty and violence, and honour the dwindling communities to which they belong.

Presented by LIFT and Royal Court Theatre.

Depart    Australia    World Premiere    LIFT Co-commission
By Circa
16 – 26 June at Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park
Press Night Fri 17 June from 9pm

A journey through the dark space between life and death…

Led by the internationally acclaimed Circa and the electronic musician Lapalux, haunting sights and sounds seduce audiences down a night-time path punctuated by unexpected encounters. In one of London’s old Victorian Cemeteries, overtures drift between the tombstones, while shadowy objects hang precariously like frozen birds above your head…

An ethereal collaboration brings circus artists, choral singers, designers and musicians together in an East End cemetery, a place where many of those who once entered this city are now buried.

A Circa production co-commissioned by LIFT, National Centre for Circus Arts, Spitalfields Music, Hull 2017 UK City of Culture, LeftCoast and Brighton Festival. An Urban Heat project, supported by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.

Miss Revolutionary Idol BerseRker    Japan    UK Premiere
Created by Toco Nikaido
22 June – 2 July at the Barbican (The Pit)
Press Night Wed 22 June at 6.30 & 9.30pm

‘blasts the audience with the sound and fury of Japanese youth culture’

Sydney Morning Herald

Orchestrated by Tokyo-based artist and pop-idol Toco Nikaido, this is Japanese subculture conveyed in all its multi-coloured, cacophonous, frenetic glory.

Prepare to be equipped with a rain poncho and earplugs as twenty-five performers swarm the stage at breakneck speed, armed with an abundance of disposable props and sub-cultural references. In a frenzied homage to otagei, (ritualised dancing and chanting by groups of fans) this riotous company hurtle towards a festival-like finale that invites everyone to take part.

Presented by LIFT and the Barbican.

Calling Tree    UK    UK Premiere    LIFT Co-commission
Directed by Rosemary Lee and Simon Whitehead
23 – 26 June at Bruce Castle Park, Tottenham

In a park in Tottenham sits a magnificent ancient Oak tree – a 500-year-old symbol of permanence that dominates a corner in this forever-changing pocket of the city. Bird-like calls and songs beckon knowing audiences and unwitting passers-by alike, enticing them to stop, look up, contemplate and enjoy.

Calling Tree is a free durational performance cycle of music, movement, and messages on an extraordinary stage.

Co-produced by LIFT and Artsadmin. Presented in association with The Place. Originally commissioned by Migrations. An Imagine 2020 (2.0) and Create to Connect project. Supported by the Creative Europe programme and the Culture Programme of the European Union.


MEETING    Australia    UK Premiere
By Antony Hamilton and Alisdair Macindoe
28 June – 2 July at Battersea Arts Centre

‘Antony Hamilton and Alisdair Macindoe, have teamed up to create something unique.’
Sydney Morning Herald

Two men stand in a circle of small boxes. As their arms slowly oscillate, each action is defined by a tiny pop as the boxes begin to move. They are 64 robotic percussion instruments, each tapping a pencil, creating an insistent, mesmerising range of sounds. A stream of activity unfolds, with all actions carried by the meditative pulse of the machine beat.

Part of the thriving Melbourne dance scene, with Hamilton’s unique physical grammar and Macindoe’s bespoke musical instrument making, MEETING fuses bodies, space and the robots into a dynamic and riveting choreographic sound installation.

Presented by LIFT and Battersea Arts Centre.

The Hamilton Complex    Belgium    UK Premiere
By HETPALEIS, directed by Lies Pauwels
30 June – 2 July at the Unicorn Theatre

‘The Hamilton Complex isn’t for pussies; Pauwels peppers her nostalgic fantasy with juicy irony and social criticism.’ De Standaard, Belgium

‘Brutal, uncertain and beautiful’ De Volksrant

Thirteen girls reveal what it’s like to be on the precipice between youthful innocence and adult sexuality in this exquisitely chaotic journey into the mind of a 13 year old.

Charity, Prudence, Destiny and the rest of their crew exchange horror stories, sing and dance to music from Joan Baez to hip hop and Les Choristes. They talk, rebel, flirt and play. They demand your attention and test your boundaries as they drag you from one shocking image to the next, all the while provocatively flicking their lashes at the adult world they are fated to inherit.

Presented by LIFT and the Unicorn Theatre.

The Children’s Choice Awards    Canada
by Mammalian Diving Reflex
1 July at the Unicorn Theatre

‘In the future, every child will be given a pair of scissors and invited to shape our destinies.’Darren O’Donnell; Writer and Artistic and Research Director, Mammalian Diving Reflex.

Who doesn’t want their opinions to matter?  Who wouldn’t like red-carpet treatment?  The Children’s Choice Awards are an entirely fresh look at the Festival. A group of children from two schools in Tottenham are appointed the Official Festival Jury, and are chauffeured to and from festival shows to see the art, take notes, review, critique and vote.
Subverting traditional jury structures, the children call the shots, and in their own Award Ceremony tell us what they think.

Free

Presented by LIFT. A BeSpectACTive! project, Supported by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.

New International Voices    LIFT  Co-commission
1 – 2 July at Battersea Arts Centre

New International Voices is a partnership between LIFT and Battersea Arts Centre connecting a new generation of international artists through a two week residency at the Battersea Arts Centre, concluding with an informal Scratch showing of new work and ideas.

Ahilan Ratnamohan’s Michael Essien I want to play as you… was part of LIFT 2014. In 2016 he will work with Aloys Kwaakum and Etuwe Bright Junior on Reverse Colonialism in which two migrants, from Cameroon and Nigeria, present a European audience with a controversial plan to tempt European Africans back to their motherlands. Interested in place and live performance, Dutch visual artist Nick Steur’s new piece will respond directly to the building, exploring ways in which his work can inhabit and transform space.

A LIFT and Battersea Arts Centre project.

East Wall Warm-Up
Saturday 2 July
Roof East, Stratford Centre Car Park, E15 1XE 

Hofesh Shechter curates a group of East London’s most talented and exciting up-and-coming choreographers and dancers in pop-up performances high above the rooftops of London. This scratch event is a prelude to a thrilling new project for 2018 and will get the party going for closing night of LIFT 2016.

An East London Dance and Hofesh Shechter Company project with Historic Royal Palaces and LIFT.


Talks, Conversations and Special Events

Throughout the festival, LIFT 2016 invites you to a series of conversations, talks and events built around the shows and the people LIFT works with and is inspired by, including:

3 June at the British Library: The Wooster Group In Conversation. A screening of the Wooster Group‘s Hamlet is followed by Scott Shepherd, Kate Valk and Wooster Group founding member Elizabeth LeCompte in conversation.

15 June at the British Library:  Peter Brook and Associates on A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Peter Brook, original 1970 Dream company members Frances de la Tour and Ben Kingsley, and Shakespeare scholar Peter Holland discuss this and other productions.

Keep watching the website for further announcements.

#LIFT2016

For full booking information please go to liftfestival.com

 

 

 

 

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THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY PRESENTS THIRD ‘RELAXED PERFORMANCE’ OF MATILDA THE MUSICAL ON SUNDAY 12 JUNE 2016 AT 3PM AT THE CAMBRIDGE THEATRE

8e552c9936970560_800x800arTHE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY PRESENTS THIRD ‘RELAXED PERFORMANCE’ OF MATILDA THE MUSICAL ON SUNDAY 12 JUNE 2016 AT 3PM AT THE CAMBRIDGE THEATRE

Following the sold-out success of the first two relaxed performances of Matilda The Musical in 2014 and 2015, the Royal Shakespeare Company will present a third relaxed performance at the Cambridge Theatre on Sunday 12th June at 3pm. This will be the seventh performance that the Royal Shakespeare Company has staged to date. The National Autistic Society and Mousetrap Theatre Projects will again work closely with the RSC, offering full access to the theatre for people with autism and learning disabilities.

This performance of Matilda The Musical builds on the programme of relaxed performances that the RSC has been running in Stratford-upon-Avon since 2013, when it was amongst the first to adopt and promote the concept. The performance provides a relaxed environment, with elements of the production adapted to reduce anxiety or stress. Lighting and sound levels are adjusted to soften their impact and there is a different approach to noise and moving around the auditorium during the performance.  Designated ‘chill-out’ areas are provided outside the auditorium with soft seating and activities for people to use if they want to take a break from being in the auditorium. The performance will also be audio-described.

The Royal Shakespeare Company is offering tickets at the reduced rate of £25 and £10 which can be booked through the RSC Ticket Hotline or in person at the RSC box office from Tuesday 9 February. All bookers will be sent a visual story to help them familiarise themselves with the plot, characters and the setting before they arrive at the theatre. Detailed event and transport information will also be available from www.MatildaTheMusical.com.

Catherine Mallyon, Executive Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company said:

“We hope that everyone feels welcome at our theatres and our productions.  Following the success of our first two relaxed performances of Matilda The Musical, we are so pleased to offer a third to people with autism and learning disabilities and their families, recognizing that it isn’t always easy to all come out together.  The National Autistic Society and Mousetrap Theatre Projects have provided valuable support and I am delighted that relaxed performances are now a regular feature of our programme.”

Mark Lever, Chief Executive of the National Autistic Society said:

“More than 1 in 100 people in the UK are autistic. They and their families want to enjoy a great time at the theatre in the same way as everyone else, so we’re delighted to be working with the RSC again to put on a relaxed performance of Matilda The Musical. We’ve been heartened by the enthusiasm with which the RSC have taken on the task of adjusting the performance to meet the needs of this audience. This involves some technical changes to sound and lighting, setting up quiet areas for people who become overwhelmed and providing a group of trained volunteers and staff to provide a friendly welcome and support. It is wonderful to know that during this performance autistic people and their families will be understood, supported and accepted, so they can just sit back, relax and enjoy the show.”

Susan Whiddington, Director of Mousetrap Theatre Projects said:

“Mousetrap Theatre Projects is delighted to be working with Matilda The Musical and the RSC once again to offer families with children with special needs the opportunity to see this fantastic show at a relaxed performance. After a recent relaxed performance, one family wrote to say “What you create with these events are a little bit of magic and pixie dust,  memories which keep our  families afloat during our more challenging day to day lives.””

Capturing the imagination of young and old alike, Matilda The Musical has now received over 50 awards in Stratford-upon-Avon, London, the USA and Australia and has been seen by more than four million people worldwide. In 2015 the London and Broadway productions were joined by the North American and Australian tours. After opening to rave reviews and winning a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Musical, the Australian production recently announced it will open at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre from 13 March 2016 for a strictly limited season.

Inspired by the incomparable Roald Dahl’s beloved book, Matilda The Musical premiered at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s The Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in November 2010, before transferring to London’s West End in October 2011. Now in its fifth year in the West End, tickets are on sale until 18 December 2016 at the Cambridge Theatre.

Having swept the board at the 2012 Olivier Awards, winning a record-breaking seven awards,Matilda The Musical has gone on to take Broadway by storm, winning four Tony Awards® and a Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theater for each of the four girls sharing the title role. The New York production of Matilda The Musical, produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company and The Dodgers, opened in March 2013 at Broadway’s Shubert Theatre.

Matilda The Musical is written by playwright Dennis Kelly, with music and lyrics by comedian, musician and composer Tim Minchin, and directed by Matthew Warchus. The production is designed by Rob Howell, with choreography by Peter Darling, orchestrations, additional music and musical supervision by Christopher Nightingale, lighting by Hugh Vanstone, sound bySimon Baker and the special effects and illusions are by Paul Kieve.

Matilda The Musical is produced in the West End by the Royal Shakespeare Company with André Ptaszynski and Denise Wood as Executive Producers. The production was developed with the support of Company Dramaturg Jeanie O’Hare and the RSC Literary Department.

MATILDA THE MUSICAL

Cambridge Theatre, Earlham Street, WC2H 9HU
Booking until 18 December 2016
Tuesdays 7pm
Wednesday – Saturday 7:30pm
Wednesday & Saturday 2:30pm
Sundays 3pm

Box Office: RSC Ticket Hotline 01789 403493/ Cambridge Theatre 0844 412 4652
To book online visit: www.matildathemusical.com

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English Rep returns with new play about narcissism

English Repertory Theatre presents:

THE NARCISSIST
March 8th – Apr 2nd 2016, The Courtyard Theatre

English Repertory Theatre returns to London this Spring after last year’s “clear, passionate and full of snarky, sarky bite” (Time Out) Hamlet. In this new production, writer/director Gavin Davis presents his play The Narcissist, a searing look into the terrible and terrifying effect a narcissist can have on their family.

“an engrossing night at the theatre (….) controversial in the best sense” (British Theatre)

Charlie is 34, single, wealthy and having too much fun. His estranged mother, Pandora, his evidently brain damaged father and his parasite single brother, Felix, come to live with him. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is the order of the day alongside a line or two, a tart and a large Gin and Tonic. Can love survive in this middle class Homecoming? The Narcissist is the blackest of comedies drawing on the most sinister of collectors, one which is always spelt with two “I”s.
Davis says: “The most dangerous predators are ingeniously veiled. They lead secret lives. They lie effortlessly. They appear with a perfect public image that most people believe. In the shadows, when no one is looking, they do savage evil to their family members, their children and those that love them.”

**** “Messy, chaotic and hot-blooded, but fun as hell” (London City Nights)

English Repertory Theatre produce the highest quality productions of popular classical and contemporary British plays, bringing the traditional craft and values of the Repertory System back to the acting profession. Their production of Hamlet, starring a female Hamlet, played London, Oxford and Edinburgh last year to great acclaim, garnering 4 and 5 star reviews.

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Darlington Civic Theatre – New Jersey Nights

Civic-Theatre-Hi-Res-Logo-1-117x300NEW JERSEY NIGHTS COMES TO DARLINGTON

The international hit show New Jersey Nights comes to Darlington Civic Theatre from Thursday 25 to Saturday 27 February.

Direct from the USA, the international smash-hit show New Jersey Nights comes to the UK as part of a world tour and will visit Darlington Civic Theatre for three nights only.

The show is a spectacular celebration of the music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, and takes the audience on a nostalgic musical journey through the career of one of the biggest selling groups of all time.

From the back-street studio in New Jersey where it all began, this vibrant production includes all of The Four Seasons’ greatest hits including Sherry, Rag Doll, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Walk Like A Man and many more.

Featuring four great singers, perfect harmonies, stylized costumes, a rockin’ live band and amazing dancers, New Jersey Nights has smashed box-office records across the USA and UK and is proving to be one of the most successful touring shows of all time.

If you like the music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, you’ll love this show.

New Jersey Nights is at Darlington Civic Theatre from Thursday 25 to Saturday 27 February at 7.30pm with a 2.30pm matinee on the Saturday

Tickets* are priced £21 to £31, discounts available.

*All prices include a £1 restoration levy

To book contact the Box Office on 01325 486 555 or visit www.darlingtoncivic.co.uk

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LANDMARK YEAR FOR LONDON’S ROUNDHOUSE

ba2f27ed62aaef76_800x800arLANDMARK YEAR FOR LONDON’S ROUNDHOUSE

  • ROUNDHOUSE CELEBRATES MAJOR ANNIVERSARIES: 50 YEARS SINCE OPENING AS A MAJOR ARTS CENTRE, 40 YEARS OF PUNK AND 10 YEARS SINCE REFURBISHMENT
  • BRAND NEW BUILDING TO ACT AS A CENTRE FOR CREATIVE EXCELLENCE

  • ANNIVERSARY YEAR KICKS OFF WITH AKRAM KHAN WORLD PREMIERE AND FIRST EVER ‘IN THE ROUND’MUSIC SERIES

  • MAJOR EVENT TO BE ANNOUNCED TO CELEBRATE 50TH BIRTHDAY IN OCTOBER
  • CALL OUT FOR ROUNDHOUSE MEMORIES AS PART OF ANNIVERSARY PROJECT

Fifty years since opening as a groundbreaking new arts venue, London’s Roundhouse has announced plans for a major anniversary year. The building, one of the most iconic performance spaces in the world and a state-of-the-art creative centre for young people, will mark three major anniversaries in 2016. In recognition of this momentous year they have announced the intention to add to the physical footprint of the building with a brand new campus as a centre of creative excellence for young people, continuing Sir Torquil Norman’s original mission.

Beginning the landmark year with Akram Khan’s universally critically acclaimed world premiere production of Until the Lions, a brand new intimate music series In the Round and the announcement of the return of UK’s foremost festival of international contemporary circus,Circusfest in April, the venue will celebrate in multiple ways throughout this momentous year.

On the 1st June the Roundhouse recognises the 10th anniversary of reopening as a charity following a huge refurbishment. The 9th and 10th July mark 40 years since the Ramones played their seminal gig at the Roundhouse. Followed by the 50th anniversary of the Roundhouse opening as an arts centre on the 15th October, that saw the launch of the radical underground newspaper the International Times. The 50th anniversary will be celebrated with a major event, still to be announced, that will honour its historic role in the UK’s live music and performing arts scene.

Chief Executive and Artistic Director Marcus Davey said: “2016 is a landmark year for the Roundhouse, a year where we have many reasons to celebrate, and what a start to the year it has been. Nearly 50 years ago the Roundhouse opened as a bold, brave new arts venue and we’ve started our anniversary year doing what we do best, programming incredible performances involving young people and emerging artists. And we have so much more to come over the next year. We’re really excited about our future, and the next 50 years of creativity, through offering young people life changing opportunities.”   

The Grade II* listed building and former railway engine shed was built in 1846, falling into disuse until reopening as a performing arts venue spearheaded by playwright Arnold Wesker. A cutting-edge arts and seminal live music venue for the next 16 years before it fell into disrepair in 1983. In September 1996 The Norman Trust, led by Sir Torquil Norman, bought the building and set up the Roundhouse Trust.

In 2006 the building reopened following a £30 million refurbishment under the Roundhouse Trust. The Roundhouse was reborn with a mission of providing creative opportunities for young people. Since reopening in 2006 nearly 30,000 young people have benefitted from the centre’s music, performing arts, circus and digital projects. Continuing this mission set out in 2006 to support artists and creatives, the new campus will enable the Roundhouse to expand its extensive work with young people with a purpose built space on the Chalk Farm site.

Since the reopening in 2006, with the electrifying Fuerzabruta, the last decade has seen the Roundhouse commission major site-specific visual art installations by artists Ron Arad, Penny Woolcock and Conrad Shawcross as well as worked on collaborations with The Royal Opera House (Orfeo, Jan 2015), Sadler’s Wells (Akram Khan, Jan 2016) and the Royal Shakespeare Company (2008, 2010/11, 2012) and played host to incredible live music from  artists such as Prince, Patti Smith, FKA Twigs and Jay-Z.

As part of the Roundhouse anniversary year the institution have asked the public to get in touch with their memories, from those made at the first infamous gigs in the 1960s, to the present day, seeking stories from the gig goers to the performers and from the staff to the young people who have taken part in creative projects. This will be a central part of a project marking the anniversary year.

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Denis Lill to Replace Tony Slattery in the National Tour of SHADOWLANDS

DENIS LILL TO REPLACE TONY SLATTERY

IN THE 2016 NATIONAL TOUR OF

WILLIAM NICHOLSON’S SHADOWLANDS

THE LOVE STORY OF C.S. LEWIS AND JOY DAVIDMAN

 

Due to health issues, Tony Slattery has sadly had to withdraw from the 2016 national tour of William Nicholson’s SHADOWLANDS, and the producers, director and cast wish him a speedy recovery. Denis Lill has kindly agreed to step into the role of Warnie and has joined rehearsals today.

The new production, directed by Alastair Whatley, will open on 18 February at Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, with a national press night on Friday 26 February. SHADOWLANDS will then tour to Salisbury, Eastbourne, Ipswich, Windsor, Croydon, Malvern, Worthing, Doncaster, Chesterfield, Birmingham, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Cardiff, Exeter and Richmond, with further dates to be announced.

Producers, Jon and Anne-Marie Woodley of Birdsong Productions, said of the news, “We are very sorry that Tony has had to leave and along with all the company of SHADOWLANDS, we send our love and best wishes. We are delighted that Denis has so kindly agreed to step in at such short notice to take on the role of Warnie. Having both previously worked with Denis, we know he will be a lovely addition to the talented cast and crew of SHADOWLANDS.”

The cast of SHADOWLANDS will be led by Stephen Boxer (Humans, The Iron Lady, Garrow’s Law, Doctors) as C.S. Lewis and Amanda Ryan (The Forsyte Saga, Shameless) as Joy Davidman, along with Denis Lill (The Royal, Only Fools and Horses, Rumpole of the Bailey) as Major W.H. Lewis ‘Warnie’. They will be joined by Simon Shackleton as Professor Christopher Riley, Jeffrey Harmer as Rev ‘Harry’ Harrington, Ian Marr as Alan Gregg, Richard Holliday as Dr Maurice Oakley and Shannon Rewcroft as Douglas, with Holly Smith and Alistair Higgins playing multiple supporting roles.

SHADOWLANDS, by William Nicholson, tells the love story of C.S. Lewis, Oxford don and author ofThe Chronicles of Narnia and The Screwtape Letters, and American poet Joy Davidman. What begins as a formal meeting of two very different minds slowly develops into a feeling of connection and love. Lewis finds his quiet life with his brother Warnie disrupted by the outspoken, feisty Davidman, whose uninhibited behaviour offers a sharp contrast to the rigid sensibilities of the male-dominated university. Each provides the other with new ways of viewing the world, but Lewis’s Christian faith is tested when Joy is diagnosed with cancer.

SHADOWLANDS won the Evening Standard Drama Award for Best Play in 1990 and Nicholson was nominated for a Tony Award when it transferred to Broadway. The film version, which starred Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger, won Best British Film at the 1994 BAFTAs and Nicholson was nominated for a Best Screenplay nomination.

This major revival of SHADOWLANDS is produced by Birdsong Productions, the people behind the recent critically-acclaimed and hugely successful touring productions of Birdsong and Flare Path, in association with Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre.

SHADOWLANDS will have Lighting Design by Alex Wardle and Sound Design by Dominic Bilkey.

Official website:  www.shadowlandstour.com 

Twitter: @shadowlandstour 

Facebook: shadowlandsthetour

2016 TOUR SCHEDULE

18 – 27 February           Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford                                 01483 44 00 00 

www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk

                               

29 February – 5 March   Salisbury Playhouse                                          01722 320 333

                                    www.salisburyplayhouse.com

7 – 12 March                 Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne                 01323 412 000

                                    www.eastbournetheatres.co.uk

                                

14 – 19 March               New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich                             01473 295900

                                    www.wolseytheatre.co.uk

                                      

29 March – 2 April         Theatre Royal Windsor                                       01753 853 888

www.theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk 

                             

4 – 9 April                     Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon                                 020 8688 9291              

                                    www.fairfield.co.uk

11 – 16 April                  Festival Theatre, Malvern                                   01684 892277

www.malvern-theatres.co.uk

                     

19 – 23 April                  Connaught Theatre, Worthing                             01903 206 206

www.worthingtheatres.co.uk

                                 

26 April – 30 April          CAST Theatre, Doncaster                                   01302 303 959

                                    castindoncaster.com

16 – 21 May                  Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield                     01246 345 222

                                    chesterfieldtheatres.co.uk

31 May – 4 June            Birmingham Repertory Theatre                           0121 236 4455

www.birmingham-rep.co.uk

                                   

13 – 18 June                 New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth                         023 9264 9000

www.newtheatreroyal.com 

   

21 – 25 June                 New Theatre, Cardiff                                          029 2087 8889              

                                    www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk

                             

28 June – 2 July            Exeter Northcott Theatre                                    01392 726363

www.exeternorthcott.co.uk 

                                   

25 July – 30 July           Richmond Theatre                                             0844 871 7651

www.atgtickets.com/venues/richmond-theatre     

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NEWS! Announcing the cast & host of Thoroughly Modern Millie

4213436f-a1e5-433a-83ed-6a4e73610843#48HourMillie to be hosted by Warwick Davis and cast to include Anna-Jane Casey

We’re THRILLED to announce that actor & presenter Warwick Davis will be hosting our production of Thoroughly Modern Millie, rehearsed in just 48 hours, in aid of the mental health charity Mind.

“It’s going to be such a great night. I can’t wait to meet the fantastically brave & reckless cast and everyone involved in the show. I have huge respect for Mind and the excellent work they do, so it’s a real honour to support them in this project.” Warwick Davis

Actor/presenter Warwick will introduce our sensational cast including West End star, Anna-Jane Caseyand over 100 established performers and talented newcomers. View the full cast list here.

Tickets for this one-night-only production of Thoroughly Modern Millie (Adelphi Theatre, 20 March, 7.30pm) are selling fast, so make sure you don’t miss out on the West End’s most exciting night of the year . . . Get your tickets NOW!